The spec sheet is dripping with big numbers and promise. The new 6-litre version of GM's 'Gen IV' V8 kicks out 404bhp (297Kw) at 6000rpm and 403lb ft at 4400rpm and pulls hard from a little over 2000rpm to its 6600rpm cut-out. It's smooth, eager, emits the most glorious V8 hammering when you're using all the revs, yet burbles with quiet menace when you're trickling around town. Perfect.

But the V8 engine has always formed the very foundation of the Corvette experience. It's outside that things have changed most noticeably. The front overhang has been dramatically reduced and the rear of the car chopped abruptly. The wheelbase has stretched by 30mm but the overall length has fallen 125mm to 4435mm and it's slimmed down by 25mm to 1844mm. Figures that aren't too far away from those of the latest Porsche 911. Funny, it seems bigger when you approach it, but there's no doubt that the more compact C6 should be eminently more usable in Europe than its predecessors.

The suspension is decidedly un-European, though. It may be 2004 but nothing can persuade GM to ditch the Corvette's traditional mix of unequal length double wishbones and composite transverse-mounted leaf springs. GM claim the leaf springs are lighter than coil equivalents and maintain more consistent suspension geometry. The multiple-Le Mans-winning C5R features coil springs though, so whether the dynamic benefits are as clear-cut as GM suggest isn't entirely clear.

The new Corvette's hydroformed steel rail chassis, aluminium cockpit structure and glassfibre body panels keep weight down to 1508kg (just 88kg more than the considerably less powerful 911), the integrated ABS and Active Handling stability systems are said to be more unobtrusive than even Porsche's PSM stability control, and the standard-for-Europe Z51 handling package brings aggressive springs and dampers and thicker anti-roll bars. We also benefit from Europe-specific larger diameter cross-drilled brakes with harder compound brake pads that have been optimised for fast road and track work.

Cadillac and Corvette Europe, the Netherlands-based European importers, have big plans for the two brands in Europe and by the time you read this a new 'Cadillac and Corvette Experience Centre' will be open on Park Lane. The C6 Corvette should cost around ΂£45,000 when it goes on sale early next year, sensibly undercutting the 911 and cheaper even than the home-grown TVR Tuscan S. However, there are no plans for right-hand drive at present, which might deter a few buyers.

So, it's not bargain-basement but the C6 offers serious performance and the promise of low maintenance and total reliability. The engine requires an oil and filter service every 12,000 miles but you needn't even change a sparkplug until 100,000 miles. With a bit of practice the C6 is said to hit sixty from rest in 4.1 seconds on the way to a claimed 186mph, though of course there's more to a performance car than straight-line shove.

On the road, first impressions are that maybe the Corvette isn't so compact and Euro-friendly after all. You sit quite high but there's a massive acreage of bonnet ahead and a huge transmission tunnel between you and the passenger. It's a bit daunting. Hit the starter button and the engine woofles quietly into life and settles at a creamy idle. The gearchange of the Tremac six-speeder (you can order a four-speed auto, but don't) is immediately better, with a tight and shorter throw, but it still feels heavy-weight and reinforces your initial fears that it could be an unwieldy device.

The ride is immediately impressive, though, and the structure feels much stiffer than the previous C5. There's a tautness about the drivetrain that conveys real integrity, and the steering response is quick and accurate with little of the vagueness that blighted the C5's rack. The brake pedal is a little long but there's reassuring bite and, despite the supple ride, there's none of the dive under braking that you might expect. In fact the body control is taut and the C6 rarely feels fazed; roll is resisted well through corners, and crests and dips fail to get the car floating on its springs or rubbing its belly on the tarmac. It's clearly a big step on from the entertaining but imprecise C5.

As the road gets more testing and your commitment ups with confidence, the C6 continues to impress but just fails to really engage. The steering, although nicely-geared, is a little light and short of feedback. It's particularly noticeable on fast sweeping corners where you seem to be constantly adjusting your steering inputs to maintain a steady line, and on tighter turns there's little warning before the C6 slips into understeer.

Of course with 400bhp at your disposal and a lenient traction control system, understeer need not be a problem. A squirt of power will tighten your line and then swing the tail gently into benign oversteer. With the traction and stability system fully engaged, the C6 will take on a few degrees of attitude before abruptly pulling you back into line, but select 'Competitive Driving Mode' (oh yes) and you're allowed a much freer rein with the added bonus of a much more subtle intervention to bring you back onto the straight and narrow. It's a real boon on the road, allowing you to have plenty of fun but still have that safety net should things go pear-shaped. Of course you can just turn off the electronic leash altogether...
At the Ascari race resort that's just what we did, and found the C6 adopts the wild oversteering posture that you'd hope. In fact, through some of the faster corners you might want a bit less of the heroics and a bit more control, the car falling into momentum oversteer readily, which suggests body control isn't completely infallible. The brakes hold up well, though, and in general it feels stable and predictable.
Frustratingly the roads in southern Spain that made up our test route were simply too smooth and too fast to reach a conclusive verdict on how the C6 will cope in Britain. Early signs are encouraging, though it lacks the detailed steering feel and ultimate wheel and body control of the new 911 or the sharp responses of the M3.

Even so, it's a good alternative to a TVR Tuscan S and offers so much more performance than a Boxster that it just might win the hearts and wallets of those who want big power and dependability mixed with a hint of the unusual. And there's more to come. The hardcore Z06 Corvette, rumoured to have 475bhp, will be shown at Detroit in January and go on sale in Europe and the UK towards the end of 2005. If that car undercuts a basic 911, they might just be on to something.