punky

Good one, funny. There are many Corvette owners who have the same belief. Track times are of interest to a very minute group of hardcore enthusiast/racers. When it is all said and done they really don't matter. What f'ing difference does it make to 99.999% of the people in this world if car X went around the "Ring" in 7:04 and car Y did it in 6:59. The people who seem to be obsessed and totally wrapped up in these metrics see these posted times as make or break and they are absolutely NOT. Nobody really cares. Who really buys a car based on its "Ring" time? Nobody.

68roadster

Seems likely at least 525, given the power of the Mustang GT. I now it will be faster, but a new ME Corvette with less just would not be good around the water cooler.

jefnvk

So you want performance, but you think others shouldn't want performance that is backed up with benchmarking?

Doesn't make much sense to me, but ok. If you just want something that will throw you around in your seat, a LOT of basic cars will do that nowadays. A C4 powerwise is losing out to some fairly basic family sedans. Anyone can make a car that is loud and crass and feels fast, those benchmarks are what tell you what is really done well.

patentcad

It's mostly impossible to use the 460hp in my 2017 99% of the time on public roads. The car is so crazy fast it's just ridiculous. Happily it's so much fun to drive that even using less than half its power you can have an amazing blast driving it all the time.

If 400-500hp isn't enough for you, save the $ on the new car an enroll in an on-track performance driving school.

punky

Who do you know or ever knew of bought a car based on it going around one of these tracks a second or two or three or four seconds faster or slower than another car. People do not buy this stuff based on stats that matter to 0.00001% of the world.

Appearance, curb appeal is the single most important factor in regards to sales. Physical performance is showcased with advertised HP, 0-60 and 1/4 mile #s and not what happens at some rod course. Lap times at VIR, the "Ring", etc. really have no meaning or importance in the sales arena and that is regardless of whether track rats and internet road racing champions believe so or not.

JDSKY

When I made a purchase last year and landed on a C7 it was anything with two seats and an engine in front of or behind them. Yes, this included the 911 even though it does not strictly meet my criteria as stated. I have had the fortunate position of having access to many different makes, models and brands of sports cars over the past few decades. Could drive them anytime I wanted and never had to own one. The best kind of sports car really. The C7 was the first car that got me to part with my own cash and park it in my garage where it sits and collects dust for a good part of the year. I could have purchased one of those cars I had access to (a 911) but passed it up for the C7. I also considered other cars in the category as well including previous gen Corvettes. In order for the C8 to get me to move away from the C7 it will have to be more than a HP rating to get me to part with my cash. It will also have to not only be better than the C7 but other cars that I would also consider purchasing.

Rather than ask me what category I put it in it is easier to exclude cars that I don't consider to be competitors to the C8 (or C7 for that matter) but get tossed around in performance threads and Corvette comparisons quite a lot. Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, performance Sedans, SUV's. Not cross shopping any of these when looking at possible replacements for the C7.

To answer the OP's question directly. Will the mid engine ONLY have around 500HP? I think the answer is most definitely yes. I don't think it will have a number that starts with a 6. But any number that starts with a 5 and it has the potential to be very, very good. Just like my C7 with a HP rating that starts with a 4.

DocHollywood

LOL. wow, I haven't got that question for years!

jefnvk

Why should drag times matter then? I'm not drag racing the car, and most others aren't either. If we're being quite honest, there is a drag strip not far from me, it has never once interested me to take a car there. Tack night in America? I'm all over doing that.

IT just seems odd that you would consider some benchmarks as appropriate, then hate others. They tell you different things about the car. A Hellcat will beat a Grand Sport by well over a second on the quarter mile and by a few tenths 0-60, but the GS will go around VIR double digit seconds quicker than it.

punky

Kinda stupid to say that anyone "hates" some performance metrics. Road course times may be very important to you personally but understand that they are meaningless to the overwhelming majority of Corvette buyers and that is true whether you like it or not. 0-60 and HP is what Joe the performance car buyer look at. You don't think so? Ask a guy who sells Corvettes for a living if he has ever been asked what the "Ring" time is for Corvette model X. You seem to have an issue with the fact that the overwhelming majority of performance car enthusiasts could care less about road course times. GM doesn't either because those times do NOT sell cars.

JDSKY

I would assume most enthusiasts are interested in the cars benchmark numbers. Corvette enthusiasts specifically because it is an integral part of the cars history and overall value prop. While I never leave my neighborhood using launch control there is a certain level of pride in ownership knowing the car you have is at least capable of some impressive feats. All desirable cars have at least that one thing in common. All the rest including looks, utility, practicality, comfort. As you see in these threads those things are all incredibly subjective, personal and don't really add much to a cars pedigree.

Atari_Prime

Regardless of how much they matter, I think we all should be able to agree that performance numbers DO matter on some level. The Toyota GT86 was a very pretty car, but part of what held it back was performance. A lot of people did not buy it because of how slow it was. Same with the Hyundai Tiburon and the Toyota MR2, or certain versions of the Toyota Celica. They would have sold better and been more respected with a bit more HP. Even the best small convertibile of all time, the Honda S2000, suffered from this problem. It was beautiful, well built, and had a respectable amount of grunt, but everyone wanted the speed from the one in The Fast & Furious. The car needed 60 more HP at a minimum. You may not care about the exact numbers of HP or quarter mile times, but you want to be able to say to your neighbor over a couple of beers that it will keep up with a Mustang. So, numbers matter a bit, even if we forget what they actually are.

JerryU

All the numbers are important to me!

Yep when I was 17 drag race numbers were the only thing important! Heck my '41 Ford that I "stuffed" in a bored out Olds engine with 3/4 cam etc didn't turn worth a dam. Still recall watching Don Garlits in the 1/4 at an old track in Montgomery, NY in 1958 where he truned 8.36 seconds, breaking the track record. That was with 8 '97's on a log manifold in the Chrysler Hemi before he installed a blower (the time in his book. "Big Daddy!" Funny when he signed the book at an AHRA meet in Darlington SC, the dude remembered the time! Amazing.)

My twin neighbors came back from the Army and bought identical '54 4 cylinder Healey's. Knew they were slow in the 1/4 but started my interest in making turns fast! Tried in my 2nd car, a '50 Ford but it leaned a lot in the turns. My 1st new car was a '67 Corvair with every HD option offered, like quick steering, HD suspension etc. Went Plus 1 to 14 inch wheels and wider tires. At moderate speeds was faster than my next new car a 260Z, which I loved with it's light weight and handing (2500 lbs.)

I'm on my 5th Vette and although a track or drag race number isn't something I worry about, most WOT is from 10/20 mph to redline in 3rd! Do that often as there is a 3/4 mile long road on my way home with farm fields on either side, no houses and often no traffic. The corn and cotton don't care how fast I go. But when I enter that road from another rural road when there is no traffic often, after downshifting, take the corner fast. However my favorite high "g" turn is around the fountain at the end of my street! Grass field on the right, no homes within 1/4 mile and can hit a peak "g" force of ~1.2 in the GS! That is fun!

So yep, care about track times and acceleration numbers BUT not from a stop! I like my tires and clutch too much and no need to "burn rubber" at 76!

Warp Factor

That's because anyone who knows what "ring time" means already knows the answer. Why would they ask a salesman?

punky

Crossovers today handle, corner, or however you care to describe non straight line performance better than Corvettes did years ago. The 2017 3.6L ATS Coupe that I use every day handles and has stopping abilities that are shocking and unimaginable for a daily driver when compared to what was available not so many years ago. We all know that C7s have cornering abilities that are wildly beyond what the average Corvette owner could ever use, the C8 will be even more so. Road course numbers really have little or no meaning to the overwhelming majority of Corvette owner/buyers at this point. If you want to sit on the toilet and memorize these metrics then be my guest but keep in mind that most car guys could care less.

I crack up when I read posts about 7:00 or 7:10 or whatever at the "Ring" being a deal breaker for them, hilarious.

Warp Factor

Whether or not an owner personally knows the stats, they contribute to the reputation of the car, and many owners do care about that.
And it's "couldn't care less", not "could care less".

Sub Driver

Prove your assumption in bold. You cannot do it. What can be proven is that GM and many sports car manufacturers spend millions upon millions of dollars to ship and test their cars at the Ring. They would absolutely not bother doing that if it didn't matter. This is really very simple and that fact alone proves you wrong. These companies obviously value the track times benchmark enough to spend resources that otherwise could be put to use elsewhere.

punky

Yeah, that's why they never use these track times in advertisements. They mean a lot to you and very few other people, get over it.

jefnvk

What if they won't buy the car if it doesn't do the 1/4 mile under 12 sec or a 0-60 under 3.5? And if that isn't ridiculous, why would not buying one because of the ring time? Isn't it all the same knowing it has the performance, even if you will never use it?

Sub Driver

What do advertisements have to do with anything, lol? Poor attempt at deflection to my question which you still will not be able to answer. In fact, I cannot even remember the last time I saw an advertisement for a corvette. Many people read about cars from articles in magazines or on-line publications and that media definitely report on and are very interested in track times. So again, why would they spend so much money on something that doesn't matter at all? Lets hear it.

Gearhead Jim

The C7 is great fun to drive in any non-traffic situation and I've done the driving schools But when we've got two people and a trunkful of luggage and 5,000' altitude; trying to pass a line of trucks or motorhomes on twisty mountain roads with few and short passing zones is where a "460 hp" car becomes marginal and driver skill counts for little. If the C8 doesn't appeal to me, I may trade our Z51 on one of the leftover Z06's.