C7 Corvette

[12,000 RPM]

Jesus, 20x12 rear wheels.


Should run a square setup with that all the way around.

If they made 12x12s u could run a cubed setup on the Miata

[MrH]

20x12. The tires for that thing are going to be ridiculous to replace.

[68_427]

The blue one looks so good I can't stop looking at it

[Lebowski]

Damn that blue looks good. First pic of a C7 I've seen that I think looks great.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Couple thoughts

Didn't see any reference to curb weight reduction, but I'm sure that was never a gs trait.

A DCT would have been an awesome bomb to drop on the gs.

More hp would have been nice, not a ton. 500hp would have basically made this a nice half step between a z51 and the overheater. It would have given some of the hard core track guys something to fall back to from the z, if they wanted.

[68_427]

Couple thoughts

Didn't see any reference to curb weight reduction, but I'm sure that was never a gs trait.

A DCT would have been an awesome bomb to drop on the gs.

More hp would have been nice, not a ton. 500hp would have basically made this a nice half step between a z51 and the overheater. It would have given some of the hard core track guys something to fall back to from the z, if they wanted.

I'd be interested in seeing the sales numbers of manual vs auto for the last Grand Sport.  I'm not sure a DCT would have been worth the cost however I agree with you on the power.


Also that blue car appears to be the standard car with regular aero and steel brakes.

[Raza]

I think The C6 has cleaner styling but The C7 is sexy in it's own right........

I mean, it looks like an exotic. Whenever I see one, especially in a dark color, I'm impressed.

[Rich]

http://blog.caranddriver.com/c8-in-2018-the-latest-on-the-mid-engine-chevrolet-corvette/

[CaminoRacer]

Stupid.

[280Z Turbo]

Why would GM do this? The Corvette is profitable as is. If they jack up the price, volume will go way down. Performance may be slightly better, but not enough to justify the cost IMO. There are not enough filthy rich guys to support this kind of car.

A mid engined Corvette seemed inevitable in the 70's so hopefully this is just BS again.

[GoCougs]

The Corvette formula - tiny two seater, space frame chassis, leaf spring suspension - is tapped and has been for a while. Look no further than the new Camaro SS - comes within a stone's throw of matching C7 performance for ~$20k less (and it's pretty obvious both the 1LE and Z28 will exceed it) - and the major handling problems of the C6 Z06 and ZR1 and C7 Z06. Let the Camaro and all its variants (SS, 1LE, Z28, ZL1) carry the high performance front engine/RWD torch and elevate the Corvette to true (near) super car/halo status. The C7 Z06 has been a surprise big seller and my hunch is Chevy is eyeing this demographic for the C8.

Practically speaking, it all sounds unrealistic to me though. GM has been killing it with its hi-po cars but changing the fundamental premise of its most popular marque is a huge deal. There's a new sheriff in town, and she's also been killing it, so perhaps this is true...

[280Z Turbo]

Sadness. The Camaro is too big and ugly.

[280Z Turbo]

I mean, it looks like an exotic. Whenever I see one, especially in a dark color, I'm impressed.

I really wish GM would have made the A pillar body color. The always black A pillar makes the car look cheap.

[68_427]

It's not hard to fix if you own one

[12,000 RPM]

The Corvette formula - tiny two seater, space frame chassis, leaf spring suspension - is tapped and has been for a while. Look no further than the new Camaro SS - comes within a stone's throw of matching C7 performance for ~$20k less (and it's pretty obvious both the 1LE and Z28 will exceed it) - and the major handling problems of the C6 Z06 and ZR1 and C7 Z06. Let the Camaro and all its variants (SS, 1LE, Z28, ZL1) carry the high performance front engine/RWD torch and elevate the Corvette to true (near) super car/halo status. The C7 Z06 has been a surprise big seller and my hunch is Chevy is eyeing this demographic for the C8.

Practically speaking, it all sounds unrealistic to me though. GM has been killing it with its hi-po cars but changing the fundamental premise of its most popular marque is a huge deal. There's a new sheriff in town, and she's also been killing it, so perhaps this is true...

This trajectory is stupid and depressing. GM should just leave the Camaro/Corvette as is and offer penis enlargements in the option packages. That's really all this available performance amounts to in the real world.

Avg Corvette driver can't even handle half the HP of something like the new Z06.... what seriously will they get from access to any more performance?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5g4KIdGLfM

[Lebowski]

Does seem like a depressingly short generation for a Corvette, and imo I don't see a mid engine corvette as a corvette.

I don't care how good the performance of the Camaro is, the Corvette is and always would be the more desirable car IMO.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Does seem like a depressingly short generation for a Corvette, and imo I don't see a mid engine corvette as a corvette.

I don't care how good the performance of the Camaro is, the Corvette is and always would be the more desirable car IMO.

[12,000 RPM]

Does seem like a depressingly short generation for a Corvette, and imo I don't see a mid engine corvette as a corvette.

I don't care how good the performance of the Camaro is, the Corvette is and always would be the more desirable car IMO.

Whatever metrics you have used to arrive at that conclusion is irrelevant to the bench racer. The bench racer lives by one C&D instrument test and home made Excel table at a time

[Lebowski]

Whatever metrics you have used to arrive at that conclusion is irrelevant to the bench racer. The bench racer lives
by one C&D instrument test and home made Excel table at a time

But what % of car buyers are they?

[280Z Turbo]

If you look at sales numbers, they are right about where they have been. 35k-40k a year for the C7. GM could actually lose money on every mid engine Corvette they sell and then sell a lot fewer of them. I can't see GM doing something this stupid.

[MX793]

This trajectory is stupid and depressing. GM should just leave the Camaro/Corvette as is and offer penis enlargements in the option packages. That's really all this available performance amounts to in the real world.

Avg Corvette driver can't even handle half the HP of something like the new Z06.... what seriously will they get from access to any more performance?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5g4KIdGLfM

Almost as bad as Mustang drivers.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Almost as bad as Mustang drivers.

And Modded Civic drivers.....

[SJ_GTI]

The bench racer lives by one C&D instrument test and home made Excel table at a time

[12,000 RPM]

But what % of car buyers are they?

Buyers don't matter. It is the bench racers who must be pleased. Word to the Ring Tuned & Brembo Braked™ ATS-V nobody wants.

[MX793]

And Modded Civic drivers.....

Can't say I've seen many videos of modded Civics fishtailing into crowds or other cars at car meets.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Traditional (read old farts that drive to dennys, wash wax and repeat) will not buy a mid engined ferrari/lambo vette clone.

[12,000 RPM]

Can't say I've seen many videos of modded Civics fishtailing into crowds or other cars at car meets.

We would if we could!

[GoCougs]

Does seem like a depressingly short generation for a Corvette, and imo I don't see a mid engine corvette as a corvette.

I don't care how good the performance of the Camaro is, the Corvette is and always would be the more desirable car IMO.

Short generations are good - past Corvettes suffered immensely from depressingly long generations (C2 = 10 years, C3 = 15 years, C4 = 13 years).

Save for the relatively few watershed moments in the history of the Corvette - the first few of years of the C4, the C4 ZR1, the first year of the C5, the C5/C6 Z06, the C6 ZR1 - there wasn't a ton of reasons to buy a Corvette over a Camaro beyond styling and H&H^TM. There are entire swaths of Corvette history whereby the Camaro (and Trans Am mid - late '70s) has been as or more desirable, doubly so as the cars age. I mean, kudos for Chevy for trying things out in the Corvette - fiberglass body, fuel injection, 360 hp V8 and full independent suspension was unmatched by any automaker at any price circa 1963. Since the C3 however (when the Camaro and other hi-po pony cars hit the scene), Corvettes have struggled to materially separate themselves.

Fast forward to the C6. In MY2009 the C6 sales figures abruptly dropped by ~50% (the resurrected Camaro went on sale in April '09) and stayed at an unthinkable (and laughable) ~1,000-1,300 units/month for the next five years. Surely bet there were internal talks of letting the marque die. C7 sales rebounded but the Camaro has even more performance goodies and now enter the GT350. I have no idea if the rear mid engine C8 is a reality, but H&H^TM, esp. in this super competitive day and age, can carry a marque only so far. A mid engine C8 sounds crazy, but GM has to get out in front of the conundrum somehow, or the market will do it for them, just as almost happened with the C6 and debut of the resurrected Camaro.

[CaminoRacer]

Can't say I've seen many videos of modded Civics fishtailing into crowds or other cars at car meets.

They can't leave quickly - they have to take off their bumpers so they don't get ripped off on the curb, then crawl out of the parking lot and reattach the bumper.

[12,000 RPM]

Short generations are good - past Corvettes suffered immensely from depressingly long generations (C2 = 10 years, C3 = 15 years, C4 = 13 years).

Save for the relatively few watershed moments in the history of the Corvette - the first few of years of the C4, the C4 ZR1, the first year of the C5, the C5/C6 Z06, the C6 ZR1 - there wasn't a ton of reasons to buy a Corvette over a Camaro beyond styling and H&H^TM. There are entire swaths of Corvette history whereby the Camaro (and Trans Am mid - late '70s) has been as or more desirable, doubly so as the cars age. I mean, kudos for Chevy for trying things out in the Corvette - fiberglass body, fuel injection, 360 hp V8 and full independent suspension was unmatched by any automaker at any price circa 1963. Since the C3 however (when the Camaro and other hi-po pony cars hit the scene), Corvettes have struggled to materially separate themselves.

Fast forward to the C6. In MY2009 the C6 sales figures abruptly dropped by ~50% (the resurrected Camaro went on sale in April '09) and stayed at an unthinkable (and laughable) ~1,000-1,300 units/month for the next five years. Surely bet there were internal talks of letting the marque die. C7 sales rebounded but the Camaro has even more performance goodies and now enter the GT350. I have no idea if the rear mid engine C8 is a reality, but H&H^TM, esp. in this super competitive day and age, can carry a marque only so far. A mid engine C8 sounds crazy, but GM has to get out in front of the conundrum somehow, or the market will do it for them, just as almost happened with the C6 and debut of the resurrected Camaro.

Wow, as usual a lot to unpack.

For starters, let's look at the whole context of sporty cars, and Camaro sales. Camaro has pretty much always trailed the Rustang, until very recently. But with the 1999 "New Edge" Stang, Camaro sales fell off a cliff. OK, in 2002 they sold ~41K... but in that same year Ford sold 145K Stangs. And the 4th gen F-body had moved as many as 122K cars. On top of that the pony cars pretty much had the market to themselves. In 99 the S2K was new (and expensive)... there was no Z, RX-8, Genesis Coupe, WRX/STi or EVO. The earliest of these pony car alternatives came in 2002. And yet the Camaro STILL didn't generate enough interest for GM to keep pumping them out. Meanwhile the Corvette kept pushing on at over 2x the price of the dead F-body.

As far as 2009, the whole auto industry contracted by ~35%, and frivolous cars took the brunt of the hit. Ford sold ~174K Stangs in 2007... they sold 46K in 2009. So for the Vette to only have lost half of its sales, while being a much more expensive car, speaks to its desirability.

Back to the market at large though- by 08 sporty coupes had begun their fall out of favor. Z, Z4, RX-8 etc were all down. S2K was put to sleep. The concept of the SUV/pickup truck as status vehicle was born. I guarantee a ton of these brodozer dudes today had pony cars and the like back in 2000. No different with the Vette. So a lot of that decline was just a change in the market

Now with all that out of the way, if anything it's the Camaro that has grown to big for its britches. An equally equipped, higher status, better handling, more practical C7 only costs ~$13K more than a Camaro 2SS. Camaro is also more expensive than an equally specced Mustang. This is why 6G sales have dropped compared to 5G sales. GM is flying too close to the sun with the Camaro, and if they try to push the Corvette up to 911 Carrera territory they will be in for a rude awakening. Nobody is trying to pay 6 figures for a base trim Corvette... it doesn't matter how good it is. Joe Sixpack doesn't have that much equity in his home left.