JerryU

Just posted, I think you will see future Corvettes as Hybrids or V-6 Turbos/Supercharged. I think the V-8 is on the way out, because of its weight, gas consumption, and cost.[/QUOTE]
Perhaps not a Hybrid like a Prius, more like F1. They have doubled the fuel mileage in recent years with smaller engines, more power and faster cars that have 5 or 6 seconds of ~160 hp added when needed. Some just put a motor/generator on the engine and do it with small batteries and very low weight.

Would not mind an extra 160 hp and more important an electric motor with max torque at zero rpm! Great for 0 to 60 runs! For the street 5 seconds is more than enough to go way over the speed limit!

1KULC7

The C8 development has been underway in the preliminary design phase, and there are a series of new Federal Regulations from the Transportation Department, that are really not favorable to Sports Cars. So they are more concerned on designing a Corvette to meet these guidelines, for example, the windshield rake has changed, the fender heights and ability to withstand crash tests have changes, the gas consumption (well known) has changed, the side protection for seats, newer emissions, and several others. So before Corvette can be designed, all of Chevrolet has to determine for all their car lineups how they approach the new regulations, and in the meantime put into the design concepts a good guess on what other laws or regulations might change, anticipating these too, that need to be at the very least considered into the design so if it does happen they can add without a full redesign. This takes a couple years before the can even determine which concept they select for the C8. Concepts are just that, those are developed years in advance, the C8 has four concepts they are considering. I am not even going to go in with Executive Management form GM and the Board of Directors approvals for design. If a whole new design is adopted, (like the C7), almost every major component of the car must undergo test and certification for crash, this takes time. So before you even get off the launching pad, you have several years of the approval process and approvals before you determine what the design will be, then you go through a whole new process of final design, before the proto is built. As a result, any model car when you have a total redesign will take minimum of 7 to 8 years.

So the 2020 date is a good one, but don't be surprised if you see 2021.

rmorin1249

GM is GM. Buick is a cheap Caddy, and Chevy is a cheap Buick. The money all goes into the same coffers. Kudos to Cadillac for trying to compete in racing.

1KULC7

Difference is you pay more for options, of course your are offered more options, as you go up the line. If Caddy does get the mid-engine you will pay more, much more for the Caddy nameplate, rather than the Chevrolet nameplate. But you will get more creature comforts in the Caddy because it is a Caddy.

roadbike56

Other than the better dealer experience, I think you hit a home run with everything else. I'm not sure that Chevy dealers, working with the Corvette, don't have an edge over the Caddy dealers who have only worked on a few CTS Vs. Everything else, I completely agree with, especially your predictions. The C7 might go on to 2022, depending on sales, profits and the ability to bring a C8 to market. Those that have predicted the end of the C7 in 2018, replaced by a mid-engine Corvette aren't reading the facts that have been disclosed in earlier threads. I keep going back to the panel manufacturer expanding their plant. They stated that C7 panels would be manufactured through 2021, and new panels would be needed for another vehicle, (they did NOT say another Corvette), to be introduced in 2019 probably as a MY 2020. All that agrees with what you said above.

1KULC7

Perhaps not a Hybrid like a Prius, more like F1. They have doubled the fuel mileage in recent years with smaller engines, more power and faster cars that have 5 or 6 seconds of ~160 hp added when needed. Some just put a motor/generator on the engine and do it with small batteries and very low weight.

Remember the Transformer Corvette Concept, "Sidewinder" a few years ago. Everybody was so concerned about the exterior and the big front and the Stingray on the back, few people noticed what was under the hood. It was a HYBRID Engine, V-8. BUT NOBODY NOTICED. IT WORKED and was successful. This is the grandfather to the VOLT technology.

The Volt is one of GM's the leading development cars for electric technology, and over the years they have extended the battery life, have managed to get lighter batteries, and faster charging. It will only be a mater of time before this technology (and other technology that GM is NOT talking about) is transferred over to a sports car.

I also will predict this, the next Corvette will ONLY BY all wheel drive.

In the very near future you will see Buick and Caddy with electric cars...sooner than what you think.

Front wheel drive is a necessary for a fully functional electric hybrid, especially in a sports sedan or coupe. It's odd two people on this forum actually agree.... Those are my predictions.

acroy

Oil is at $50, gas is $2, Trump plans to loosen regs, CAFE may loosen or end, demand is slack, I betcha we see gas stay the same or decline...

The current hybrids were developed 3-5+yrs ago, when oil was 100+ and expected to go higher forever.

We may have seen 'peak hybrid' for the time being. Hybrid sales as stagnant. Chevy has the Volt/Bolt etc as their 'green' cars. Hybrid adds weight, cost, complexity. They won't hybridize the Vette unless one or more of the following:
- customer demand
- real performance benefit

The demise of the n/a V8 has been predicted many times... yet it's still kickin!

RonnieC6Z

I was at the L.A. auto show last week and had a long talk with a lady who was there from Detroit. She works for Chevy and is involved with marketing and promotion of the Corvette and Camaro. She told me that there are 2 things that are definite and 1 unknown at this time. Definite is that the ZR1 will be out in 2017 and will most likely be introduced in Detroit next month. Also definite is that the C8 Corvette will be mid engine and is scheduled to be introduced in Detroit in January of 2018 and hit the streets early fall of 2018. What is unknown at this time is whether a front engine Corvette will be available when the mid engine C8 hits the streets, and, if so, for how long it will be available.

BaylorCorvette

Honestly I wouldn't put much stock into what a Prototype IMSA car is branded and engine layout. The mid engine CORVETTE Prototypes were out for a long time and we do not have a mid engine Corvette.

1KULC7

I respect you view on this, but would just like to point out a couple of facts that you might not have thought about. Yes gas is cheap, but for how long? Hybrids are still high in the development stages, and what is on the market is not what the future is. The market is as fickle as the consumers who determine it. Large SUVs are being sold at an all time high. In one month depending on world events, the importation of gas, or natural disaster, makes the gas market very volatile and venerable to sudden peaks in prices. People buy on what they experience at that time, most do not look at the future. GM and others must look into the future, and provide the market what they want now. So when reality really does hit, gas is not the long term solution. Second point I need to make is by 2025 there is a law on the books, and I doubt even Trump can dismiss it, that requires substantial increases in gas mileage, way beyond what we have today. The V8 cannot provide that time of milage and be within the limits of the law while producing the 350 plus horsepower that we all love with our Corvettes. V6 Supercharges/Turbos will replace the V8 and the time is getting much closer. The reason we did keep the V8s for so long because its a simplistic engine to design, it adapted well to computers, and it did produce the horsepower, but the gas laws did not require over 35 MPG average.

As I did state in my previous post, what we see being sold on the market is not necessarily what the future will bring for electric or hybrids. These cars are first and second generations. In the lab they have fourth and fifth generations, the problem still remain battery life, ability to quick charge, and weight. The fifth generation has found some of these answers but more work is needed.

I will say this, I know the next C8 Corvette will be such a radical change, most Corvette traditionalists will have a very hard time accepting it. This translates to the V6 is the engine that will replace the V8...I doubt you will see a v8 after 2021.

Again respect you view, and this is mine....

sunsalem

So...Porsche FINALLY admits their original rear engined design is inherently flawed.

They already did that...it's called the ATS-V:
http://www.cadillac.com/v-series/ats-v-sedan.html


For the record, the hybrid "powerunits" (as F1 calls them) are 1.6L V6 Turbos with electric assist.
As has been F1's tradition, the cars are all RWD.
This season's powerunits generated above 900hp (combined) and they used 30% less fuel than the older NA engines to achieve that power number.
There is no fuel refilling allowed during a race...max fuel capacity is 100 liters.
Sorry, I have been addicted to F1 for more than 20 years.
Reading your posts gives me the impression you might have Insider Information...

1KULC7

Not putting stock in it, but you cannot disregard it neither. IMSA cars are made to get attention, all I was saying was design and mechanical cues are in all the prototypes, of course what you see is not what you get, but small parts of what you see and don't see are what you get.

Engine technology will change soon, forced by laws that are already on the books.

Mid-engine Corvettes have been rumored since the C3. I agree, there still is not one on the market yet, and it will take time. But it will come, just like alternate engines and fuel alternatives. Just a matter of external forces either driving it near or pushing it off, but it will come.

1KULC7

I am very in tune with GM...let's leave it at that.

sunsalem

Wasn't trying to pump you for information...it was just an observation.

1KULC7

I understand...

Try to share what I can.

1KULC7

Did you see this, just came up on AP wire....

http://wtop.com/tech/2016/11/chrysle...electric-mode/

It is not the speed or the fact it's a mini-van, its about the technology that produces the result, and again the Hybrid is far from passé, it is being developed, we just usually do not hear about it when gas is so cheap.

sunsalem

84mpg equivalent is very impressive for something as heavy and utilitarian as a minivan.

JerryU

I'm older than you and have been following F1 technology many more than 20 years, since Phil Hill was F1 champ!

Two racing series that really advance technology, F1 and Pro Stock Drag Racing! The power the latter achieves with 500 cid normally aspirated engines is amazing!

ExRedRacer

They certainly aren't what they used to be...

DaveFerrari458

Cadillac has nothing on the Corvette except for some nicer dealerships! The Corvette IS GM's Flagship, its most expensive car, has more affluent customers, respected World-Wide (except for the haters), a certain cachet, rich racing heritage and so on.

There are plenty of affluent Corvette loyals or enthusiasts that will line up for a truly exotic, limited production Corvette Hyper car while not so many for Cadillac. For now Cadillac should focus on their SUV's and creating a truly S Class fighter flagship and after that maybe bring out their version of a Hyper Car.