Next Corvette Will Be Powered by Small, High-Revving Turbo V-8
06-03-2011, 02:25 PM
#81
Drifting
You are hereby sentenced to drive large-block, low-revving, carbed, massive-torque American cars that are high-performance and decidely low-tech.
I hope you are satisfied.
06-03-2011, 02:33 PM
#82
Le Mans Master
Member Since: Jul 2000
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porsche was in deep dire financial straits when they had only the 911 line.
porsche instead of changing the 911, they offered a less expensive porsche(more AFFORDABLE for younger folks),then they added an SUV,and now a sedan! many of the porsche 911 loyalists were shocked and dismayed to see their beloved porsche (911)name cheapened.
porsche made the right move, offer porsches for different budgets and tastes while keeping the 911 relevant. now when someone says they have a porsche, you have to ask "which one".
ferrari and her sister lambo make and sell a tiny number of cars by design. i notice ferrari now has an awd 4 passenger model coming out...i'll be darned. maybe they are trying to appeal to a broader US base too(that's sort of a joke). with this "new" gm approach, i wonder if gm will now offer an awd corvette too.
so dear GM, make the ZR1/Z06/GS/ base and keep tweaking them, but if you want to appeal to a younger demographics look no further than porsche(part of volkswagen). you have porsches and then you have porsches. you can have corvettes and then you can have corvettes.
that soltice/sky could easily have been transformed into a "boxster/cayman" corvette equivalent.
don't go down that path of selling the same number of corvettes but just to younger buyers. have the best of both by offering more types of corvettes.
porsche instead of changing the 911, they offered a less expensive porsche(more AFFORDABLE for younger folks),then they added an SUV,and now a sedan! many of the porsche 911 loyalists were shocked and dismayed to see their beloved porsche (911)name cheapened.
porsche made the right move, offer porsches for different budgets and tastes while keeping the 911 relevant. now when someone says they have a porsche, you have to ask "which one".
ferrari and her sister lambo make and sell a tiny number of cars by design. i notice ferrari now has an awd 4 passenger model coming out...i'll be darned. maybe they are trying to appeal to a broader US base too(that's sort of a joke). with this "new" gm approach, i wonder if gm will now offer an awd corvette too.
so dear GM, make the ZR1/Z06/GS/ base and keep tweaking them, but if you want to appeal to a younger demographics look no further than porsche(part of volkswagen). you have porsches and then you have porsches. you can have corvettes and then you can have corvettes.
that soltice/sky could easily have been transformed into a "boxster/cayman" corvette equivalent.
don't go down that path of selling the same number of corvettes but just to younger buyers. have the best of both by offering more types of corvettes.
A Corvette is a Chevrolet. Chevy has tons of sedans. They already have a gaggle of SUV's; very nice ones at that. Now all they need is a 1500 or Tahoe that has a 7 liter tuned for lower end torque and they would be covered. Yes they could have moved the Solstice or Sky to Chevy and adjusted the styling to have Chevy brand styling cues and had an entry sports car. Of course Chevy is supposed to be the value brand, Pontiac was supposed to the performance brand.
GM had the Fiero as a relatively inexpensive mid-engine car. It was not that hard to drop the engine. It's problem was they could not decide between a commuter car and a sports car. Due to econonic times they brought the commuter and people were expecting a sports car. It sucked initially. About the time the made it a decent car (drivetrain and suspension changes), they dropped it. A small block would squeeze in. That had to be a ride! The chassis and body, body mounting engineering was great! they should have adapting that to other cars, like the Corvette (the chassis is similar in thought, a drivable spaceframe).
It is possible to build an inexpensive mid-engine car with the engine behind the cockpit. They can be tough to work on though without dropping the cradle. However, if it is engineered right that can be made very easy to do.
06-03-2011, 03:19 PM
#83
Melting Slicks
06-03-2011, 03:33 PM
#84
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How about variable cam timing on the motors they already have? Would be nice to have a real dsg trans too.
Last edited by BWATSONZ06; 06-03-2011 at 03:44 PM.
06-03-2011, 03:59 PM
#85
Team Owner
One of the main reasons that the Corvette sells to the older crowd is the $$$. The engine may be a factor, but your average "young" driver doesn't have $50k to blow on a 2 seat vehicle.
That takes established money and with that comes age.
That takes established money and with that comes age.
06-03-2011, 04:31 PM
#86
Burning Brakes
Just a comment on the article mentioning the Corvette to appeal to a younger buyer....some here have wondered why that is necessary? C'mon folks, what is the average age of a Corvette owner....a NEWER Corvette... it has to be in the 50's, mid to upper 50's. The need to appeal to those in their 30's and 40's is real for the car. There are ALOT of Corvette alternatives out there from Europe and they appeal to a younger base. I agree GM needs to go with a new tartget on this next Corvette...especially as long as they leave a model going for, by the time the C8 comes out, it may be too late for the Corvette to survive...THAT would be the worst thing. Appealing to a younger base is really the only way to keep the Corvette going.
http://www.sema.org/?q=node/1697
But it has all kinds of demographics based on all the Vettes registered in the US.
I knew from club meets etc, the crowd was older, but this is much older then I though.
06-03-2011, 04:41 PM
#87
Melting Slicks
I dont fear a change, im always excited to see what teh next gen will bring us. What I do fear is them trying to make it more "European" as this article and some others have stated. Its not a European car, dont try and make it one. Make it unquestionably American, but make it the best damn American car you can, while sticking to the roots of being a performance car within reach of the everyday working class. I dont mind FI (love the LS9), but dont just try and mimic something out of other sports cars. Keep the pushrod V8, maybe back to a 5l or 5.7 if you like, put a turbo in it and have some fun! 
06-03-2011, 06:28 PM
#89
Its the Global Economy, the United States is losing all its identity, so the last bastion of this is the Corvette. So we need to build a Porsche to keep selling Corvettes. How about the interior, upgrading that, how about better reliability, how about no piston slap, or seats that do not rock or a column lock that does not lock you out from using your own car. How about just fixing what is wrong before you go global. Keep your C5 and C6s they will be worth more as Americana then the European version of the Corvette
06-03-2011, 06:46 PM
#90
Race Director
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aren't some car taxes in Europe affected by engine displacement? I'm not sure, but I thought I read an article saying that, and that was part of the reason that so many smaller turbocharged engines are popular in other countries instead of larger v8s. If that's true, a smaller turbo or SC could help sales overseas.
06-03-2011, 07:12 PM
#91
You guys are way off on you assessment of young car buyers with 50k to 100k to spend. There are plenty of them around, just 0% of them buy corvettes. Granted there is a surplus of knuckle dragging old farts that buy corvettes, but they won't live forever. GM needs to make sure they reach a younger demographic, because if they don't, when those guys are old farts they won't be buying corvettes and no one will be building corvettes.
06-03-2011, 08:38 PM
#92
Race Director
Jimmy
06-03-2011, 08:52 PM
#93
Racer
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I seriously don't know why everyone is freaking. This is the future, deal with it. Those of us who one big V8 push rods just had the value of our cars go up, ahhhh to finally own a classic from the "good ol` days".
AS I TOLD YOU ALL RIGHT HERE IN OCTOBER, think "Ford Eco-Boost". This is what Chevy truck engines will look like, and true to Chevrolet's history of Chevy trucks and Corvettes having very similar, if not the same, engines since 1953, Corvettes are getting a high performance Chevy Truck engine. Big push-rod V8's are dinosours, and if GM does not adapt soon, we will not even have Corvette. GM is already getting their butts kicked by the Eco-Boost because they laid off thousands of engineers during the crash. "Adapt or die"...Darwin.
By the way:
I TOLD YOU SO:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c7-g...post1577785596
AS I TOLD YOU ALL RIGHT HERE IN OCTOBER, think "Ford Eco-Boost". This is what Chevy truck engines will look like, and true to Chevrolet's history of Chevy trucks and Corvettes having very similar, if not the same, engines since 1953, Corvettes are getting a high performance Chevy Truck engine. Big push-rod V8's are dinosours, and if GM does not adapt soon, we will not even have Corvette. GM is already getting their butts kicked by the Eco-Boost because they laid off thousands of engineers during the crash. "Adapt or die"...Darwin.
By the way:
I TOLD YOU SO:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c7-g...post1577785596
I think GM has fell completely off the band wagon!
06-03-2011, 10:18 PM
#95
Safety Car
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06-03-2011, 10:38 PM
#96
Team Owner
06-03-2011, 10:43 PM
#97
To me the only reason to change is when that change equals improvement. In this case smaller might not mean better. For example, the 350Z VQ motor was not lighter than the Corvette's LS motor. I do not think most buyers have a problem with a motor putting out over 400hp that gets great mpg like the C6. I think they do have issues with built quality such as interior, rattles etc.
When you look at most high reving motors such as Ferrrai's then have lower tq thus to me not as desireable. I prefer the C7 has more focus on eliminating the numb steering, better interior.
When you look at most high reving motors such as Ferrrai's then have lower tq thus to me not as desireable. I prefer the C7 has more focus on eliminating the numb steering, better interior.
06-03-2011, 10:51 PM
#98
Team Owner
To all the small displacement fans in here...
Spend some time in the import forums. It's very common to put an LSX motor in a 350z, RX7, Miata, GTR(or GTS-T at least), and other Japanese performance cars. Lighter(or comparable) weight, compact, great fuel economy, and great power potential, as well as the ability of any mechanic in the world being able to work on an SBC.
Just take a long look at Le Mans and what Corvette has been doing there with a pushrod V8. They've had to restrict the intake and add weight to the car to slow it down.
Spend some time in the import forums. It's very common to put an LSX motor in a 350z, RX7, Miata, GTR(or GTS-T at least), and other Japanese performance cars. Lighter(or comparable) weight, compact, great fuel economy, and great power potential, as well as the ability of any mechanic in the world being able to work on an SBC.
Just take a long look at Le Mans and what Corvette has been doing there with a pushrod V8. They've had to restrict the intake and add weight to the car to slow it down.
06-03-2011, 11:02 PM
#99
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To me the only reason to change is when that change equals improvement. In this case smaller might not mean better. For example, the 350Z VQ motor was not lighter than the Corvette's LS motor. I do not think most buyers have a problem with a motor putting out over 400hp that gets great mpg like the C6. I think they do have issues with built quality such as interior, rattles etc.
When you look at most high reving motors such as Ferrrai's then have lower tq thus to me not as desireable. I prefer the C7 has more focus on eliminating the numb steering, better interior.
When you look at most high reving motors such as Ferrrai's then have lower tq thus to me not as desireable. I prefer the C7 has more focus on eliminating the numb steering, better interior.
06-04-2011, 09:17 AM
#100
Most of them are looking at the S5, R8s, M3s, SL500, E550, Jags, Land Rovers type vehicles. A few can afford the Ferraris, Astons, Masserattis, Lambos, Bentleys and other top line exotic supercars.
Again; it not a lot of people but anyone who is the top 1% of the income - $250,000 or more can afford any Corvette - even the ZR1.
Plus, those who cannot; can if they save for it - might take 5 or 6 years like in the earlier times without financing that is; since their income level will not qualify them for the typical 48 month installment or even leasing it. But saving for it; will make life simple! It the reverse of modern day thought.