racingsfun

Does anybody know why the new 2018 Zr1 is coming with the old 8 speed automatic and not the 10 speed? All I can assume is the 10 speed can't handle the torque and is going to the more robust 8 speed?

John Ulrich

The 10 is longer by an inch or so.....will not fit.

dbirdhouse1

and we will see a ten speed down the road (no pun intended)

racingsfun

Good to know. Know of the most torque the 8 speed auto can handle once you up the line pressure and do whats readily available mod wise to them?

defaria

Couldn't just make the car 1 inch bigger?

PeteC7

Yup but a new frame would negate all of the cost savings of utilizing the C7 platform.

proexpert

The glass slipper doesn't fit, oh wait, I can make my foot smaller.

johnglenntwo

They would had to have pulley down the LT5, which, would hurt marketing!
Just like a ZO6 A8 limp mode at The Ring would have!

lakemg

You could, but you'd need a toe truck to haul pieces away...

phileaglesfan

Makes sense since you have another couple gears.

Foosh

Exactly, and GM is not going to develop a new platform for a car projected to sell 2-3K units a year, in the 6th MY of the C7 run.

Next gen . . . maybe.

ZenicaPA

↑ Then why tarnish the ZR1 namesake by attaching it to the C7 which has garnered something of a negative rep with the A8. For just a few thousand cars a year, it could have waited and instead, bump the HP of the Z06 by a few to keep its interest up before the C8.

Foosh

Who cares about the ZR1 name? It's just a name, which is not all that special, particularly when the C7 version puts all previous ones to shame. They trotted out the ZR1 name w/ the C3, C4 and the C6 gens late in their lives. By your definition, all ZR1s should be considered "tarnished," as more power on an aging platform w/ a few other tweaks.

ZR1 has historically been a marketing ploy to pump a little more life into Corvettes late in their run to generate a little new excitement about aging models. It's always worked because many customers fall for new model name games. They could have put wider fender panels, wheels, and bigger brakes on the Z51 to distinguish it from the base, but for marketing purposes it was better to bill that incarnation as an entirely new model (GS). The new model name game is working again, but there is always something much better on the horizon.

ZenicaPA

Incorrect assumption. The name ZR1 does carry with it a reputation for being the pinnacle of the line. That line is not linear from the Corvettes inception but rather the generation in which that iteration of ZR1 is introduced. Your smart enough to know this.


That game as you put it always plays out in the automotive world, nothing new. Some manufacturers do safeguard certain models or nameplates for the sake of the name.

GM could have done the same here instead of watering down the name ZR1 by associating it to the C7 generation.

At least in the case of the ZR1, the price tag includes a bump in HP and other performance enhancements. The GS seems like a watered down car, not just a watered down name. Yes I know, the GS has its loyal following but for every article boasting it, I can find one saying it needs "just a little more HP".

Rkreigh

when the new zr1 can go out and take the FIA endurance record which currently sits at 201 ave, it has earned the legendary status

with a top end of 210, and a few tweaks to add more hp and reduce drag, the car could get up over 215 or so which would just make it fast enough.

Come on GM, I'm ready, let's do this thing!

It's only right to prove the meddle of the car and make the new king worthy to the throne.

Kent1999

Soooo.... the C7, the best generation of Corvette ever produced, now is some sort of pariah from which the precious “ZR1” nameplate must be shielded??? How does that work, sport?

Go ahead, you’ve got the stage — tell us all exactly how the entire C7 generation is such a failure that GM shouldn’t “tarnish” the ZR1 model by association.

Foosh

Yes, I'm smart enough to know what you said in quote #1 above made no sense. The ZR1 branding for Corvette has been used in gens 3, 4, 6, and now 7. It's been used for the most powerful version of whatever generation, at some point later in that generation's model run, and it's only skipped one generation (C5) since GM started using it on Corvettes. If that's what you meant by "not linear" in quote #2, I'll give you that as silly an observation as it was.

It's always been used for just a few cars, the fewest being 500 or so C3s. It's never been used to introduce a new generation, which is what you seemed to be implying should happen to avoid a "tarnish" on the name by using it for a C7 model. That was utter nonsense.

jvp

Foosh -

There are some folks on the Corvette Forum that are worth debating things with. Others: not so much. Bear that in mind. ;-)

wstaab

GM's 10 speed auto transmission is not a modular unit like the 8 speed. The bellhousing is part of the main case casting. It was jointly developed by GM and Ford as a light truck and passenger transmission. Due the size of the case, length and bellhousing size, it will not fit in the C7 rear tunnel that houses the transmission.
TREMEC is currently developing a modular auto transmission which may be sourced by GM.

http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/h...0speed-gm.html

http://www.tremec.com/menu.php?m=155

ncstingray

I think if GM had used a bigger hammer they could have made it fit. No excuse for the new ZR1 not to have the A10 transmission.