2020 Corvette.

DataDan

DataDan

Mama says he's bona fide
Revolution: The Mid-Engine Corvette Development Story

Instead of the Corvette I asked for, what Santa left under the tree is a link to a video from Chevrolet about the development of the C8. Cheap bastard. :mad


youtu.be/hjj-QcfJEvM
 
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TheRobSJ

TheRobSJ

Großer Mechaniker
I’ll never trade my C7 in, but I’d certainly like to drive a C8 one of these days. We’ve gotta get to a point where there are just in stock units sitting on Chevy dealer lots before I can just roll up like a tire kicker pretending to be interested in buying before they’ll let me drive one though.

The $7500 premium for the convertible would be worth it for me. It seems as if the halo bar on the targa coupe that I smack my head on...that’s gone in the convertible. So my headroom issue would be gone in a C8 convertible.
 
TheRobSJ

TheRobSJ

Großer Mechaniker
Caddywumpus said:
Convertible don't handle as nice as a hardtop
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This is true. But the performance gap isn’t that bad. Since the C5, they have designed them as convertibles first. So the convertible is almost as structurally rigid as the coupe. I remember the C4 convertible had this huge X-brace under the floorpan for rigidity which added a whole bunch of weight...and it still felt like driving a loosely stapled cardboard box over railroad tracks and such. Where the convertible top really hurts is really high speeds. I gotta imagine that notchback profile is not doing it any favors with downforce.
 
TheRobSJ

TheRobSJ

Großer Mechaniker
So recently, Mercedes took the Nurburgring lap record with the GTR Black Series. A front engine rear drive based vehicle. Most of the fastest laps are with mid or rear engine cars. But the current record holder has an engine in front of the driver. On the surface one might think the switch to mid engine for the Corvette is just hype then since it’s proven that front engine is just as fast if not faster than mid around the ‘ring.

It’s a good test and a nice performance metric to know. But lap times around the ring aren’t everything. Matter of fact, the C8’s lap time is only a 7:29.9 A time which doesn’t even beat the Camaro ZL1, a more powerful, but heavier car with a backseat. But those are times out down by professional drivers on a race track. Where the C8’s mid engine layout is going to excel is with average ham fisted drivers on public roads. Lap times are nice for marketing, but since their lap time isn’t really all that impressive these days they’re not really playing that up at all. If only their marketing department could actually say something like “4x less likely to biff it when turning out of the driveway of cars and coffee compared to the last generation car.” Being able to put the power down more consistently without the need for warmed up R comp tires on a nice surface? I imagine that’s kinda nice.

GM claimed a 2.85 second 0-60 time for my C7. They claimed 2.9 for the C8. There have been C8 owners on youtube getting the car to do GM’s claimed time easily. And some are even quicker. Yet nobody and I mean nobody has been able to come close to that 2.85 for my car. Best I’ve gotten is 3.2.

That reminds me. I need new tires.
 
Holeshot

Holeshot

Super Moderator
Staff member
Mid engine car, high performance spec: lots of electronics to manage the average driver's "skill". I suspect that these mid engine cars work their electronics significantly.

Mid engine cars once they lose traction can be a mess to gather back up, if possible at all. Thanks to modern electronics, we'll not have near the amount of cracked up C8's as we should.
 
TheRobSJ

TheRobSJ

Großer Mechaniker
NorCalAthlete said:
Edit - actually, give it a watch from about 14:10 onwards too...:laughing "we could see the smoke from your tires from the other side of the city..."
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Lol I didn’t see anything like that going on when I was in that exact same parking lot when I was there a few years ago. I seem to remember buying a soda or something from the vendor with the green roof thing there too.
 

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TheRobSJ

TheRobSJ

Großer Mechaniker
Holeshot said:
Mid engine cars once they lose traction can be a mess to gather back up, if possible at all. Thanks to modern electronics, we'll not have near the amount of cracked up C8's as we should.
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Don’t I know it. My first driving years when I was auto crossing my Fiero GT...when that back end started swinging, there was nothing I could do to catch it and it came around on me. Lotta cones got punted with me in that car.
 
Enchanter

Enchanter

Ghost in The Machine
Staff member
TheRobSJ said:
Don’t I know it. My first driving years when I was auto crossing my Fiero GT...when that back end started swinging, there was nothing I could do to catch it and it came around on me. Lotta cones got punted with me in that car.
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NorCalAthlete

NorCalAthlete

O_o
Update : the center console "wall" is going away.

https://www.autoblog.com/2021/02/25/c8-chevy-corvette-interior-redesign/

The C8 Corvette’s somewhat fussy styling was already locked and loaded when Michael Simcoe took over at GM Design Chief.



But sources in Detroit say the mid-cycle re-design Simcoe had originally planned for 2025 has been put on the back burner as GM pours money in its electrical vehicle program. However, inside say an interior redesign aimed at among other things fixing the array of button and switches cascading down the buttress on the right side of the center console has survived the bean counters. The redesigned interior will reportedly appear on 2023 C8’s.
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TheRobSJ

TheRobSJ

Großer Mechaniker
Rel said:
They sure do crash nicely.....
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Have you been seeing them get piled up way worse than the previous generation Corvettes?

It’s indisputable that it can put power down and remain in control much better than past Corvettes. What can be disputed though is the skill of the drivers who think they can handle shit when they turn all the stability/traction control off.
 
yodaisgod

yodaisgod

KHAAAAAN!
During a Ferrari gathering yesterday, one new C8 Vette was there too. The owner, looks to be in his early 70's, has a few Ferrari's but he brought this to compare. He feels that Chevy got it right with this model. He claims he's owned nearly 50 Vette's throughout his life.
knxM2Ih.jpg

jK8QYm6.jpg


That rear is foul though.
 
FLH03RIDER

FLH03RIDER

Recedite, plebes!
Speaking of C8's...
On Friday mornings, if the weather is nice, over in the Safeway parking lot in Alamo there is an eclectic groups of cars that show up. Last Friday there were about 30 cars. Two really nice mid '50's Buicks, record holder '32 Ford convertible dragster from the late '60's, some nice street rods, couple of early Ford GT350's, a couple of new 911's, several Ferrari's, Factor 5 car, Cadillac CTSV :teeth, three C8's, etc.
Talked with they guy that owns this one. His "other" car is a Bonneville open wheel streamliner running a 572 hemi. Two pass average was 368mph.
 

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