2013 Vette Update info out of Bowling Green
02-02-2011, 12:41 PM
#21
Team Owner
02-02-2011, 01:16 PM
#22
Race Director
Not for me....
Chevy should just put the Corvette on "hiatus" for now, and bring it back in 4-5 years as the C8. Witness the hype with the return of the Camaro.
In my opinion, the mid engine C8 is the answer. Any Porsche fan will tell you the mid engine Cayman handles better than most 911s, and would be THE top Porsche if only Porsche would put a bigger motor in it.
What if Chevy did that? A super slick handling mid engine 500+ hp monster. Forget 911s, forget Audi R8s. You instantly have what Chevy desires. A brand new supercar that would be aspirational to future young buyers, would stick it back to the Europeans, and provide Chevy tons of publicity.
In my opinion, the mid engine C8 is the answer. Any Porsche fan will tell you the mid engine Cayman handles better than most 911s, and would be THE top Porsche if only Porsche would put a bigger motor in it.
What if Chevy did that? A super slick handling mid engine 500+ hp monster. Forget 911s, forget Audi R8s. You instantly have what Chevy desires. A brand new supercar that would be aspirational to future young buyers, would stick it back to the Europeans, and provide Chevy tons of publicity.
What most people seem to mean by "mid engined" is a rear engine mounted in front of the rear axle, like the Boxter. That does not appeal to me, as it makes engine access/servicing much more difficult, and limits access to storage space while dividing it into 2 or 3 separate areas instead of one large one.
Rear "mid engined" cars may have a lot of cachet on the street for wanna be racers due to their predomanance on the track, but I do not believe they are the best solution for touring cars. Look at Ferrari - even they recognize that fact in their models.
Each to their own, but my take is that Corvette is not a rear mid engined car.
02-02-2011, 06:07 PM
#23
Instructor
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I respectfully disagree. What most people overlook is that the Corvette is already essentially a "mid engined" car, with the engine being behind the front axle and the weight distribution - especially with 2 passengers and a full tank of gas - being almost 50/50.
What most people seem to mean by "mid engined" is a rear engine mounted in front of the rear axle, like the Boxter. That does not appeal to me, as it makes engine access/servicing much more difficult, and limits access to storage space while dividing it into 2 or 3 separate areas instead of one large one.
Rear "mid engined" cars may have a lot of cachet on the street for wanna be racers due to their predomanance on the track, but I do not believe they are the best solution for touring cars. Look at Ferrari - even they recognize that fact in their models.
Each to their own, but my take is that Corvette is not a rear mid engined car.
What most people seem to mean by "mid engined" is a rear engine mounted in front of the rear axle, like the Boxter. That does not appeal to me, as it makes engine access/servicing much more difficult, and limits access to storage space while dividing it into 2 or 3 separate areas instead of one large one.
Rear "mid engined" cars may have a lot of cachet on the street for wanna be racers due to their predomanance on the track, but I do not believe they are the best solution for touring cars. Look at Ferrari - even they recognize that fact in their models.
Each to their own, but my take is that Corvette is not a rear mid engined car.
02-02-2011, 06:53 PM
#24
Drifting
I respectfully disagree. What most people overlook is that the Corvette is already essentially a "mid engined" car, with the engine being behind the front axle and the weight distribution - especially with 2 passengers and a full tank of gas - being almost 50/50.
What most people seem to mean by "mid engined" is a rear engine mounted in front of the rear axle, like the Boxter. That does not appeal to me, as it makes engine access/servicing much more difficult, and limits access to storage space while dividing it into 2 or 3 separate areas instead of one large one.
Rear "mid engined" cars may have a lot of cachet on the street for wanna be racers due to their predomanance on the track, but I do not believe they are the best solution for touring cars. Look at Ferrari - even they recognize that fact in their models.
Each to their own, but my take is that Corvette is not a rear mid engined car.
What most people seem to mean by "mid engined" is a rear engine mounted in front of the rear axle, like the Boxter. That does not appeal to me, as it makes engine access/servicing much more difficult, and limits access to storage space while dividing it into 2 or 3 separate areas instead of one large one.
Rear "mid engined" cars may have a lot of cachet on the street for wanna be racers due to their predomanance on the track, but I do not believe they are the best solution for touring cars. Look at Ferrari - even they recognize that fact in their models.
Each to their own, but my take is that Corvette is not a rear mid engined car.
I find this corvette to be the best it is in terms of layout. What I wish? Stronger parts to a degree... Lighter weight and of course... compatibility to older models
I like that I can pretty much upgrade my c5 z06 with c6 z06 parts.
What I really want: VVT and/or VVL for these engines in conjunction with DI. I want my cake and eat it too.
02-02-2011, 07:24 PM
#25
I respectfully disagree. What most people overlook is that the Corvette is already essentially a "mid engined" car, with the engine being behind the front axle and the weight distribution - especially with 2 passengers and a full tank of gas - being almost 50/50.
What most people seem to mean by "mid engined" is a rear engine mounted in front of the rear axle, like the Boxter. That does not appeal to me, as it makes engine access/servicing much more difficult, and limits access to storage space while dividing it into 2 or 3 separate areas instead of one large one.
Rear "mid engined" cars may have a lot of cachet on the street for wanna be racers due to their predomanance on the track, but I do not believe they are the best solution for touring cars. Look at Ferrari - even they recognize that fact in their models.
Each to their own, but my take is that Corvette is not a rear mid engined car.
What most people seem to mean by "mid engined" is a rear engine mounted in front of the rear axle, like the Boxter. That does not appeal to me, as it makes engine access/servicing much more difficult, and limits access to storage space while dividing it into 2 or 3 separate areas instead of one large one.
Rear "mid engined" cars may have a lot of cachet on the street for wanna be racers due to their predomanance on the track, but I do not believe they are the best solution for touring cars. Look at Ferrari - even they recognize that fact in their models.
Each to their own, but my take is that Corvette is not a rear mid engined car.
02-03-2011, 12:34 PM
#27
Burning Brakes
02-03-2011, 02:45 PM
#28
Le Mans Master
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St. Jude Donor '06-13,'16-'17, '19
C7 will be a "very very enhanced C6 (evolutionary, not revolutionary) pushing on quality, efficiency, and and price/performance but will be "one of the shortest generations" of the platform as the C8 will quickly follow "within about three years" after C7 release. That car will be totally new."
This is exactly what a quality control engineer for the Bowling Green plant told the East Tennessee Corvette Club about 6 months ago.Tom
02-03-2011, 11:26 PM
#29
Burning Brakes
What I'd like them to do on the C7 is shrink both the size and weight by about 10%, which would make the car more tossable and fun to drive, while keeping the current engines (or better yet with a mild power upgrade on all models) and using better quality interior materials. Perfecto; no rear-mid engine needed. 
02-03-2011, 11:38 PM
#30
deluded
I think it's a safe bet that the C7 will look good and perform well. What they do(or don't do) to the interior is what interests me most at this point. You'd think after years of getting hammered by every automotive journalist on the face of the planet about the inferiority of the 'Vette interior compared to other sports cars GM would finally take steps to make significant improvements. I hope the C7 is finally the solution to that problem.
c6 it is the seats.
c7 they'll nit pick something else
..................by c8 it may be poor gas mileage.
02-04-2011, 02:10 AM
#31
Safety Car
To be fair, I think all the criticism of the C6 interior is legit. You look at the interior of a Corvette compared to just about any other car(excluding cheaper models in the Chevy line of course) and it just looks inferior. It's not only the seats, but the steering wheel is an abomination, the climate control is hideous and the interior as a whole just needs a major overhaul. I read in another thread that they have targeted Audi as the model for what the C7 interior will be like. That's almost too good to be true because I personally think they have the best interior of just about any car maker these days. If the C7 can even come close to the Audi benchmark it will be a night and day improvement.
02-04-2011, 04:32 AM
#32
Hobbyist
C7
Most of you aren't old enough to remember but ........
Back in 1966 the all new 1967 C3 was supposed to launch and didn't. Instead they "warmed" over the exisiting C2 body. What a failure! In most people's eyes it turned out to be the most desirable C2 ever built.
Just my $0.02.
Back in 1966 the all new 1967 C3 was supposed to launch and didn't. Instead they "warmed" over the exisiting C2 body. What a failure! In most people's eyes it turned out to be the most desirable C2 ever built.
Just my $0.02.
02-04-2011, 01:59 PM
#33
Drifting
To be fair, I think all the criticism of the C6 interior is legit. You look at the interior of a Corvette compared to just about any other car(excluding cheaper models in the Chevy line of course) and it just looks inferior. It's not only the seats, but the steering wheel is an abomination, the climate control is hideous and the interior as a whole just needs a major overhaul. I read in another thread that they have targeted Audi as the model for what the C7 interior will be like. That's almost too good to be true because I personally think they have the best interior of just about any car maker these days. If the C7 can even come close to the Audi benchmark it will be a night and day improvement.
and I might be alone on this, but I did not buy the c6 b/c of the interior. I thought the C5 interior had personality and character and still think it does today. Could the seats be better quality? sure. Should they have not pulled the stereo out of the malibu? for sure...but on the whole, it's got a lot more flava than the c6 interior...leather dash or not.
02-04-2011, 03:59 PM
#34
Heel & Toe
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I can't see a new gen being only 3 years in production so it's still alot of bs/rumors untill I see real proof. Not saying your lying op but it's that friend of a friend. I want to hear something from GM. Camaros impacting vette sales? Doesn't the new mustang outsell them now yet GM doesn't say that the mustang hurts performance sales. Lots of holes in this one
02-05-2011, 06:46 AM
#35
To the average guy with a family, the 430 HP Ss with a back seat is a easy choice over a vette, not to mention the price. This does not mean all vette buyers would consider this, but enough to impact sales do.
02-05-2011, 01:09 PM
#36
Burning Brakes
After some production years, I'm guessing the Camaro won't steal any more Vette sales than they did historically from '67-'02.
Also, while stating that the Camaro outsold the Mustang in 2010 is true, it doesn't capture the whole story. The 2010 Mustang was only a minor refresh of the Mustang that had been selling for five years already. Again the Camaro was brand new and off the market since 2002.
The real test against the Mustang will come in '11 and beyond when the novelty of the Camaro wears off, and the new 5.0L Mustangs are selling in full force.... and the 5.0L is a far more worthy competitor to the LS3 than the old 4.6L in 2010 ever was. But we will see
02-07-2011, 12:48 AM
#37
Drifting
and I might be alone on this, but I did not buy the c6 b/c of the interior. I thought the C5 interior had personality and character and still think it does today. Could the seats be better quality? sure. Should they have not pulled the stereo out of the malibu? for sure...but on the whole, it's got a lot more flava than the c6 interior...leather dash or not.
The camaro outselling mustang thing and outselling vette thing is taken way out of context. The 2010 camaro was a brand new car, not to mention a Camaro. Therefor tons of people that might have bought any other car two years prior, but waited for the camaros release, caused 2010 camaro sales to be insane. Of course its gonna outsell a refreshed mustang and a c6 that you could have bought last year or the year before even. Id need to see surveys of real camaro buyers that said they SERIOUSLY thought about the corvette but chose to buy the camaro to believe it. Corvette still carries prestige, camaros dont. Plus with the loss of the solid axel, Camaros lost their edge in the quarter mile arena while not even coming close to corvette handling.
02-07-2011, 05:52 PM
#39
Drifting
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Market?
I think the C5 expanded the market for the Corvette to include folks interested in details like the quality/dependability of the vehicle including the materials of the interior. The trick for GM has been and is to keep expanding the market while not losing the pre C5 folks. And to do so without running the price up too far. At the same time GM needs to produce a performance hybrid to get press, give the buyer a clear conscious and to keep the greens quiet. Not all Vetts need to be the hybrid version, just the highend car. Economy of the straight internal combustion engine version is not enough, this isn't a matter of logic!
I suggest improved seats in all models ala Mercedes Benz, and a ZR1 with hybrid power ala Williams/Porsche flywheel power storage.
I suggest improved seats in all models ala Mercedes Benz, and a ZR1 with hybrid power ala Williams/Porsche flywheel power storage.
02-07-2011, 11:53 PM
#40
Le Mans Master
I don't know, but buying a brand new sports car that you can actually drive to work every day. That is capable of speeds close to, if not north of, 200 mph, and still get 25mpg on premium pump gas, all for a price well under the $100K mark, then b****ing about the seats ...is about the equivilant of winning the lottery and then complaining about paying taxes on it. JMHO
Last edited by lt4obsesses; 02-07-2011 at 11:56 PM.