2014 Chevy Corvette C7 Intelligence Report

[Rob]

Edmunds Inside Line has done a nice summation of all of the C7 speculation:

2014 Chevy Corvette C7 Intelligence Report

[XLR8]

Interesting article!

[catbert]

Bottom line - still no clue. That's OK because they need a buzz, and great year one through three sales BADLY.

[danl72]

Interesting

[Low drag - High speed]

It's already in production elsewhere and is the most efficient kind of induction. The new Corvette engine will need that extra efficiency to pull the horses out of fewer cubes. Don't know about turbos, though ... much less reliable, expensive to plumb in and there's that turbo-lag when you need to be quicker. I'd wager a supercharger if they want more pressure.

[Hib Halverson]

Couple of observations....

Mr. Huffman is a long-time automotive writer with a great deal of experience and an impressive resume, but he might be a little short on knowledge of the car's technological history. I think we need to be cautious in assessig articles about C7 Intel when the writer might not have good depth of knowledge of the existing car. This lack of Corvette background shows in Huffman's discussion of the car's suspension in a statement, "As it has been since 1984, the front and rear double-wishbone suspension links....

84-96 Corvette did not have "rear double-wishbone" suspension. It used as five-link, trailing arm layout in the rear. Control arms in the rear didn't arrive until 1997.

Another key point of which Huffman was unaware or just neglected to mention was that GM Racing has been using a 5.5L version of the Small-Block V8 in the C6.R for several years. IMO, one reason GM moved the Corvette Racing engine program out of Katech and in house was to use the race program as a development tool for the next production Corvette engine. For a 5.5 to make the kind of power rating Corvetters are used to having, is going to require more rpm and more stress on certain parts. What better way to develop and validate engine parts for high-output/high-rpm use than racing?

I still believe the V8 in the C7 will be a 400-425hp 5.5-liter Gen 5 Small-Block which has direct injection, variable valve timing and cylinder deactivation.

I also still believe there is a chance that a twin-turbo 3.6L V6 might eventually show up as a base engine.

The rumor about a 4.0L TT V8 has been around for a while, but unless GM is also developing such an engine for pick-up trucks, I tend to discount the idea that the new, greener GM would fund a very costly program to develop an all new V8 only to use it in the Corvette and the Cadillac V-series.

The 7-speed manual trans....interesting concept. Penetration of manuals has run 40-50%, pretty high numbers. I give that a "maybe" for production. A 7 or 8 speed auto is a given.

I agree with Huffman's comments in re: the car's layout, wheelbase and so forth.

The interior...well...those in media have complained forever about the car's interior. Personally, other than crappy seats, the current car's shitty nav system and the squeaks and rattles of the bygone C4 era, I've never had a big problem with the Corvette interior. Of course, I'm not looking for a car with the insides an interior designer bent on conspicuous, disgusting luxury would create. Generally, I've been happy with Corvette interiors for the last 20 years or so and an evolution of the design direction GM went with C6 would be ok by me. In fact, I'd like them to go the other direction with content choices and make a "0LZ" option package available...driver-only power seat, manual A/C, no On-Star or nav, base sound system, no fancy mirrors, tilt-only column, cloth upholstery, etc.

Lastly Huffman makes a good point about Corvette demographics. Corvette is soon to have the problem Cadillac once had...it's potential customer base are using walkers and dying. The car sorely needs, a less-expensive base model and a strategy to market it to younger drivers.

How about this to appeal to 40-something geeky types?

Corvette SS
385-hp 3.6L V6 TT with DI, VVT, AFM and GM's stop/start technology...maybe even the full, "e-Assist" mild-hybrid system if they could deal with the mass of the batteries. 20% better fuel economy than today. Able to run on E85. Something like the Z51 suspension w. fixed-valve shocks, manual trans with paddle-shifted auto as an option, improved nav system and other telematics that 30/40-somethings like. Cloth seats, power seat driver only, base A/C. Priced at 45,000.

[Low drag - High speed]

... although I can see the reasoning for a "budget" Corvette. Another possibility, which has popped up in this forum before, is a V6 alternative based on the Solstice and Skye platform. On the one hand, the engineering is already in place, but the other side of the coin is the cost of producing a second car on another production line.


Economically, addin a V6 Vette would be a better option, although it's hard to imagine anything but a big, ballsy V8 in it. With the rising cost of fuel and the greening of everything in sight, the V6 might end up in all the Corvettes in a few years.

[coupedncal]

... although I can see the reasoning for a "budget" Corvette. Another possibility, which has popped up in this forum before, is a V6 alternative based on the Solstice and Skye platform. On the one hand, the engineering is already in place, but the other side of the coin is the cost of producing a second car on another production line.

There already is a budget Corvette. It's sold under the slightly different name of a Camaro.