FastC7GS

Surly it would have to be testing already even if its a 2022 model thats still only 3 model years away. Where are the front engine 2021 test mules? Answer there isn't any!

Quinten33

The ZR1 testing is just wrapping up and that mid-engine is in its middle stages. If the C8 is front engine(which I hope for), on-road testing doesn't need to start until 2018. I'm sure the engines are mostly finished and any significant suspension advancments are already being tested, but they wouldn't be road testing a near-production body until 2019. It would make no sense to sell a ZR1 for as little as two years when they've spent a year developing it and a lot of money on ZR1-specific parts. Didn't the C6 ZR1 sell for 4 or 5 model years?


The Corvette team must be getting a kick out of everyone's curiosity...

larryfdx

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-cover-it.html

FastC7GS

That's what I mean. That's what leads me to believe there will be only a mid engine Corvette when its all said and done. If a new front engined car was in the making we would be seeing mules of it already.

Steve Garrett

Let's get through the ZR1 and mid-engine first......

roadbike56

What makes anyone think we haven't seen the 2022 front engine C8? Do you really think some of those camo ZR1s are pure C7? Really?
Need to go back and read "All Corvettes Are Red".
I wouldn't be surprised at all to find that suspension changes, computer changes and engine/transmission changes are all being tested in some of the mules we've seen.

NoOne

Because what you see is sometimes not what you get.

Chrysler surprised everyone with a RWD LX and the mules were RWD cars with the front wheel drive body work bolted, incredibly poorly, to the new structure.

They looked terrible and nobody noticed.

Part of the job of the cammo is not just to disguise the car but also its dimensions so its not easy to tell if an inch or two has been added/subtracted. It also can mask poor fitting body panels when trying to make one car look like another.

BIW mules usually don't show up till 12-18 months before production.

LT1 Z51

Mid engine is NOT the C8.

C8 will be at least 2021. When I worked on the 2014 C7 we got sourced in July 2010, first Mules were the following spring wearing C6 bodies in 2011 (with a mishmash of parts like Zeta Camaro clusters). IVERs started being build in early 2012. Those use production bodies. So for a 2021 car which launches in July of 2020 you'd see Mules in early 2017 and IVERs in early 2018.

Mules don't usually draw attention unless they have body modifications. The C7 Mules in C6 bodies had new wheels and some extra holes cut in the bumper but otherwise looked like C6's from the outside.

However if we really haven't seen C8 Mules yet, then the C8 won't come out until 2022 (launching in July of 2021). It's possible it slipped. The ZR1 (now a 2019) did as did the Mid-Engine (again, now a 2020)

LT1 Z51

C7 Mules

http://www.caranddriver.com/photo-ga...otos-gallery#3

For an example.

RJ-92

With such a long and intensive development process how do they end up with such issues like the over heating problems of the z06? Hard to believe GM wasn't aware of this before it went to market.

LT1 Z51

Z06 was co-developed with the base car/Z51. Purely for marketing reasons was it held back an extra model year. It could have launched in model year 2014.

IVER base cars were used as mules for the Z06 model. So if things like the overheating didn't show up in the analytics and CAE at the time then it's likely why they happened in real life (not every scenario is captures in virtual development). Not a lot of real miles put on the cars until they almost went to production, and even then, nothing versus what a fleet of customers put on.

The ZR1 (since the Z06 is rather mature now) benefits from all the lessons learned on that car (and it's much cheaper to build prototypes since you just take a production Z06 and upgrade it). So I'd say the ZR1 shouldn't have the same teething issue the Z06 had.

JoesC5

Originally, the C6 ZR1 was going to be run for 3 years(2009, 2010 and 2012) at 2,000 a year production. Because it was released just as the economy was going into the toilet and then GM declared bankruptcy in June 2009, that delayed the work on the C7, production of the C6 ZR1 was very low and spread out longer than originally planned.

elegant

Right here at the street testing M-E mules:

LT1 Z51

So there's another one in the background of that pic.

vetteLT193

Corvette production runs are long. GM finally figured out they could profit more by holding back updates and releasing a 'new generation' car but keeping the platform the same back in the C5 generation. The C6 is really a C5.5... We will get the C7.5 long before anything truly new. Figure a new body and tweaked interior, different engine, but same platform.

keagan

2 actually

FrankLP

Someone on another thread zoomed in on this and actual pointed out 3 in the background. Another poster was in the area and counted >4 C8s road testing!

StancyPants

I could see them using a c7 space frame with new front and rear sub frames to accommodate the mid engine and market this as the Zora— that may keep costs relatively low compared to other mid engine super cars. This is all speculative of course

LT1 Z51

Fixed it for you.

Mid Engine <> C8. For the unaware <> means IS NOT in logic.

rgregory

I have had my 1970 Vette for 21 years and had 2 C5s. I bought a Gallardo 9 years ago and I love the lighter front end (I removed the awd) a mid engine Vette will be awesome.