Okay I went to
the Corvette store today to do some investigative journalism because I'm still not convinced the insurance company are actually going to pay to fix my car. Sat in a bunch of C6s and C5s back to back.
C5:
Better feeling materials, much looser tolerances for the things actually being put together.
Mostly bespoke switchgear, most major components (HVAC, radio, gauge cluster) that look like they are lifted straight out of a Silverado or Venture even if they aren't actually direct part number identical.
Plastic feels much more solid, but looks much cheaper. I've no doubt it is actually fairly sturdy in practice because by the late 90s GM was A #1 at plastic strength.
Terrible,
terrible seats; worse in every way than the early 90s C4 seats and mostly worse than the late 90s C4 seats. You sink into them like on a 90s Buick and no matter how much you put out the bolstering on the sport seats you don't feel held in place.
Door cards/gauges/center stack have much more of a cockpit feel to them; albeit nothing at all like the early 90s C4.
Everything that's
not yanked out of a Silverado/Venture has a nice slightly blue lighting to it which I'd say could even be nicer than the amber that the refresh C4 had...
except but the HVAC and radio they yanked out of other GM cars have the same slightly sickly yellow coloring as everything else GM of that time did. You can probably fix this for the HVAC FWIW, but I suspect it wouldn't be easy (the solution to fixing the radio is as easy as yanking that piece of crap out of there).
Better clutch, worse shifter.
HUD is simplistic, but the interface for it is better.
C6:
Chintzier materials built to suitably tight tolerances
mostly
All of the switchgear looks and feels like it was yanked out of a Cobalt. All of the interior plastic that falls to hand feels like it was yanked out of a Cobalt. The steering wheel that isn't
the Pillsbury dough boy is
literally a Cobalt wheel with
a different emblem. The HVAC and gauges, on the other hand, are all bespoke and the gauges are in slightly a different design direction than where GM went in the late 00s so it doesn't look like a Silverado piece. I don't care for the
fake aluminum surround look vs
the C5 gauges but they are basically identical other than that and font so that's entirely preference.
Plastic looks higher quality when you're looking at it (due to the tighter tolerances mostly) and most importantly to GM in glow up PR shots, but has a hollow/brittle feeling/sound that is up there with the absolute worst of 2000s Nissan and Dodge.
Terrible seats; but at least better in support than the C5 seats (probably just because the foam is firmer). Still no lateral support but it's not like a narrow a La-Z-Boy. Later C6 seats with the upper wings have decent shoulder support, at least; but a very stiff headrest
Lots more modern stuff. Keyless entry, push button start, heated seats, Double DIN stereo, electric doors. Some of these feel chintzy and the electric doors in particular definitely feel like GMs first pass at the concept (you have to push the outer door button in a very specific way to get it to open) and not an improvement over the mechanical linkage the C5 still had.
Door cards/gauges/center stack are laid out like in a Cobalt except the latter is
slightly canted towards you.
All the interior lighting is white. Not LED white I'm pretty sure but was white as you can get with incandescents. I think this is worse than the C5, except it's at least all one color and not a mess of stuff they designed and stuff they were forced to work with.
Worse clutch, better shifter.
HUD is more advanced, but the interface for it is worse.
I'm pretty sure I'd get a C5 and spend a bunch of money on making it better (shorter throw shifter, making the headlights better, replacing the bezel with an aftermarket one for double DIN, throwing out those seats) while forgoing some things (heated seats, push button start) than a C6 and putting up with the stuff that I really can't do much with. Especially when the C5 is a better looking car that is easier to do maintenance on (compare headlight replacement).