GM's V8 Production Down by Half - Should Next Gen Corvette Adopt a V6 to Keep Up with the Times?

[toobroketoretire]

Does anyone know why G.M. is staying with the push rod 2-valve design when most everyone else has gone to overhead cams and 4 valves? Is G.M. just trying to prove it can still get performance out of an obsolete design?

[ddahlgren]

Consider that there are currently three primary reasons why the Corvette is looked down on by the global world of automotive performance sophisticates. First, it has a "plastic" body. Second, it has a "plastic" interior with poor ergonomics. Third, it has seats unfit for a Volkswagen.

It should be noted that while the ZO6 beat virtually every high performance sports car in the world around Laguna Seca by about 2.5 seconds in last years R&T drivers car showdown, it was ostensibly eliminated from the finals because of the cheap and unsafe seats. Rumors are that Chevrolet will address the seat issue and the impact it has had on high G cornering safety with the C7, if only as an option. If so, that criticism may substantially go away.

It should also be noted that while the mid 1990's Corvettes like the C4 ZR-1 had a perfectly acceptable high quality performance driver's seat, Chevrolet thereafter intentionally chose to regress to a cheaper non-performance oriented sports car seat while catering to the largest percentage of potential Corvette owners who had no desire to whip the car through an autocross course, let alone a twisty mountain road. The surveys said that comfort and ease of ingress/egress were the primary criteria of seat design desired by the masses. Chevrolet could have at least had a performance seat option, especially on the ZO6 and the ZR1, but they chose not to do so. Inexcusable.

An improved leather interior with better ergonomics may also be an option on the C7 line. If so, that criticism may at least measurably lessen.

The "plastic" body? We will likely never see a high end aluminum body on a Corvette. However, the increased utilization of aluminum framing with magnesium components as well as body panels of carbon fiber and soon perhaps composites will help to offset those criticisms somewhat, and may, someday, ultimately lead to ground breaking technology that will make aluminum bodies passe.

However, if Chevrolet in the foreseeable future tosses a V-6 into a true Corvette, even if it is turbo charged, that will be a stigma in the world of sophisticated sports cars that may will undo much of what has been wrought by the dramatic performance evolutions led by the ZO6 and the ZR1.

Could there be a successful Corvette vehicle with cheap seats, a cheap interior, and a V6? Perhaps, but it had better have a different body design, perhaps a sedan, and a marketing name like the Porsche Panamera or, perhaps more likely, a smaller more compact design and name like the Porsche Caymans. Those might be smart moves.

But, if they put a V6 in the real Corvette, that move coupled with the other stigmas mentioned above, could ultimately be the death knell of a wonderful American automotive performance icon. Heritage is everything. You'll never see a V6 in a high end Ferrari, Lambo, or Aston Martin. A Corvette V6, using current or foreseeable technology, would constitute a retreat, a concession to "properness."

An iconic vehicle like the Corvette cannot stand still nor regress. The Corvette must continue to advance or risk returning to insignificance in the high performance automotive realm.

Possibly turn it into a Fiero.... Low buck V6 econobox with flip up headlights...

[ddahlgren]

Does anyone know why G.M. is staying with the push rod 2-valve design when most everyone else has gone to overhead cams and 4 valves? Is G.M. just trying to prove it can still get performance out of an obsolete design?

What is crazy is you can get a 4 valve econobox or pickup truck...sigh.. at the end of the day the bean counters still win at gm and something to learn to live with. No matter what cool design is done if there is 200 bucks per unit to be saved and cut the soul out of the car they will bite and bet not car guys..
Dave

['67 Chevy]

How about building a 21st century Vette. Wouldn't you hammer-heads like to at least make a Nissan GT-R (0-60 in 2.9sec) work for the win?

If there's any doubt in your mind, at all, about which is the better car, then the Nissan is definitely for you!

You can have 'em all

[rshelb7]

One of the reasons I bought a Corvette Z06 rather than a Porsche 911 was that wonderful 7 liter V8 engine. The engine and the car are great. And by the way, my hugely fast and powerful Z06 gets better mileage than my wife's V6 Acura.

So, if you want a V6 Corvette, go ahead and buy one. I won't.

[Derek]

It needs that V8 rumble

[B747VET]

How about building a 21st century Vette. Wouldn't you hammer-heads like to at least make a Nissan GT-R (0-60 in 2.9sec) work for the win?

As Road & Track said in the 2011 Best Driver's Car Test: "The GT-R was the fastest in a straight line, but, the Corvette ZO6 was the fastest around the Laguna Seca track by a huge margin."

The GT-R is a two ton computer controlled pony car without a soul. Fast in a straightline yes, but still cold and impersonal overall.

[Huskerman]

Does anyone know why G.M. is staying with the push rod 2-valve design when most everyone else has gone to overhead cams and 4 valves? Is G.M. just trying to prove it can still get performance out of an obsolete design?

Didn't Corvette do that in the 90's with the ZR-1 LT5 engine that went on to be the basis of the Northstar Caddy engines. I think the less moving parts you have the better, especially if you get the HPower and TQ that you want. I do recall reading that the C5 had something like 1200 less parts in it than the C4.....in that case less was best and maybe the same is true in the LS engines.......I love small blocks......

['67 Chevy]

I do recall reading that the C5 had something like 1200 less parts in it than the C4...

That has to be something like 120 AIM pages!

Or was that just in the engine? I've never seen an engine AIM...

[Cruza]

The V8 is what makes the Vettes really stand out from the rest of the pack. I know that gas prices are a joke these days and V8's are on their way out, but Vettes should go out with a bang and not a whimper. Besides V6's just don't sound right to me!!

[67vet]

I had a 6 cylinder in my 54 Corvette - 155 HP. Maybe nice for the time and it does have a distinct sound.

I sold it and got the 2012 Grand Sport with 436 HP. When the NPP opens up there is a sweet roar. That is what a Corvette should sound like.

[KANE]

I do not personally think a V6 will sell.


However... if GM must move to a turbo six to keep up with CAFE, well... a V6 Vette is better than no Vette.




I do think GM could test the waters with a no-cost option for a V6.



BTW- Here is a Buick Turbo in a C4... perhaps this would give some idea of what a turbo Vette could be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX_vbUt8ThM

['67 Chevy]

I do think GM could test the waters with a no-cost option for a V6.

As long as it has a different body style and it's not called "Corvette" then that's cool

[LLC5]

Does anyone know why G.M. is staying with the push rod 2-valve design when most everyone else has gone to overhead cams and 4 valves? Is G.M. just trying to prove it can still get performance out of an obsolete design?

Cost and complexity, also throw in packaging. Overhead cam engines require much bigger cylinder heads and valve covers that can make packaging difficult. Much more cost effective to stay simple and effecient if possible, which GM and Chrysler have been able to do so far.

[bigbird05]

GM needs to keep up with the times. My generation loves our V-8s. The younger drivers are more into twin turbo V-6s. If GM wants to keep attracting newer drivers it needs to build Corvette into what they like. They should offer both engines for awhile then start to phase out the V-8.