NYC6

This is bad news for Corvette fans and all sports car people in general.

budgreen3564

i agree. MT is the worst monthly mag. there won't be enough ZR1's built to have an overall impact on Cafe #'s. doom and gloom, just like the mainstream media this week about wall street. UP 300 POINTS TODAY!!!

johnodrake

I'll keep my C6 'til they pry my cold dead hands off the shifter

Fighter Vette

Party like it's 1969, looks like the 1970s version 2.0 are just around the corner.

carnut2912

What happened to direct injection, dispacement on demand, lighter materials, etc. If you put all these technologies in the corvette wouldn't that get 35MPG+. I hear some guys talk about getting 30+ mpg with a different cam, headers a tune, etc. If I were GM I would be more concerned about how to get the pickup trucks closer to 35. Also, what technologies are going to be around by 2020, that we don't have now. Some are better batteries, fuel cells, etc. Sounds like speculation and alot of unnessecery worrying by GM to me.

phileaglesfan

Has the world's car designers and engineers really became this pathetic? They should look at this as an attainable challenge, especially since they have 12 years to meet the standard. 35mpg is nothing since the Vette currently makes an easy 25mpg. Just hope the automakers don't fight for a 55mph speed limit to increase their ratings. That and some other things mentioned would put them above 35mpg.

BrianH

I'm with you Phil. I'm sure it can and will be done on the vette and the standards will be met. It's just going to take some work.

calvie018

Thx!

Jinx

I suspect that C7 was to be evolutionary, and now they're regrouping to reach for something more daring.

Corvette has led the way for GM in "breaking in" new technology for mass production before; I'd expect it to do the same soon...

...but perhaps not right away. C6 is strong, and already ahead of the CAFE curve relative to its competition, and even at 30,000+ units per year is not a huge needle-mover for GM's fuel economy average. GM can afford to extend C6 another few years while it focuses engineering effort on improving the high-volume products in the pipeline.

Honestly, I'd rather see C7 sleep for two years. Give the geeks more time to sort out what the next big leap can be. Maybe it's a carbon-fiber tub...

For that matter, in two years, this fever-dream of pain-free fuel economy improvements may have broken, and we'll have found a more rational way to encourage consumers to prioritize fuel economy without strangling choice -- and Corvette won't have been Chicken-Littled into a Solstice.


One thing that makes downsizing a tough sell: the occupants aren't getting any smaller.

.Jinx

Rob 99

And besides the CAFE rule is a average across the board for each manufacturer so getting the Vette up a couple mpg's and eliminating/changing the gas pig's in there lineup by 2020 could be an attainable goal. The Vette alone dosnt have to get 35MPG.

russ_777

The vette is not what will suffer the most because of this - the heavy SUVs and trucks that sell in much larger numbers contribute much more significantly to GM's overall CAFE average mileage. I agree with you, with technologies that are in the pipeline now, the current C6 could get 10-20% better mileage without shedding weight or power.

Victoryred 08

Very interesting.........

cadguymark

I like the idea Tom Wallace stated of an LS2 powered Vette that weighs less

Tom said it would be faster
but it should also stop quicker, get better gas mileage, and handle better

some say there is no substitute for horsepower I disagree

there is no substitute for weight reduction

CessnaDriver

And with that reduction, a loss in mass, resulting in losing in traffic collisions.

TMyers

It better have more than that considering my Duramax has 665 stock.

bgreen83

I dont think GM would just give up with the C7 if it was for not good reason. You guys make it seem like its something easy to accomplish. I doubt it is. I dont know nothing about bulding cars and making them get better MPG but if GM is talking abotu calling it quits then there mmust be more to it.

Yea the car might be lighter with less power and be quick but will it have the raw power that most of us are accustomed to.

shopdog

Another innumerate statement from Wallace. Losing 300 pounds is not a substitute for 105 hp. To keep the same performance, the weight loss to compensate for a 105 hp drop would have to be 735 pounds.

Also, am I the only one who is astonished that Wallace would be talking about bringing back the LS2? (In another quote, he was talking about a 4.7 liter engine, perhaps the more familar to him Northstar was on his mind.)

The one good piece of news is that the rear mid-engine Corvette that's been talked about is now officially dead because it won't work as a convertible. Good excuse to kill a bad idea.

steve miller

Yeah right If that were so Todd you'd be home now. It really is like the 70's....Illegal war and all

rothchilds

I don't see the problem of delaying the C7. I'd like to see a long model run for the C6. I'm not keen on jumping cars so often, and I don't see anything wrong with my current car.

Wethingtonvette8093

AMEN, and I think we all wish it was that easy...too much power in the govt now days in my opinion. What good does it have to have a democracy when every running is getting paid to say what people want to hear, and then do what they promised under the table when they are in. and they pretty much have it set up, only the rich, and former politicians can run.