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GM's explanation for how they came up with the design is in a book entitled "Corvette Stingray - The Mid-Engine Revolution". It can be ordered from the Corvette Museum. And, if you search for that title, as I just did, you can find a free download.
I was with a group of Corvette enthusiasts. A couple was there in their new C8. The wife asked what my car was. I answered, its a 1960 Corvette. She said it did not look like a Corvette. Its all a matter of perspective I guess.
Searched for the title and found the book but no free download. Do you have to be a member? If not, link please. Thanks
Design by committee. Some of the pre-production renderings were better, imho.
Design for the real world. Some of those pre-production renderings wouldn't have been practical to build, or would have greatly increased cost. Notice how prototypes at cars shows, that don't actually have to buildable on an assembly line at a reasonable cost almost always look better than the production version.
As I was walking in a parking lot today I was approaching a sports car and thought, Hey there’s some foreign sports car. But then, wait, that’s a Corvette.
Yeah, but if you had approached it from the rear, you'd have said: 'Hey, there's a weird looking Camaro there'. Ha ha. I honestly don't understand why GM felt they had to leave their 'GM family resemblance' crap on the Vette. It could have been the complete package, but it's not horrible either. It just doesn't look exotic, but maybe they wanted to remind people it's not an exotic? Who knows. Maybe the C9 will look more upscale. The good news is it still looks better than any other Corvette IMO, so that's progress, I guess.
All the comparison photos above look nice, showing how well the C8 looks, BUT, where are the *** end photos? IMO, that's the biggest design failure of the C8. Most media photos avoid showing the back of the C8 in comparos for a reason. While one can objectively say that the front end looks very nice and "exotic", the rear end is just, bad.
The rear is the least desirable angle on both cars and isn't as informative as the front and side in terms of design. Their graphics (design terminology for textures or closer up surface details such as tail lights and pipes) aren't similar, but when viewing their rears as extensions of the overall body, they're still proportionally similar.
The C8's rear is the least appealing angle to me but not a dealbreaker. I like some parts of the rear (rear diffuser w/ black exhaust tips, Z51 wing, rear hatch/engine window and vents, Stingray emblem) more than certain parts on the front (front grille opening shapes) and sides (gaping side vent angles) while I like some parts of the front and sides more than the rear.
Yeah, you can spruce up the back with subtle things. I similarly got black Xpel PPF around my custom plate (also black with black frame and yellow letters that match my brakes/seatbelts) to mimic the C8.R Edition minus its Jake skull and #4 graphic decals. That complements the dark contrast of my black exhaust tips, blacked out top, side rocker accents, spoiler/mirrors, and wheels. And I deleted the "CORVETTE" lettering to make it less busy:
Last edited by switchlanez; Oct 11, 2023 at 12:29 PM.
I, personally, don't get the hate for the back of the C8 as I think it looks good. I am glad it doesn't look like a Ferrari or McLaren. It doesn't really look like a Camaro either. I like it best with body color vents and back exhaust tips. It does not look as good as the other views of the car but it's not a bad view.
The rear is the least desirable angle on both cars and isn't as informative as the front and side in terms of design. Their graphics (design terminology for textures or closer up surface details such as tail lights and pipes) aren't similar, but when viewing their rears as extensions of the overall body, they're still proportionally similar.
The C8's rear is the least appealing angle to me but not a dealbreaker. I like some parts of the rear (rear diffuser w/ black exhaust tips, Z51 wing, rear hatch/engine window and vents, Stingray emblem) more than certain parts on the front (front grille opening shapes) and sides (gaping side vent angles) while I like some parts of the front and sides more than the rear.
I think both are actually pretty bad. The C8 is way too busy, with too many lines going in too many directions, and the curve of the spoiler makes it look like it droops in the middle. The Ferrari is cleaner overall, but somehow looks heavy, the taillights look like an afterthought, and the diffuser makes it look like it's drooping at the sides.
^^^
Bought the Book when it 1st came out, in 2020. As I always did in all such books (and my text books) have underlined and made had written summary on a blank page of what I found that was new.
A key one I was looking for was why no standard shift, which I had speculated was because they were planning to have MOST C8's be hybrids for the required ~39 mpg the 1174-page detailed report and press release in 2012 said would be required for the Corvette Family in 2025. Although it doesn't give that reason it says they knew from the start of C8 design (which was about 2012/2013) there would be no standard shift!
Frankly took until the E-Ray reveal when a retired GM engineer in a video said he was working on a C8 hybrid in secret as soon as the C8 was being designed. Also, Ferrari started to use ONLY DCTs for their cars in ~2012/2012 as well. They read (and like GM probably gave input to the report as GM said many car companies did) that same report. Even Europe was planning max CO2/km so it was not just the US. Just before the pandemic the Ferrari CEO was quoted as saying they would have 60% hybrids in 2022 (no doubt IMO getting ready -as was GM- to install the software needed to make all Prius to operation when a "government" took the blame!) Yep, sports car folks don't want forced Stop/Start and only turning on the ICE (in normal cruising) when the electric motor brings the car to ~40/50 mph where most energy is used. Once at that speed as Newton stated, the car needs little power to remain in motion! Yep would have been the best of both worlds versus what the zealots have done now moving the goal posts to no fossil fuel cars allowed after 2035!
As most large coffee table books it has many neat pics. Just picked mine up from ours to get the page quote!
Bought the Book when it 1st came out. in 2020.......
Yes, I bought the hard copy when I ordered my 2021. Its well worth it. When I discovered the currently free download, I also downloaded it. In that form, it is searchable - and I sometimes like to search for information (as you may have noticed).
Last edited by Andybump; Oct 12, 2023 at 09:53 AM.
^^^
.......A key one I was looking for was why no standard shift, which I had speculated was because they were planning to have MOST C8's be hybrids for the required ~39 mpg the 1174-page detailed report and press release in 2012 said would be required for the Corvette Family in 2025. Although it doesn't give that reason it says they knew from the start of C8 design (which was about 2012/2013) there would be no standard shift!.....As most large coffee table books it has many neat pics. Just picked mine up from ours to get the page quote!
I looked for that in my "free download". I think what you are looking for starts at the bottom of page 135 in the hardcopy.
"Though it was at heart an engineering-driven decision, perhaps the
most controversial and difficult task designers had to confront was doing
away with the option for a manual transmission, a feature that had been
available in nearly all Corvettes (with exceptions in 1953, 1954 and 1982)
since the C1. The manual was given up because the automated dual-clutch
transmission, aka DCT, offered superior accelerative, performance and
packaging capabilities, and the take rate and certification costs on the
standard shift were difficult to account for from a cost-benefit perspective.
But it was still not a simple solution.
The new steering wheel and the action of the shift paddles had to be perfect, engineers
insisted. They wanted a mechanical, high-quality feel to them.
“We knew from the beginning that we weren’t going to have the
business case or the space or the design to do both a manual and a DCT,”
says Murphy. “And that was a huge thing. I know everyone thinks that we
just threw the manual out, but that was practically a bigger conversation
than going to mid-engine. That was quite a contentious discussion.”
I looked for that in my "free download". I think what you are looking for starts at the bottom of page 135 in the hardcopy.
"Though it was at heart an engineering-driven decision, perhaps the
most controversial and difficult task designers had to confront was doing
away with the option for a manual transmission, a feature that had been
available in nearly all Corvettes (with exceptions in 1953, 1954 and 1982)
since the C1. The manual was given up because the automated dual-clutch
transmission, aka DCT, offered superior accelerative, performance and
packaging capabilities, and the take rate and certification costs on the
standard shift were difficult to account for from a cost-benefit perspective.
But it was still not a simple solution.
The new steering wheel and the action of the shift paddles had to be perfect, engineers
insisted. They wanted a mechanical, high-quality feel to them.
“We knew from the beginning that we weren’t going to have the
business case or the space or the design to do both a manual and a DCT,”
says Murphy. “And that was a huge thing. I know everyone thinks that we
just threw the manual out, but that was practically a bigger conversation
than going to mid-engine. That was quite a contentious discussion.”
Yep and old book. Just like Tadge's Marketing Speak, re "No room for a clutch pedal""Can't cut a hole in the center structural member it would reduce load carrying capability," he also mentioned cost. Fact is they would not say, "We're getting ready to have most C8's Hybrids in 2025 because of the planned government mpg mandate!"
All is changed now as they have moved the goal posts from over half the CO2 to no fossil fuels after 2035. Perhaps some Politians don't understand getting 2 times better mpg cut CO2 far lower than anything coming out of China, India and most of the World. Far more likely they are making lots of money pushing silly only fossil fuel, no gas stoves etc. Worse what was said at the end of the wind tower power solution off of all US Coats Speech: "Yep we know cows produce 20 times the Greenhouse gas as cars and we have a plan to solve that." Get ready for Veggie burgers!
Some of the pre-production renderings were better, imho.
vette book
. The good news is it still looks better than any other Corvette IMO, so that's progress, I guess.
