HeavyRightFooT

AWD ??? Double clutch ??? Mid engine ??? seriously ??? go buy a Audi R8...

The corvette is about the fastest thing around in it's price range for a good reason : it uses simple, proven ways to achieve it, and this gives it a fantastic amount of personality and character.

Still room to improve, if the C7 had to be limited to 2 main changes I would consider this :

1 ) MUUUCH Better steering :
Cannot believe the Vette is that good and the steering that bad. Tried a friend's 2009 M3 coupe last weekend, same price as a good 2010 GS... was blown away by the direct sharp close to perfect steering feel . Went back in the Vette and it felt like I was driving the car with a 1second lag in the steering... , with moon boots for gloves, using a 18wheeler sized steering wheel, dont believe me ? head to the closest BMW dealer and get to try an m3. then jump back in your vette.... you will understand right away .

2 ) Interior build quality and finish :
I strongly hope that the guy that had the idea of using fake crappy plastic carbon fiber lookalike thing in the car (got an 08) was the first one to be shown the door during GM's restructuration, followed by the one in charge of the design of the seats and finally the one in charge of getting rid of the squeaks and rattles ...
It's not like making a nice, simple yet appropriated interior is a magical attribute gifted only to German, English and Italian car manufacturers !
You just need to want it bad.
If nobody there can do it, please GM engineers and designers do this : GET OUT of your office, to your closest BMW or porsche dealer, pretend your in the market for an M3, Cayman, or anything in the price range of the vette, and take notes. LEARN. Same price as a GS. Learn.
oohh by the way, using the steering wheel from the pontiac G6 is NOT an option this time around.


The vette is already a Grand Car, missing only on a couple critical points that hinder the communication between the car and the driver.
To me this looks like the first thing to address, and potentially the easiest one, if done honestly.
I'd be more than happy with a slightly restyled GS with M3 grade steering and G8 gxp grade interior... nothing magical, but would make it THE great sports car.

lastcowboy

yea! and your librial calif.a** voted for obama too now look where your at..............let me sum this up the THE THING I WOULD CHANGE IS ..HAVE SOME ONE ELSE MAKE THE CORVETTE

BabyBlueVert

GM Buld Quality: I feel like most that a Corvettes holy grail is performance and appearance. I am generally a very happy owner.

As a observation, the GM design teams seem to invest the most effort, time and money during the primary design phases of performance and appearance.

The last 10% of a new design is often the most challanging (ask anyone restoring a classic vehicle from the ground up about getting the last 10% perfect), and most often, seems to get the least GM Corvette Team attention.

This final 10% is where GM needs to merge the best from Vette owners, every Vette designer, engineer and craftsman. Better focusing on the final 10% throughout the entire R & D process can help Corvettes feel "appointed" rather than "finished in a acceptable manner" for a $50K base model flagship.

What separates a well-appointed car is designers, engineers and craftsmen all staying focused throughout the final 10% of the most challanging and tedious steps. The best of the Vette teams can "appoint" the car better without raising costs through life experiences brought together in design environments. Disassemble high end sport cars and luxury sport coupes. Consider hiring European engineers who have "finishing" down and really learn how to develop new ideas from that knowledge like true craftsmen. We can do anything.

lastcowboy

could not have said it better....!!!!!!!!!! some of these guys don't buy a new vette every year so they don't get to compare the way GM is getting cheaper and care less about there finished product and intentially and( knowingly ) substitute inferior parts and materials.!!!
IT'S THE KNOWINGLY THAT BURNS MY *** UP!! The corvette is America's sportscar. GM over the years has managed to take that, degrade it, cheapen it and ruin the whole concept. If you think GM is reading this thread, and says "You know these guys spend a lot of money on these cars and we should listen to them" then you are out of your mind. ok soapbox over. . . for now!:ro fl:

JerriVette

I will be another corvette if it has a Dual clutch sequential transmission or MCT.

present vette is an m6. I want the new technology on my next vehicle.

SCM_Crash

As long as there's a manual gear box available, I'll continue to buy manuals. FAR more fun than flappy paddle shifters and boring autos. I'm not a race car driver and I could care less if sequential transmissions are newer or better or whatever. They're still not as fun. End of story.

JerriVette

I'm sure GM will like ferrari offer manuals as well as Dual clutch transmissions until the take rate goes to less than 5 or 10%...which I doubt that will ever happen...

Porsches new PDK dual clutch shows the value of the design yet there will be many buyers who still prefer manuals..so they offer them...even though they are slower and less consistant.

I have just read about these things and want my next vehicle to have that feature....

I'd hate to have to buy a porsche to get it..

WesC7

Everyone has some great ideas on what GM should do for the C7. However, if I was able to influence what the C7 would look like I would say...

1. Most importantly....KEEP THE PRICE DOWN and keep it reasonable. 50K is a magic mark in pricing and it alienates the younger generations. They can't afford a base...no nothing Corvette for 50K. If GM wants to keep the popularity of the car for generations to come they can't be jacking up the price ....especially in this economy. Where there's a will...there's a way, GM!!

2. Keep the V8. A V6 is a kiss of death... I don't care how *super-charged* it is...it would still be a V6!! Although I've owned Corvettes for the past 35 years.... If I see a V6 Corvette for the first time in my life I'll go look elsewhere for a new sports car.

3. Nicer interior and seats would be a big improvement.

4. If you go with the Stingray type body.....ensure good visibility. That was one of the big problems with the '63. I've owned a '64, '65 and '66....much better visibility. Although I have to admit..I love the looks of the '63.

5. This is from my wife....(she's owned 3 vettes).... Don't shorten the doggone car!! The C6 looks like a tinker toy.... Can you tell she loves the elongated look of the C5??

6. Get rid of the *paddle* shifter option (JMHO). Stick and auto...

7. Keep the option packages reasonable! Allow the buyer to select an option package and then delete certain items out of the package. Maybe they want the HUD and upgraded seats, CD (10 disk), etc. but don't want the Navigation.... allow them to buy that package and delete the Nav system. In otherwords.... CUSTOMER FRIENDLY. This type of customer option would probably attract many more young buyers also..

8. Stay true to what made the Corvette the most popular and best sports car (for the money) in America!!

out2kayak

What would I like to see for a vette?

Hmm..... If we are dreaming:

In the C7 time frame:

A 'vette in every garage with people who are passionate about them?

A very stripped down vette interior (would even go with only one seat), kevlar body, aluminum frame, option delete everything, and an uber engine (>ZR1) for a reasonable cost.

For C8:

Where is the flying car I was promised as a kid? Something that can make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs would be suitable.

-- Joe

bdking57

The C6 is practically perfect.. There is no way you are going to be able to go any faster without adding AWD.. so you either keep the power the same and give the car more traction or give it far better luxury appointments but at the same time offering a stripped out track model.

vant

...and while they're at it, they should close the patent office too because we've reached the pinnacle of technological achievements.

I hope you're kidding. There is a TON they can do to improve performance of the C6, especially in the steering dept.

redsky49

My wish list?

A Recaro seat option.

Future suggestions:

4.5 liter, 4-cam engine (as in the older Z-06), 7,000+ rpm, 350-360hp
Reducing weight, as well as the length and width, to achieve #3000 wt.
Storage room for an emergency spare tire
Retaining the oil dipstick
Hiring an Italian to design the center console
Reducing the overhangs
Optional OZ or BBS wheels

cnd_beancounter

What I worry most about a v6 turbo in future vettes is the price barrier to upgrading anything... sure you will be able to add more boost/meth and a tune but beyond that it it gets insanely expensive.

I am highly impressed with fords new 5L N/A engine... 390rwhp out of the box and fully forged for future boost... something similar... perhaps similar displacement and tuned better with a bigger cam for a vette... have the z06 add F/I for well over 500-550rwhp stock.

I'm guessing c7 is 500hp base, 600 z06... i doubt the zr1 will continue unless some other car trumps them.

As a mod addict, part of the decision to purchase a vehicle is how upgradeable they are for the money...

The biggest problem I see down the road... is that the average vette owner who buys the car at 55-60 won't have a hope in hell of controlling that much power. lol.

I Bin Therbefor

While I can think of several ways of satisfying the "younger buyer" I can't work out the price/performance.

Example:

Entry level Corvette; mid rear V-6 as a sidewinder mount. One engine NA and one turbocharged. Works on the 2-3-2 chassis with some small trunk space in rear and some up front space. V-6 excites the generation used to 4 cyl. Could be a bit more "modern" styling. Still Corvette history styling. Not too expensive to engineer. Take a front wheel drive train and move it to the rear. A modern update of the last year F. I suppose you could make this car a mid front and use the 370Z as a model, sticking with the V-6 engines.

Upper level Corvette; Present mid front with V-8. Has to be powered to out perform the entry level Corvette in factory trim. Style must be unmistakably Corvette. Upgrade of interior, espically better seats. Chassis tuning to BEAT the BMW M cars.

Rather like the Porsche line up. BUT the Corvette is such a bargin in the price/performance combination, pricing something like the two level Corvette product line just doesn't seem to work. What you end up doing is taking the mid front Corvette out of reach of the current customers of the base car and the base convertable. Unless you're willing to let some overlap in price exist between the two levels with the base upper level Corvette priced slightly lower than the high version of the lower level Corvette. You'd have to bring the lower level Corvette in at the mid $30s and start pricing the upper level Corvette at the GS level.

Then there's the problem of naming! What are you going to call each?

I really think the GM product guys are faced with more alternatives than solutions.

cnd_beancounter

How can both a front engine and a mid engine car be the same model?

I also disagree completely with the "entry level corvette"... leave entry models for mustangs/camaros. look what it has done to their brand. You get used to seeing them anywhere and it ends up taking away from the wow factor when you see a SS or a GT500. The real reason ss/gt500's exist is to give the cars a wow/tough/muscle car image so they can mass produce the v6's to soccer moms.

Would you buy a 100k+ corvette zr1 if there was a base model for 30k? Highly doubtful. That much of a performance/price difference requires a different brand and marketing.

cnd_beancounter

How can both a front engine and a mid engine car be the same model?

I also disagree completely with the "entry level corvette"... leave entry models for mustangs/camaros. look what it has done to their brand. You get used to seeing them anywhere and it ends up taking away from the wow factor when you see a SS or a GT500. The real reason ss/gt500's exist is to give the cars a wow/tough/muscle car image so they can mass produce the v6's to soccer moms.

Would you buy a 100k+ corvette zr1 if there was a base model for 30k? Highly doubtful. That much of a performance/price difference requires a different brand and marketing.

SCM_Crash

You want a mid-engine car? Go get a European car. You want AWD? Go get a European car. You want a dual clutch? Go get a European car. Can't figure out how to drive and need LOTS of assistance? Go get a European car.


You want a fun man's car?
Get a RWD Front engine 6-speed manual box of fun from your local Chevy or Chrysler dealer.

I Bin Therbefor

"How can both a front engine and a mid engine car be the same model?"

Not both, either one way or the other.

As for Vett owners, the C-5 brought in an additional group of owners that wouldn't have considered a Vett before. I believe that's because the quality went way up under Hill as the chief engineer. The second reason is that the 2-3-2 chassis brought a new level of handling. The third is the participation by the factory in the ALMS program. These folks emphasize style as well as performance. I don't know how you'd find the numbers but I believe that if you could profile the C-4 and previous owners and the C-5 and following owners, you'd find this additional group.

The point is, what will appeal to the next generation of Vett buyers?

vant

Having a Playstation controller in place of the steering wheel.

SCM_Crash

LOL! Xbox 360 controller...