tail_lights

Since they didn't knock it out of the park with the base model I'm guessing it'll come in around 525.

Reciprocal

My prediction is winner on the showroom, loser on the track.

JWell

I think that GM is going to do what they did with the C5 Z06 and use the same displacement. I say the C7 Z06 will have a "tuned" LT1 with more aggressive computer tune, hotter cam, tubular Z28 style headers, and 530 hp. This would keep the roughly 70hp spread. The weight, idk maybe 50 lbs less than the stingray. I think the ZR1 will be 670-700 hp.

JoesC5

With the LS9 they dropped the CR so they could run higher boost, which gave them more horsepower, but at the expense of fuel mileage(21 on the highway). I think they will take the current LT1 with 11.5:1 CR and put a blower on it but run at half the boost. That will cost them horsepower, but will give excellent fuel mileage(29) when not in boost(just cruising around which the EPA sees).

From what I see with the LT1 it was built to handle 600 HP without any modifications like the LS9 required over the LS3. I believe they designed a 600 HP supercharged engine right out of the gate to get the fuel mileage required, but also the same engine without the supercharger(LT1) is right in line with what is acceptable for the base C7 at 455 HP.

The problem with offering a mid level engine that is NA at around 550 is that it will require modifications to the LT1 which will decrease fuel mileage. The problem with high horsepower NA engines is that they can't run in an economy mode like the supercharged engine can when not in boost.

WhiteDiamond

Won't be whining at all...Gonna add one to the stable a year or 2 after introduction. I expect a NA 550-600 Z model. May not be called Z06 again, but I think it will. With the Z28 getting the LS7, I also believe there is some possibility we will see a 427ci NA motor. It would be cool, but unlikely.

tail_lights

Fixt?

BlueOx

Grow up boys....
Ion drive = Corvette code name Zion
236 milliNewtons of thrust - go big or go home.

sam90lx

Nicely Done!

crabman

I had thought TT on the ZR1 simply because of mileage until the scans showing what appears to be supercharger prep on the LT1 began showing up. Is the TT idea more a hope than a reasoned guess?

BlueOx

Hmmm...what is that in your GS??

crabman

I don't believe there is any expectation that the car will sell in large numbers no matter how you slice it simply because of its price point making its impact on CAFE negligible. The problem with making the jump to FI is that GM knows the boys will be installing pullies left and right making themselves semi ZR1s on the cheap which will cannibalize ZR1 sales. On the other hand if you offer no mid option at all you then have a pretty big gap in the line between the base car and the ZR1 both in price and performance. I don't think they will be willing to leave that big a gap based on previous history. The alternative would be moving the ZR1 down market which isn't easy to imagine them doing either. Am I missing something here?

BSheppard

Z06-560hp
zr1-670hp

lt4obsesses

Only one high power version. Probably called the Z06, and will be the supercharged version of the LT1 named the LT4 and will produce about 550HP/530 ft lb with a 7000 rev limit. It will not have AFM and use a lighter torque tube, and the entire chassis will lose about 200lbs.

JoesC5

You can be sure that GM has kept a close eye on Callaway Maggie cars with their high compression. 6.2L at 606 HP. Also they have kept their eye on the E-Force 6.2l LS3's with 599 HP.

Just installing the Eaton based 2.3 on the LT1 would duplicate what Callaway has done with the C6 LS3, but the LT1 has stronger guts then the LS3. Callaway supercharged LS3's have proven they are reliable, even with 10.7 CR with cast pistons on a cast crank and without the benefits of the cooler intake charge from the DI or the piston squirters that are on the LT1.

With a blower, you don't need a 7000 RPM redline to make power.

As for mods to the pulley on a S/C version of the LT1....automatic warranty cancellation. GM doesn't care what mods you make to the car after they receive their money. It's on your dime after that if you void your warranty. GM could do a NA engine with 550HP but would that stop people from modding it? Absolutely not.

Why should GM give up any EPA mileage, on even a low production model, if they don't have to. A 600 HP supercharged LT(?) cruising at 1350 RPM on the interstate will get better fuel mileage than a NA 550 HP hot cam, etc LT(?). plus, a 600 Hp engine will outrun a 550 HP engine in the same car. The extra weight of the supercharger will only cancel out 10 HP, so you still have 590 vs 550.

Then, if GM wants to offer a 650+ version, they can change the pulley, etc, to gain the extra horsepower for the few cars they will sell.

OJCrush08

I agree with a lot of what you said. But, I don't completely get their marketing strategy yet with C7. They did the minimally necessary power increase for the base, with an emphasis on low RPM torque similar to LS7 up to 4600 RPM to support enough power when running in 4 cyclinder mode - get that. Now it gets cloudy...

If the Keeks LT4 assertion is correct, this would be the C7 version of the C6 ZR1. But I do not see a major performance increase over the C6 ZR1 at 638 h/p. Weight would be about the same too. I can't envision getting much more than 200 h/p over the base LT1 455 - from a single S/C.

As for Z06, tradition dictates that it remain N/A and the 427 is gone. If there even is a Z06 model, can't see more than say 550 h/p in a car no lighter than the current Z, again, incremental progress. And certainly of little or no interest to those like me who are already running under 3100 lb, well over 600 h/p cars with pretty bullet-proof engines.

So, if this is anywhere near the truth - I don't get it. I would prefer to see a much stronger "Z", lightweight version - very limited edition as to not cause CAFE issues, and an "L88" version ZR1, which utilizes twin turbos to totally knock it out of the park. Obviously, very pricey, very limited edition, built to order only, and great halo vehicle for Corvette. Price it at $170, include all the C7 geegaws, over 700 h/p, true exterior enhancements.

crabman

The warranty is out the window either way but the difference is that a guy can put a pulley on the car for very little money, not true of the expenses involved in upping the ante on a 550 NA engine. My guess is many people would go for the pulley, The other route, not nearly so many and having spent much more money they would still likely be a ways from the ZR1 in terms of output. Just not the same thing.

As to the CAFE angle we're talking about 1/10 of 1% of GMs total production here. The drag this car would have on CAFE is very nearly meaningless. This means that a go for such a car becomes a matter of having the corporate will to build something that costs almost nothing. A very different thing from finding the corporate will to build a car that will will have a meaningful impact on their CAFE strategy.

IMO there will only be one FI car in either a 2 Z car world or a 1 Z car world. Two LT1 based FI cars means that one will have to pull enough extra power to trigger buyers on the up sell and most of the extra power is going to have to come from boost. Something which will be easily attained on the mid car with a very simple and inexpensive mod which can be reversed easily in the garage. And this on an engine which everyone knows has been designed to be set up with FI from the get go as you rightly point out.

JoesC5

Why did people buy the Z06 with it's 505 HP instead of souping up their 400 HP LS2 to 505HP in their garage? Why did people buy a 638 HP ZR1 instead of souping up their 436 HP LS3 to 638 HP? WARRANY and dependability.

The same reasons people want a factory built high horsepower version of the C7 vs just buying a base C7 with 460 HP and souping it up to 600-700 HP. WARRANTY and dependability.

harlold

IMHO we will see the high performance variant out in (not late) 2014, simply because Chevy has to. It has nothing to do with how the base models sell.

The high performance car market is insane right now competition wise. Porsche, which normally reserves the "turbo S" variant for the last 1-2 years of production for the 911, is rolling it out this year, a year after the redesign is debuted.

Simply put, Chevy can't financially sit around and wait, everyone else is all in, in the high performance segment.

JoesC5

Just like GM designed the GenV engine to have 4.3L in a V6 configuration, they have designed the GenVengine for a high horsepower V8 variant along with the various bread and butter V8 versions.

It was all on their spread sheet from day one, five years ago.

jschindler

Twin turbos offer both huge torque and better gas mileage. They MIGHT have packaging and heat disadvantages. My current car is a BMW 550 with a twin turbo V8. It really opened my eyes to how well turbos work today. Zero lag and torque that starts right now, now matter what speed or gear you are in (the eight speed automatic helps of course).

Maybe it is more hope, but I"m a believer in it. Interestingly, Audi has a great Supercharged engine in the S4, but great twin-turbo cars in the S6, A8 and S8. They make a good case that both can offer performance and economy.