Would You consider a V6-Powered Corvette?

[hoosierdaddy]

I can get 26 to 28 MPG on the highway if I drive like I got half a brain

[Hib Halverson]

What do you get if you drive the car like you have a quarter of a brain?

[ROCKETBLOCK]

Chevy is powering the 2012 Indycars with a V-6. I'll bet that has enough horsepower and a lot of that technology can be applied to a kick azz new Corvette that is slightly smaller, lighter, more fuel efficient and faster then the current dinosaur.

The days of the gas sucking, smog pumping, piston thumping engines are numbered anyway.

JMHO!!!!!

[HD2KC162]

Suppose we consider a smaller lighter Corvette with a smaller V8 as a solution. V8 engines are better balanced(from a mechanical engineering dynamics perspective) than a V6 of equal displacement. Contrast the 4.3 liter(litre) or 262 cubic inch V6 that was sliced off the 350 V8 casting and was widely used by Chevrolet in Astro Van's and other applications. In early versions it vibrated....so they later added a balance shaft to counterbalance the vibration. A V8 of approximately the same displacement (265 cubic inches) started the Chevy small block tradition and was notoriously well balanced as it came from the factory and widely modified by drag racets to turn over 8000 RPM.

So....let's see a 2700 pound Corvette with about 265 cubic inches refined with the technologies from the LS small blocks that are currently producing phenomenal specific output WITH PUSHROD VALVE TRAINS....and maybe add SOHC heads. Not hard to imagine 350-400 reliable horsepower without the complexity and maintenance headaches that come with a Turbo.....and having "added lightness" by limiting the weight to 2700 pounds it would be a rocket.

[Hib Halverson]

The ancient 4.3 V6 vibrated...actually the problem was engine shake at idle caused by the firing impulses, not vibration caused by engine imbalance....because it was a 90°V6. Any six-cylinder V engine with a 90° bank angle is going to have trouble with engine shake.

The likely candidate for a V6 Corvette is a four-cam, 60° V6 of 3.6-liters. That engine already makes 323-hp in unblown form in the Camaro. A couple of turbos would have that engine at 375-400-hp fairly easily. The package would weigh about the same or a little less than a V8 and would get better fuel mileage which is the key concern going forward.

The idea that turbo-superchargers are inherently unreliable or maintenance-intensive in production car and light-truck applications is just B.S. Millions of production vehicles with gas and diesel engines use them.

If the 2014 Corvette had a V6 TT has a base engine, the 5.5L Gen 5 V8, the one with direct injection, VVT and AFM will probably be an option.

But....be it a 400hp V6 or a 400hp 5.5L V8, the days of 638-hp LS9s and 505-hp LS7s will end in 2013.

[88C4]

Even though I will never be able to afford either a Z06 or ZR1, it is a shame that they are going away. I cannot see either of these cars with anything but the magnificent power plants that they come with.

[garyhagler]

Would you consider a higher-revving, lower priced and possibly more fuel efficient V-6 powered Chevrolet Corvette?

Or does such a car go against the traditional Corvette philosophy of an affordable V-8 powered American sports car that rivals the performance standards of many European offerings?

I have a C3 crossfire. My Dad had a 91-94 Olsmobile 98 with a v6 with supercharger 3800. Fuel mileage was 35 mpg. It was fater than my 82 crossfire. I wonder what a 3800 v6 supercharger would do in my 82/

[catbert]

Remember how the stock V6 Typhoons and Syclones used to spank the Vettes back in 90-91. Wasn't even close.

[Hib Halverson]

Back in the early 90s, I had a C3 which would "spank" those Syclones and Typhoons but, when I passed them, if the driver was cute, I'd spank her, not her truck.



Maybe too much coffee this morning.....

[catbert]

Back in the early 90s, I had a C3 which would "spank" those Syclones and Typhoons but, when I passed them, if the driver was cute, I'd spank her, not her truck.



Maybe too much coffee this morning.....

Which C3 would run 13 flat pure stock? My Typhoon ran 13.04 at 2,450 elev, pure stock with a flowmaster and K&N replacement element. If you are talking modified versions, I'd still take the Jimmy.