gkmccready

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl...8/newsletter11

Less horsepower, less weight, better fuel economy, same power:weight.

Sounds like good goals to me... especially if they keep it so the motor swaps are easy.

John Shiels

how fast do we need to go even on the track? Less weight equals better handling and stoping which is just as important. I think eventually the engines will not be modded for street use at all. They will find a way to shut it down completely soon.

gkmccready

Faster than everybody else on the track, right? :-)

96GS#007

lighter/more nimble already exists...

96GS#007

Is this a trick question?

John Shiels

Faster yes? More power no. I get by a ton of guys with way more power than my 450 rwhp

linutux

Yes, but not the power to weight. Even the Exige 240R is only 2046lbs with 240hp.

Imagine a 2046 lb vette with 330hp; giving it the same p/w as the C6 Z06.

parkerracing

Spy pix of the new lighter, nimbler, more fuel efficent mid engined Corvette....

Solofast

That's not a real car fool, that's a Lotus.... A Lotus is just this side of a motorcycle...

Drop the weight to 2600 lbs or less and keep a V8, you will kill anything that Lotus makes....

I for one have been saying that this is the direction that the Corvette needs to go for more than a few years now. Make it just a bit smaller (like the last gen RX7), keep 350 hp or so, and Youaza lookout, I will be first in line....

CJR2

This reminds me of 1973 when they killed the muscle car at it's peak. High HP cars will come and go based on the whims of stupid politicians and those that elect them.

My Z06 gets 27 MPG on the highway with the cruise on...talk about green.

96GS#007

I'm just teasin' with you guys! Having said that, they are a lot of fun to toss around a track

Lancer033

over thanksgiving I did 1,100 miles and made 29.2mpg. The only change from my last track day was to put the OEM seat back in.

Slalom4me

Curb weight

• 2007 Solstice: 2900 lb
  
• 1993-1995 MAZDA RX-7: 2800-2900 lb
  
• McLaren F1: 2850 lb
  
• 2007 NISSAN VERSA: 2800 lb
  
• 2007 Honda Fit: 2500 lb
  
• 2007 TOYOTA YARIS: 2400 lb
  
• 2007 Lotus Exige: 2100 lb
  
• 2008 Smart Fortwo: 1800 lb

2008 C6: Coupe - 3220 lb, Z06 - 3160 lb

A 2600 lb Vette (not to mention a 2100 lb one) would be quite an
achievement.

.

SouthernSon

I have never been down the road in a lotus, but do you think most of us 'older generation' will feel as pampered in a new, lighter vette? Personally, I would love to see a smaller, lighter car. It would save tons of wear on tires and brake pads! It seems to me that the traditionally defined vette customer will be changing. I wonder if Mr. Wallace truly understands the target market?

Solofast

One of the keys is to get the size down closer to the RX7 and then do an aluminum frame (ala C6Z) with some carbon in the bodywork. With a smaller engine you don't need as big brakes, wheels, tires, transmission, and and much of the weight can spiral downwards. No doubt that it would be a quite an achievement, I am just saying that I think it could be done.

Remember that the RX7 was a steel unibody car, and it was still 350 pounds less than a C5Z. You have to think of it more as "could you take 200 pounds out of an RX7 with lighter materials" than looking at a current Corvette and trying to take out 500 or 600 pounds.... It won't be as big a car as we have now, but it would be a heck of a lot more fun to drive....

69autoXr

But where will they put the golf clubs?

Solofast

DOH!!!! I almost forgot they need to be able to fit two golf bags in the back of a Corvette. It is a design criteria!!!!

Kevin Howell, a Detroit area autocrosser tells a funny story about when he was doing design work on the C5.... There was a bunch of complaining and arguing about how big the rear compartment had to be to fit two golf bags.... Kevin had to go out an buy a couple of golf bags to put in the back of the mockup to make sure they could fit...

Kevin was doing a lot of design work on CATIA, modeling the entire chassis...Now there is a CATIA model of those bags in the GM archives so that they can plug them into the back of the design model and check to make sure that they fit...

Slalom4me

Perhaps a multi-element wing could serve a dual purpose?

Mount the bags externally by creating a CF cradle that attaches at
points on the trailing edge of the roof and extends horizontally rearward
to points on the upper deck of the M-E wing.

The car will be low enough that the lift-over is insignificant. Flush
mounting fasteners will mean that aero performance is unaffected on
track days. On golf days, transportation of the bags will be more
important than downforce.

Unrealistic? Perhaps.

Larger forces are at work. The priorities of Corvette's target market
may be shifting in the next five to ten years. If so, it will be interesting
to see how the division and its competitors adapt.

.

69autoXr

Perhaps, dare I say, a younger market?

Is this going to be a Solstice with a V8 and four round tail lights?

Solofast

I sure hope not... That was said to be an option in the running for the C7 and it was canned. They didn't hit any of their performance numbers, the car got heavy and they felt that it couldn't command a hefty premium in price (relative to the solsti) so the idea thankfully didn't get far.

I am impressed with the handling of the Solstice. In C/S form they are darned impressive and only a bit less so in A/S... Just need a lot more power and a lot less weight. The Solstice is a lot heavier than it needs to be. Likely the result of trying to come in at their price point... At nearly the weight of a C5Z with only a turbo four cyl engine is crazy..