There’s a report out that the next gen Corvette, that would be the C7, will get a big redesign, and the next gen after that (the C8) will get a huge, big and completely radical makeover, going with a mid-mounted V6 engine. I’ve got a two-word response for that:
Horse manure.
The C7 redesign makes sense. According to Autoweek the C7 will fundamentally be a reskinned version of the current gen C6. The C7 will emphasize better interior quality and work on making the exterior styling more desirable to younger buyers here in America. At the same time the C7 will be working towards a broader international acceptance. Sure, they might be able to do both things.
But after the C7, this will get real different, real fast. “That [the C7] will be the last of the traditional, old-style Corvettes,” said an unnamed senior GM insider to AutoWeek our sources claim.
The C8, that’s expected to be released after 2016 and it will groundbreaking, to say the least, if we are to believe the report. The C8, is allegedly getting rid of the Corvette’s traditional front-mounted, large-displacement V8 driving the rear wheels layout that has been used since the car’s introduction (yes, I know, the C1 was also offered with a six-cylinder plant). The supposed C8 will feature a mid-engine layout with a turbocharged V6 powertrain. And on top of that, the report adds that the C8 will also boast a lightweight alloy body and a more compact footprint.
This, the mid-engine V6, was supposed to be what the C7 was to be, but you know, bankruptcy and all that delayed the major re-do until the C8 iteration.
And look, clearly, I love mid-engine rear drivers. That has obviously been the hot performance set up since Jimmy Clark showed up at Indy and beat A.J. Foyt et al like mules. But a mid-engined Vette? Horse manure.
‘The next Corvette is going to feature a mid-engine,’ has been something I’ve been hearing for decades and decades. Hell, I remember when it was not only going to have a mid engine, but said mill would be a three-rotor Wankel.
I think that, for one thing, GM is just too conservative of a company to make a mid-engined Vette. And for another thing, this gets into “the boy who cried wolf” territory.
OK GM, stop screwing around, and either build a mid-engined Vette, or just shut up about it.
