Is the Manta Ray the Corvette We've Been Waiting For?

Spilling all the tea

New Corvette Forum member by the name of unlimitedPower started a new thread on the 4th that has collectively thrown the internet into a flurry. I will begin by saying that we all can take what he or she states with a gigantic grain of salty salt but everything in their mic dropping blurb sounds just about correct with all of the things we've been able to put together already about the forthcoming mid-engine Vette. unlimitedPower states "If you don’t believe me then that’s fine, I wouldn’t either if I was in your shoes, but I’m compelled to post now so there is less disappointment later when the Eagle has Landed."

This is getting juicy

The OP of the thread hit all of us over and over with tidbits of information such as the C8 going by the name of "Manta Ray" taking things over from the C7 Sting Ray. GM has in fact trademarked that name but has also done the same for "Zora" in a nod towards the man who first purposed a mid-engine Corvette, Zora Arkus-Duntov. "The C8 Corvettes at Nürburgring are the real thing - the 2020 Corvette Manta Ray. This base Corvette will be powered by an updated LT1 V8 with about 520hp and 485 lb-ft torque."

>>Join the conversation about the C8 and the potential flavors right here in the Corvette Forum!

Hmmm Vanilla or Rocky Road?

Things get even more interesting when unlimitedPower asserts that there will be an assist from Cadillac in the form of a luxurious GT model that we could see facing off against a Porsche 911 or an Aston Martin Vantage. "It’s a true GT and in addition to standard MRC it will deploy a full gamut of NVH countermeasures like acoustic glass, heavy sound deadening, and special wheels/tires, all for a cross-country tourer that with a twist of the mode dial will handle any road or even a race track. The GT will be propelled by a version of Cadillac’s 4.2L twin turbo V8 with the turbos moved to the sides, and this engine is said to be the quietest V8 GM has ever developed. Word is that GM benchmarked the Corvette GT’s NVH against German luxury tourers from Mercedes Benz and BMW. Not sports cars, tourers." 

>>Join the conversation about the C8 and the potential flavors right here in the Corvette Forum!

No more alphanumeric names like Z06

For those of us who may have gotten worried about Corvette going soft have nothing to fear as the next reveal is all about another higher variant performance model. This segment of Corvette sounds like the personification of pure evil manifested into the form of a street legal leviathan. "The Grand Sport moniker will be used for the insane sports version and it will feature additional escalating packages with more and more track orientation." "... the GS will be powered by a beastly 5.5L twin turbo V8 that is said to be frighteningly powerful and in private track sessions has dominated both “the Germans and Italians.” That’s just the first year GS, not the track-oriented version. My description isn’t hyperbole - those who have driven the GS tell me that it is literally frightening to floor it. GM even had a team of lawyers in to advise on the legal perils of selling such a potent vehicle for street use." 

>>Join the conversation about the C8 and the potential flavors right here in the Corvette Forum!

Well that's a relief

Before ending their post with some information about the Camaro moving up in the world to fill the slot that the C7 held in performance, the OP gave us some info on the service experience that C8 owners can look forward to. "You won’t have to worry about Joey the Chevy Cruze expert wrenching on your Corvette since dealers will require a minimum count of certified Corvette techs and only those techs will be permitted to work on Corvettes." 

All in all, this has only continued to stoke the fires of enthusiasts around the world and will undoubtedly cause many Corvette owners to possibly start to look at their C7s a bit sideways. 

To read the post in full and see what other enthusiasts make of this info drop, click here. 

>>Join the conversation about the C8 and the potential flavors right here in the Corvette Forum!

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