Next-Generation Corvette Will be "Completely Different"

[Sabre]

Torque report

GM is planning on introducing an all-new Chevy Corvette in 2013 and according to GM's Mark Reuss, the next Corvette will be "completely different." This is provides more fuel to the rumors that the next Corvette could adopt a mid-engined layout.

GM's senior executives have acknowledged that the current Corvette is not completely competitive with global sports cars from Ferrari and Porsche. GM's goal for the seventh-generation Corvette is to make it a truly global competitor when it's released in 2013.

There's a strong possibility that the Corvette could get a mid-engined layout, although it would be a major engineering shift. Even though it would be a significant change, sources claim that it wouldn't be completely out of line, since the Corvette has often served as a technological testbed for GM. There are also rumors that GM could also revive the split rear window design of the 1963 Corvette.

GM also claims that the interior of the next Corvette will be "absolutely world class."

I bet all the Vette purists are all up in arms about this. I can't help but think that this is a great change for the platform. We'll see about that interior...

[complacent]

i can't wait to see what they brew up. i'm genuinely excited.

[scheherazade]

Wait for it, wait for it...


"Front Mid Engine".


My 2c.


Although, I've never thought of the vette as not competitive. It does just fine in FIA GT#.

-scheherazade

[PGT]

my co-worker has a C6 comp pkg with long tube headers and a tune. puts down a ton of power. riding in it....I don't get it. It's small, cramped and ugly inside and big outside. My car is 90% as fast but a nice place to spend time. I realize a proper sports car isn't a luxo-coupe but after having driven a 911 or two, the Vette ranks a solid "meh" for me.

[Mr Kleen]

The interior is the downfall, but has GM ever produced a really nice interior?

The CTS I rented last year was nice but the center console kept hitting my right knee. If I moved the seat back far enough to not hit my knee, my arms were fully extended. If I made my arms comfortable with the wheel, my knee hit the console again. I'm not a freak of nature, I can't be the only person who can't get completely comfortable in what is billed as a luxury sport sedan. No telescoping wheel on a this type of car in 2010? Really? And that's the best interior that GM has ever produced, at least that I am aware of.

[Raven]

my co-worker has a C6 comp pkg with long tube headers and a tune. puts down a ton of power. riding in it....I don't get it. It's small, cramped and ugly inside and big outside. My car is 90% as fast but a nice place to spend time. I realize a proper sports car isn't a luxo-coupe but after having driven a 911 or two, the Vette ranks a solid "meh" for me.

It's definitely a very hard core experience. I like to think of my miata as a mini corvette. It's fun in the corners and the loud pedal is great. However, the interior is generally very nasty hard plastic and there is no wasted space. Generally it's crap on the highway.

[chicken n waffles]

my co-worker has a C6 comp pkg with long tube headers and a tune. puts down a ton of power. riding in it....I don't get it. It's small, cramped and ugly inside and big outside. My car is 90% as fast but a nice place to spend time. I realize a proper sports car isn't a luxo-coupe but after having driven a 911 or two, the Vette ranks a solid "meh" for me.

you don't have to own a merc or have driven a 911 to know the corvette's interior is garbage

[PGT]

no, it wasn't the plastic that surprised me. it was the craptastic experience/ergonomics. A 911 is a smallish place too but at least it feels thoughtfully laid out for a driver

[drwrx]

I like to think of my miata as a mini corvette. It's fun in the corners and the loud pedal is great. However, the interior is generally very nasty hard plastic and there is no wasted space. Generally it's crap on the highway.

The Miata is actually a much better driving environment that the Vette (at least in past models that I have driven).
I felt like everything in the Miata is designed with the driver in mind; pedal placement, shifter, console, dash layout.
The Vette, not so much.

[Mr Kleen]

no, it wasn't the plastic that surprised me. it was the craptastic experience/ergonomics. A 911 is a smallish place too but at least it feels thoughtfully laid out for a driver

Is the key still on the left side of the wheel? That's the only thing I hated about the one I drove.

[PGT]

yes, that's tradition (old school racers jumping in the car, key in the left hand, right hand puts the car in gear). if you get a keyfob system, it doesn't matter anyways.

[complacent]

no, it wasn't the plastic that surprised me. it was the craptastic experience/ergonomics. A 911 is a smallish place too but at least it feels thoughtfully laid out for a driver

Is the key still on the left side of the wheel? That's the only thing I hated about the one I drove.

At least it's not in the center console... and you don't have to put the trans in reverse to remove it.

[PGT]

ZING!

[Raven]

At least it's not in the center console... and you don't have to put the trans in reverse to remove it.

Yeah, I know. That would make way too much sense for Porsche to implement.

[complacent]

At least it's not in the center console... and you don't have to put the trans in reverse to remove it.

Yeah, I know. That would make way too much sense for Porsche to implement.

compared to the "racing history" of lemans and such... you're right. it's definitely safer the saab way.

[Raven]

compared to the "racing history" of lemans and such... you're right. it's definitely safer the saab way.

Either way, they both make a hell of a lot more sense than putting it behind the steering wheel. I mean why on earth would you obscure the master switch of the car?

[Sabre]

So you don't turn it off on the road with your elbow....

[Raven]

I only did that once ever.

[complacent]

interesting update... next corvette will be powered by small, high-revving turbo v-8

ft..w? i'm morbidly curious.

Anxious to attract the sort of high-performance buyers increasingly drawn to European sports cars from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini, General Motors is planning some major changes for the next-generation Chevrolet Corvette – starting with a high-revving, small-displacement powertrain, that will substitute for the big V-8s traditionally found under the hood of the Chevy two-seater.

GM has approved the use of a very European-style V-8 that will be only slightly larger than 3 liters in displacement. The engine will be an overhead-cam, rather than traditional overhead-valve design, using a dry sump oil system that’s particularly well suited to high-performance road courses rather than straight-line acceleration. The engine is expected to feature a narrow 80.5 mm bore and a long stroke, more like a Ferrari or Lamborghini powertrain than the approach used for traditional Motor City metal.

A very senior GM executive also confirmed that the new engine will be turbocharged, which will help yield a broad torque curve and maximum performance under a variety of driving conditions. The engine is expected to deliver in excess of 400 horsepower, which means a specific output in the range of 125 horsepower per liter. That’s the sort of number that would help the next-generation Vette stack up well against the likes of a Porsche 911 or Lamborghini Gallardo.

The engine is likely to be extremely high-revving, perhaps climbing to a near-Formula One-class 10,000 RPMs, suggested one source involved in the project.

The revelation tracks in line with a recent comment by General Motors’ North American President Mark Reuss, who recently promised that the so-called C7 Corvette, due to market in less than two years, will be “completely different” from the very American sports cars that have come before it. Since its launch in 1953, Corvette has been governed by the philosophy, “there’s no replacement for displacement.”

[Sabre]

Oh man, I bet the vette guys are all up in arms about this one! They will pull the old school guys kicking and screaming in to the modern age some how!

The engine is likely to be extremely high-revving, perhaps climbing to a near-Formula One-class 10,000 RPMs, suggested one source involved in the project.

This also makes me think... tuning will gain a lot more on a turbo platform than it did on the NA platform (without adding power adders)

[Mr Kleen]

I don't really see the Corvette guys being as tied to tradition as you make out, J. I think overall they'll embrace what ever direction GM takes the car if it's a good car.
Porsche fanatics on the other hand...

[Sabre]

Most of the Vette guys I knew threw a fit when the pop-up lights went away because it "broke with tradition", we'll see how this turns out

The only reason I have seen Porsche people throw a fit are when you mention a non-rear engine 911... that definitely gets them going, haha. (even though it would make that car 10000% better mid engine)

[complacent]

the more i read about it, the more excited i become. this could really be something cool.

[Libra Monkee]

Hopefully this all means the car will be less flimsy. Also, something wanted by more people than redneck quadragenarians with a mid-life crisis.

[Raven]

This small-turbo V8 thing is just emissions smoke and mirrors. In the 80's everyone was running turbocharged engines because it was the only way to get performance and still meet the emissions requirements of the day. The engine was effectively smaller when they performed the test. This is the same idea, except the name of the game is CO2 emissions now.

Also, I don't believe 10,000 rpms for one minute. We'll get 8, maybe...