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Thoughts on the upcoming mid engine corvette


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I for one, am happy to see it. I grew up on domestics, but can definitely see the short-comings. Corvette was on the chopping block when the whole 2008 ordeal happened and has come back quite strong. They are definitely betting the farm on the new layout though.

 

 

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No more auto-correct to POS?  It's a Lambopower milestone! :lol:

Very interested to see the new car, and I hope they don't take it solely upmarket.  A V8 ME great handling vette that still starts in the $70k range would be very interesting.

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I too want to see it. I worry that the V.1 might have some issues (we already know about bendgate on the chassis) but Chevy needed to go here to make the next leap. Its risky and many Corvette owners are pissed. Others are excited for another American supercar.

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5 hours ago, DoctaM3 said:

I too want to see it. I worry that the V.1 might have some issues (we already know about bendgate on the chassis) but Chevy needed to go here to make the next leap. Its risky and many Corvette owners are pissed. Others are excited for another American supercar.

If it makes you feel any better, the C7 generation was supposed to be the first mid-engine. So when the financial crisis hit, that plan went away. Now, did they keep anything from that? I don’t know,  but another 12 years of R&D and planning, probably didn’t hurt. 

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22 hours ago, RedGTS said:

No more auto-correct to POS?  It's a Lambopower milestone! :lol:

Very interested to see the new car, and I hope they don't take it solely upmarket.  A V8 ME great handling vette that still starts in the $70k range would be very interesting.

For sure a 70k mid engine Corvette would be good but my guess is closer to 100k

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1 hour ago, yellomurci said:

For sure a 70k mid engine Corvette would be good but my guess is closer to 100k

No doubt the Z06 and higher end variants will be that much and more (they are now), but if that's the price for the least expensive version, they will have reduced their universe of potential buyers by about 80% and it would dramatically impact their sales.  No way they could sell anywhere near the numbers they usually churn out (30-40k units a year) at $100k+.   I guess the upside would be you wouldn't have to worry about seeing them on every corner like the previous cars.  Will be interesting to see how it shakes out.

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Really wish the Corvette was offered in both front and mid engined variants, with the mid engine car getting a slightly different name or maybe suffix. Someone here suggested giving Corvette its own brand separate from Chevrolet, which would probably make this all easier. 

The mid-engine layout is indeed supreme for the exotic class, but a car hailing from muscle car roots should still have some tie to the front engined world.

In the world of burnouts and powersliding, mid engine is good but front engine is better. 

Of course the Camaro could pick up the slack for GM, but it would definitely be the end of an era.

Note that the Ford GT has no naming tie to the Mustang, and if Dodge wanted a mid engined supercar it probably wouldn't be called a Viper.

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45 minutes ago, Smash Boy said:

Really wish the Corvette was offered in both front and mid engined variants, with the mid engine car getting a slightly different name or maybe suffix. Someone here suggested giving Corvette its own brand separate from Chevrolet, which would probably make this all easier. 

The mid-engine layout is indeed supreme for the exotic class, but a car hailing from muscle car roots should still have some tie to the front engined world.

In the world of burnouts and powersliding, mid engine is good but front engine is better. 

Of course the Camaro could pick up the slack for GM, but it would definitely be the end of an era.

Note that the Ford GT has no naming tie to the Mustang, and if Dodge wanted a mid engined supercar it probably wouldn't be called a Viper.

Bingo!

Ideally, they would make a low production run of the ZR1, making it the mid-engine version. Leave the FR layout for the Z06 (top of the FR's) and if you really want to get into the top-end, step up into the ZR1 M.E.

I saw a brand new ZL1 Camaro at the dealership the other day, and it had a nearly $80K price tag. I would be very curious to see how many people would spend 80K on a Camaro...

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1 minute ago, Destructo said:

Bingo!

Ideally, they would make a low production run of the ZR1, making it the mid-engine version. Leave the FR layout for the Z06 (top of the FR's) and if you really want to get into the top-end, step up into the ZR1 M.E.

I saw a brand new ZL1 Camaro at the dealership the other day, and it had a nearly $80K price tag. I would be very curious to see how many people would spend 80K on a Camaro...

These days there seems to be buyers for just about every car that is out there. I remember when the Z/28 came out several years back around 70ish and people couldn't explain it...

I think what would be interesting is to keep the front engined cars with naturally aspirated and supercharged cross plane OHV motors, manual and automatics, while the mid engined variant(s) should be DOHC flat plane crank engines, naturally aspirated and maybe turbocharged with DCT and hopefully a manual as well.

The biggest problem you'll find is that the typical car enthusiast is too numbers driven, and GM would be forced to make the mid engined car have more power and better lap times even if it's not necessary for the "feel" of the car. 

We see it already with the new Ford GT....much criticized because of outright power and lap times not living up to the expectation (price). 

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If they don't keep the traditional front engine version too, this is suicide. Just like when Chrysler decided to take the Viper upmarket and killed it.  There aren't enough mid-life crisis rednecks out there that can afford a mid-engine Vette. Ford can get away with the GT, due to limited production numbers and corresponding asking price. 

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I think it was a major mis-step for GM to call this car a Corvette. They should have kept the traditional 60+ year classic layout of front engine rear wheel drive as a Corvette and marketed this as their "exotic" and called it the SS (but they burned that name to the ground when they wasted it on a short lived sedan).

I'm all for a mid engine perofrmance Chevy...but calling it a Corvette is stupid.

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On 5/4/2019 at 2:15 PM, StoleIt said:

I think it was a major mis-step for GM to call this car a Corvette. They should have kept the traditional 60+ year classic layout of front engine rear wheel drive as a Corvette and marketed this as their "exotic" and called it the SS (but they burned that name to the ground when they wasted it on a short lived sedan).

I'm all for a mid engine perofrmance Chevy...but calling it a Corvette is stupid.

I absolutely love the SS sedan. I have weird tastes, but the sound of a cammed LS in a four-door piques my interest :lol2:

 

 

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On 5/6/2019 at 7:59 AM, Destructo said:

I absolutely love the SS sedan. I have weird tastes, but the sound of a cammed LS in a four-door piques my interest :lol2:

 

 

I love SS too, ironic enough...but I don't think that was the best name for it.

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23 hours ago, StoleIt said:

I love SS too, ironic enough...but I don't think that was the best name for it.

Names are very precious, especially in 'Murica.  GTO and SS IMO were lazy marketing efforts by GM.....and while the SS was technically *not* marketed by GM, in both cases those names serve almost to be reverse marketing, if such a thing were possible. G8 and Caprice would not have ruffled feathers, but in the end it might not have mattered. 

The irony was that the cars were legit in their class. Many years of development down under with Holden and the Australian Supercar racing community. The 5th gen Camaro was based off a Holden chassis as well. 

SS could be brought back. No name in GM lore is sacred.....Monte Carlo, Impala, were given worse treatment as front wheel drive bores. 

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6 hours ago, Smash Boy said:

Names are very precious, especially in 'Murica.  GTO and SS IMO were lazy marketing efforts by GM.....and while the SS was technically *not* marketed by GM, in both cases those names serve almost to be reverse marketing, if such a thing were possible. G8 and Caprice would not have ruffled feathers, but in the end it might not have mattered. 

The irony was that the cars were legit in their class. Many years of development down under with Holden and the Australian Supercar racing community. The 5th gen Camaro was based off a Holden chassis as well. 

SS could be brought back. No name in GM lore is sacred.....Monte Carlo, Impala, were given worse treatment as front wheel drive bores. 

Lazy is putting it far too politely! :lol2: They rebadged the Holden performance vehicles and sold them here. The Camaro being the Zeta platform was the "most original" of those if memory serves me correctly.

There was talk of them reviving the Chevelle namesake. Wouldn't shock me in the least.

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14 hours ago, Destructo said:

Lazy is putting it far too politely! :lol2: They rebadged the Holden performance vehicles and sold them here. The Camaro being the Zeta platform was the "most original" of those if memory serves me correctly.

There was talk of them reviving the Chevelle namesake. Wouldn't shock me in the least.

Haha, that would be funny having a new Chevelle.

Nothing wrong with rebadging Holdens.....they're solid cars.......but to not market the car is odd as hell. 

Only reason the Camaro did ok was because it looked like the old one. 

The Middle East will eventually gobble all of these cars up. :badgrin:

Back on topic......somewhat exciting that this new Vette is coming out.....40-45 years in the making!

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That's a badass render but I'd be shocked if it looked that good.  I do think it will look a good bit better than the C7 though.

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On 5/9/2019 at 11:57 PM, Smash Boy said:

Names are very precious, especially in 'Murica.  GTO and SS IMO were lazy marketing efforts by GM.....and while the SS was technically *not* marketed by GM, in both cases those names serve almost to be reverse marketing, if such a thing were possible. G8 and Caprice would not have ruffled feathers, but in the end it might not have mattered. 

The irony was that the cars were legit in their class. Many years of development down under with Holden and the Australian Supercar racing community. The 5th gen Camaro was based off a Holden chassis as well. 

SS could be brought back. No name in GM lore is sacred.....Monte Carlo, Impala, were given worse treatment as front wheel drive bores. 

GM names are precious. Dodge has the Charger and Dart. Both are terrible from a point of comparing them to the original. 

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Ive been getting excited about this car. Maybe just because its something new but none the less I think it will be an exciting new car.

Just speculation but from what has been cross referenced it seems the C8 specs will be close to what follows ( note my previous predictions for Gallardo & Aventador where spot on)

Base model (coupe and convertible): 500hp / 560 lb-ft tq / 0-60 @ 3.0 - 3.1sec( coupe)  & 3.3 - 3.4sec (conv) / wt @ 3400lb(coupe) & 3600lb (conv) / $$67 - 72k usd

At that pricepoint who is in????

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There was talk about the Corvette having to move up in whatever series they race. Makes sense. 

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On 5/18/2019 at 10:18 PM, BLK85 said:

There was talk about the Corvette having to move up in whatever series they race. Makes sense. 

Unlikely in the IMSA series. Right now they are GTLM, which contains the likes of the mid-engine Ford GT. Previously they ran the Daytona Prototype in the DPi class, but they killed that effort. It was an awesome platform to hear and watch at the races. 

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