Been predicting the mid-engine Vette will be a double overhead cam 24 valve V6. It’s been divulged in this month’s Car & Driver- but it’s in a Ford!

Its a small 3.5 liters also as predicted that it will be in the Vette to help GM meet corporate mpg requirements. As expected it is turbocharged but with a bit more power than my guess, 647 @ 6250 rpm.

Another interesting development, it's DI with port injection! Perhaps GM will do the same and like Toyota finally address the coking problem!

 

I think Ford revealed that the GT would have a 3.5L TT DOHC V6 with 647 HP several months ago. Jan 24, 2017.

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1...-mph-top-speed

 

Didn't see that. Just opened my mag issue this evening.

Wonder if the details like DI with port injection and dual clutch 7 speed transaxle were mentioned as defined in the Car & Driver article? At least it isn't the Ford/Chevy joint development 10 speed slush box. But no 3rd peddle!

 

I like the idea about the DI/PI even though some other manufacturers started doing that several years ago.

I hope that GM finally gets off their butts and puts a really nice DCT into the Corvette. I think we will see one in the new mid engine Cadillac. Once it's into production for the Cadillac, it's that difficult to incorporate that same DCT/transaxle into the front engine Corvette.

 

One poster mentioned that port injection is in fact better at idle, I assume for handling emissions. So if that is logical it may also be for small throttle openings. That would give the best of both worlds, DI when under power and "wash the valve backs" when cruising!

Compared to the expected high price for the Cadillac hopefully the Vette price (inflation aside) will not be much higher than today.

 

I predict you will not see a Mid-Engine car

 

Mid engine starting price $125,000 is on the way.

 

It's a done deal. The only real question is whether it will be a Cadillac or a premium Corvette model above the C7. Maybe one of each eventually. That's why the Bowling Green plant is getting another huge expansion.

 

FWIW, I think we'll see it as a Caddy first.

 

Along with "predicting a double overhead cam V6" I speculated >6 months ago that a more energy efficient, smaller displacement modern engine would need to be in a mid engine car because it had too high a profile to fit into a low hood front engine Vette!

In fact that is one reason Chevy said they maintained the pushrod LT1 V8 (no doubt in addition to cost!) The two things somewhat surprising provided in the Ford 3.5 liter engine is the 647 hp right out of the box and the use of port injection with DI.

I realize there is skepticism as a mid engine Vette has been speculated for years. Now with the need for a more efficient engine that can vary intake and exhaust valve timing independently and use a 4 valve/cylinder configuration to meet corporate mpg requirements, it appeared to me to be much more likely! We'll See!

 

Very logical as they need a whole new assembly and welding fixture for the new frame. In fact unusual for an auto manufacturer to make their own truck and car frames where a separate frame is used. They purchased the aluminum and steel frames for the C6 from a vendor.

They can also keep volumes managable with price for the Caddy. It will probably have more insulation for the hi end stereo!

When fine tuned they can produce the Chevy Vette version.

 

Patents for GM engines including a DOHC V8. Also note the name, Corvette engines go with LTx or LSx, the V6 isn't an LTx.

 

Just like with the C5, the C6's steel frame was made entirely in house in Bowling Green, KY. GM purchased the round straight steel tubing but bent it and hydroformed it inhouse. They then(using stamped steel components from outside) welded the various parts together their in their Bowling green facility(I stood there and watched them do it in 2000). They then cleaned the space frame and coated it in their Bowling Green facility.

As for the C6 Z06 and ZR1 aluminum frame, they purchased the round straight aluminum tubing but bent it and hydroformed to shape using the same tooling/process used with the steel frame, in house in Bowling Green, KY. I again stood there and watched them in 2006. They then shipped the aluminum frame rails to Dana Corporation in Hopkinsville, KY, where Dana welded and riveted the frame together using stamped aluminum/extruded aluminum components from outside along with the hydroformed side rails from Bowling Green, KY, into a completed space frame.

Then the aluminum space frames were shipped back to Bowling Green where they were cleaned and then coated(the urethane adhesive used to bond the floor panels, the rear tub and the front wheelhouses to the space frame, will not bond to aluminum oxide so the aluminum frame has to be coated immediately after cleaning and before oxidation can occur). The cleaning and coating was done using the same materials and processes that were used on the steel frame.

At the end of the C6 run, the tooling for welding/riveting the space frame together was moved from Dana in Hopkinsville, KY to GM in Bowling green, where it was used to make the aluminum frames for the remaining Z06's and ZR1's.

Dana originally agreed to weld/rivet the C6 aluminum frames for GM as Dana wanted to gain actual production experience(in limited numbers) before they started building aluminum frames for trucks(not GM's) in high production quantiles. GM then wanted to use Dana's knowledge to start building the aluminum frames in high volume for the C7. GM actually had some experience building complete aluminum frames inhouse for the C6 Z06/ZR1, before they started building the aluminum frames for the C7.

 

Is the LT1 getting a HP bump? Notice the HO in there. I assume that's for High Output. I don't recall seeing that associated with the LT1 before.

 

Thanks for that clarification and correction. My obviously incorrect understanding from working with Dana, who were making the Ford F150 frames near Bowling Green (don't recall the town) was they were making all those products.

We supplied the microprocessor based pulsed MIG welders for those F150 frame fabricating robots as well as the MIG welding wire.

During one visit to the Dana truck frame plant I got a private tour of the Vette plant in Bowling Green! I don't remember the year but I as I recall had my '88 Vette at the time. At the end of their normal tour they selected a person to start a car. I remember it was myself and our sales manager getting the tour and I selected myself to start it!

 

I'm surprised there isn't a V8 DOHC Twin Turbo in there...

 

Why forced induction when a small block 6.2L can make 725 HP and 575 ft-lb of torque with the addition of DOHC heads ? I'll take a NA mill with more displacement over a smaller forced induction anything. In addition, the V4 mode works as well for fuel economy as a boosted V-6 but sounds so much better, and its SIMPLER !!

 

Because the other supercar hybrids (excepting the LaFerrari) are using small TT.

The reason for the TT is fuel economy, emissions, and cheap power.

 

So how much better fuel economy do you want ? My C7 gets 29 mpg on the highway today with a NA 6.2L in V4 mode. Even around town, I am getting over 20 mpg. Don't get me wrong, turbocharged small engines work pretty well for most passenger cars - I've got a Volvo V60 with a 2.0L turbo four and it makes over 240 HP and 258 ft-lb. of torque. Coupled with an 8-speed automatic transmission, it does pretty well and gets 35 mpg, but it is not a Corvette.

Normally aspirated engines are simpler than turbo engines, have better, more linear throttle response, and can run over 100,000 miles between major overhauls. (Try that with a Ferrari or a McLaren or a Lambo.) NA engines are also are more predictable at the limit - no sledgehammer of torque at the wrong time to put you into the guardrail.

Further, Mercury Racing / Marine has shown that with the addition of DOHC heads, the Chevy small block can compete with anything out their, including "supercar" smaller V-6's and V-8's with turbos and / or superchargers. The only issue with these heads is that they make the engine wider.

Another solution for more power is to put two small block V-8's in series - then you can make over 1300 HP and still have an engine that weighs less than 900 lb.s - and run over 100,000 miles without the need for an overhaul. The offshore superboat world has already invented such as beast - see below. It would fit nicely in a mid-engine Corvette.





Double LS3 OHV Cam-in-Block Superboat Engine

 

1973 Midengine Aerovett Concept at the
Peterson Museum




Has Falconwing doors