BLYOTH

jsschindler quoted in another thread


In 1987 or there abouts, the Corvette went from 230/235 to 245/250.
In 1992 it went from 250 to 300.
In 1997 it went from 300 to 345.
In 2001 it went from 345 to 350.
In 2005 it went from 350 to 400.
In 2008 it went from 400 to 430/436 (but due to changes in rating, it was more like 440/445 at least.

I kind of needed to wait a couple more years to get a new vette but with all the rumours about new gas guzzling laws and rules that all cars will have to get a certain mph by such and such date I pulled the trigger and got a 2008 while the HP was awesome. Is there a possiblity that the chart that jss listed above may start trending in the wrong direction?

Modshack

Count in it....

Raazor

Just like it did in the 70's. You can BET on it!

AORoads

Sure and yes.

Daytona Bob

Your assuming there's a Future Corvette?

Just kidding but Yea once the Govt gets involved GM will be forced to do something.

dvilin

I say maybe no significant increase but less I do not think so.

BLYOTH

Guess I made a wise decision.

OregonC6

I guess you are very young since you begin to look at vette hp in 87. You made a very wise decision to get an 08 I think. These are the second edition of the "good old days". The first good old days began in the early 60s and blossomed into things like the 65 396 and then the fire breathing 427s in the late 60s.

Then the "first" environmental movement and oil shocks began. If you look back at the "Corvette" in the mind to late 70s and early 80s it is, imo, pitiful in terms of hp. GM sold a lot of these cars but they were all show and no go as we said back then. The "gold chain " era of vettes.

I stopped even looking at or caring about vettes or any other american sports car about 73. Not having the computer control back then for the engines meant that compression had to be lower, hp much less, and cubic inches less as well to get better mileage.

Ihave been very surprised ever since the C 5 came out that we had a second run at horsepower wars. this was because oil stayed cheap ( of politicians succeeded in keeping it artificially cheap ) and Americans mostly forgot all the warnings and wisdom of the 70s regarding the percentage of our oil we import. Opec just decided the time was right to confiscate most of our wealth by raising the price. With some 70% of our oil imported there is nothing we can do but pay.

The Corvette of today will just be a faint memory in 40 years of a world in which oil was cheap. Enjoy your car now and enjoy the cheap gas. Cheap you say? I am afraid so. It only gets worse from now on especially if politicians continue to prohibit offshore exploration etc.

enjoy your car NOW.....

Raazor

Except that fuel prices WOULD ease if the dollar would rebound. Oil is traded in dollars. That, plus a settling in the middle east, could get us back to $2.50 / gallon and $75 oil.

*FAÇADE*

The Clevite Kid

As reported on this Forum, lots of INDIVIDUAL Corvettes are seeing a continuing increase in horsepower over time, via heads, cams, N2O and forced induction, etc. etc.

Our Supporting Vendors will be providing what the Guv'mint and GM are going to take away. You should get a C6 as the base for your next couple of decades of fun.

2005ArcticWhite

markabc6

Suppose the C7 has 50 "less" horsepower and CAN STILL hold its own with the 436+ crowd...and gets better mileage...would you trade off the '0x model year?

Most on this forum wouldn't take stock in that scenario. They are happy modd’n...and betting on a sure thing.

ALVetteFan

I think the HP may have about peaked. I suspect one of the things GM will do to improve mileage will be to reduce displacement / HP. However, I imagine they will keep an eye on the important power to weight ratio.

jschindler

I think we'll see it top out, and MAYBE go down a little - although I'm not convinced it will go down. I think that Direct Injection, DOD, more efficient transmissions etc could keep it where it is.

But the other thing to consider is that we will have plenty of warning. Sales of the current type cars would likely go down a lot, and prices take a hit (more so than now!) and people will have time to pick up something before they go cold.

Personally, my question is whether to snap up a Z06 if they announce the end of them in a year or two. That is not unprecedented given that it happened with the ZR-1 in 1995. It's sales had dropped to almost nothing - I think they built 440 of them in it's last year.

Wayne88

I think the ZR1 with 638 HP is the peak of HP. It can only go down from there.

Going back, the big block mid-years had 435 HP.
In 1982 the Corvette offered one engine with only 200 HP.

2009 C6

One of several reasons I ordered a new Corvette. I want the monster power and torque. Best deals ever are right now. Who knows what the future holds...

Easy Rhino

Perfectly said.

I did not want any Vette from '67 until '05. If history repeats, the next great Vette's (if they exist) will be 40 years from now.

WAwatchnut

I believe it's fleet mpg that's really the issue with the new CAFE standards (as it has been in the past), so even though the Corvette doesn't meet the higher average requirements, the low volume, combined with very good mpg means it's unlikely that there will be any drastic changes in the Corvettes.

I wouldn't expect any drops in hp immediately - instead there won't be any increases. Development dollars will go towards lower weight and better handling, and improving efficiency. Then when weight can be brought down substantially, possibly a smaller, lighter engine with fewer horsepower, but better power to weight ratio.

It's hard to imagine GM settling for reduced performance - partially because the success of the Vette depends on how competitive it is performance wise - and there's pretty stiff competition out there - and partially because there isn't really the need to drastically reduce power... yet.

My guess - C7 about the same power as today, with improved efficiency, and further weight control efforts. C8 - smaller platform, lighter weight, similar performance, lower power.

torquetube

Corvette horsepower has gone down -- sharply -- in the past. Compare the Corvettes you could buy in 1969 to those available in 1975.

There's a lot of amazingly trick technology that allow for a faster, lighter, more efficient Corvette, provided that the cost of manufacturing can be brought down. Fortunately, that's what GM happens to be good at.