Everyone wants to see a mid-engined Corvette. Even though all of us here will likely never own one, we still want to see it. We want to live in the era where General Motors and Chevrolet brought us a piece of masterful engineering.
But, there could be some major problems to overcome, and that’s precisely the topic of Road & Track’s latest piece: a case against the mid-engined Corvette. You should definitely head to the link here to read the author’s thoughts, but we’ll expand upon it now.
Everything brought up makes a lot of sense, but our contribution to a sound argument is this: would General Motors, Chevrolet and the Corvette team be dumb enough to kill off the front-engine, rear-wheel drive Corvette altogether?
The argument presented is valid, but here’s how we think it could work.
That’s the foundation of the argument at hand, and we have a little more faith in GM’s combined braincells that they wouldn’t alienate an audience it has courted for decades.
Instead, if we wanted to build a business case for the mid-engined Corvette, we’d have already presented executives with the idea of Corvette as its own brand, separated from Chevrolet. Corvette could penetrate the market with a high-performance, mid-engine supercar, while the traditional Corvette continues to do everything we know and love.
What say you? Should the Corvette keep on keeping on the way it is? We think yes, but we’re definitely not against an additional Corvette sportscar.
Comments
I am for Corvette staying with Chevy and adding the mid engine to the Corvette line. GM already have too many Division’s and don’t need the cost and complexity of adding and marketing another one. Use the money saved and put it into the vehicle and make it outstanding.
There outs no such thing as too many divisions in a well-managed and healthy company. Ask old GM or VW. Niche brands allow for the targeting of unique customers without the mainstream brand (Spark or Sonic) baggage.
Globally, Corvette should be dealer paired with the dominant brand in a given market so Buick in China, for example. This will allow Cadillac to build its own take on luxury sport.
The R&T article was a bit unreasonable. It makes it seem like the Cayman and Boxster cannot exist and be reliable. As if the vette is reliable in any sense. That LT4 is probably the worst GM engine in recent times. Also, contrary to the article, there is zero winter drivability in a vette. Unlike a cayman or 911.
For example, If cadillac pops that new 3.0 V6 twin turbo behind the driver, adds a new dual clutch transmission and good visibility, you’d have a lighter, better balanced car – a corvette beater. The new camaro is heavier, higher and clunkier than the vette, and goes almost as fast. Imagine if GM actually made a lighter smaller mid-engine 400hp sports car. I suppose a little internal competition can’t hurt.
I think the corvette team will wait too long, cadillac will beat them to it, and by the time the fastest vette in the history of GM is unveiled (in 8 years), self-driving cars will be a reality and far fewer people will want a sports car.
What is a “Mid-Engine” vehicle? If the engine is ahead of the driver, it is a “front engine” vehicle. And if it is behind the driver, it is a “rear engine” vehicle, such as the Pontiac Fiero.
So where does the “mid-engine” sit? Below the driver?
mid-engine refers to the engine in front of the rear axle. rear refers to engine behind it. almost nobody except porsche has a rear engine layout. both layouts put more weight on the rear wheels, improving grip
“What is a “Mid-Engine” vehicle? If the engine is ahead of the driver, it is a “front engine” vehicle.”
To fit the terms of the word ‘Mid-engine’, the location of where the driver sits mean nothing.
It’s the engine’s location relative to the axles. That’s it.
Between the axles and towards the front; front mid-engined.
Between the axles and towards the rear; rear mid-engined.
Ahead of the front axle; front engined.
Behind the rear axle; rear engined.
Within this definition, the Corvette has been a front mid-engined car since the launch of the C4.
Here is the problem. The present car has been taken about as far as it can go per the Vette team.
What they would like to do it go the next step and take the Vette to places it has not even gone at this point.
The idea of mid engine is misleading as mid engine is between the axles. The present car is really mid engine with the engine set back but it is in front of the drivers. If you move it behind it would let you lower the seating for a much lower center of gravity. It also would help aerodynamics as you do not have to work around the engine up front. Polar movement can also be improved. The side effect is more interior room too as you tunnel.
Ray a Fiero is a Mid engine as the engine is in front of the axle. A Corvair or 911 is a rear engine because the engine is behind the axle.
At one point a mid engine was a difficult and expensive car to build but today not so much. One other advantage I have seen is a hybrid system would be much easier to do with a mid engine in the Corvette.
As for Cadillac it is going to be a while before they even can consider this. Johann has stated a Mid engine car would be great but he stated they could not even look to do one till 2025. They do have a lot of other more important cars to do. Cadillac is not really seen as a sports car company anyways. They would be better off with a smaller front engine roadster to compete with Benz and BMW.
As the norm the magazines are reaching for readers with stories that have little real info. We see it often as they predict because they can not report since they hold no info. Most times they are wrong and often what we get exceeds much of what they predict.
The only things we know for sure is GM has build a mule and it has been testing it. When or if the car arrives is still not for sure but is expected. I have heard it is coming and will be around $200K. The present car would be sold along side and as time goes on the mid engine car would be offered in cheaper models.
I would recommend looking at Mclaren and what they are doing. They have had models of their car up to near $1 million an d now they just came out with one sans all the super high tech stuff for $187,000. So a mid engine can be build in a wide range of prices. Yes even cheaper than this.
The fact is GM needs to find a way to make the Corvette better with ever increasing competition. Also they face some major fuel and emission regulations in the future. A smaller and lighter car will help a lot and a car with mid engine, hybrid and other advancements will take it into the future.
Losing the high away headlamps was just the start. We will see many more changes in the coming 10 years to this car.
As for marketing. In the states it will remain a Chevy. But globally it could still be marketed as a Corvette brand. Not much will change there.
The Ford GT as it is now will have little effect here. It is going to be over $400K before the mark up and they plan to build so few. It is more a marketing tool and a race car they built for the street. GM builds a street car that they make into a race car. Both are working from opposite directions. So far the Ford is slower than the Pratt and Miller Corvette by a coupe seconds. But I speculate they are sandbagging as not to get weight added by the series. If they prove too fast they will get weight and or smaller intake restrictions. The Corvette the last two years leading points has had weight added and it cost them the championship.
Racing is not run what you brung anymore as if every brand is not competitive many fans will not come and many brands will drop out. They used to be run what you brung in Trans Am and Can Am and both series has failed when the MFG pull out and the teams stop coming if one brand dominates.
Great perspective.
Re mid-engine layouts, I think the vette team can do it and sell the car for $60k. The mid-engine cayman gt4, which is a track car, goes for about $80k, and it’s assembled in germany, has a richer interior and is shipped overseas, so GM has no reason to charge exorbitantly high prices.
I’ve been wondering how the vette team claims they’ve taken the front engine layout as far as it can go. And yet, the Nissan GT-R, which is heavier, higher and seats 4, can crush the vette in both a straight line and on a course. And is easier to drive while doing so. Maybe the next big thing for the vette team should be AWD? Perhaps a hybrid AWD?
I have said for years for Corvette to broaden itself and future, we need to be more than a 2 door sports car, the mid-engine IF BUILT IN LIMITED numbers would be something special and amazing, then how about a 4 door Vette , a SUV Vette….Porsche did it and does well.
It is hard to think like that, but I would rather think outside the box than not have the 2 door sports car we have admired and enjoyed for 60 + years because we were not able to reinvent ourselves
What if the next corvette possess a GT sport car body style ?
A mid-engine corvette is a waste of time !!
in addition to my comment above….if anything…I think we really need an AWD model!!!!!!!!!!!!!!