The C7 Corvette, and more specifically the C7 Corvette Z06, really begins to push the limits of capability in a front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout. The latest and greatest rumor that has swirled through the internets the past year or so is the idea of a mid-engined Corvette.
We’ve seen spy shots of something decidedly mid-engined, heard the rumors from all throughout the industry, but now The Detroit Free Press has taken the time to put together why a mid-engined Corvette could work, or why it may be an awful idea.
The same reasoning sits with why a mid-engine Corvette may be a bad idea: it would utterly alienate Corvette enthusiasts looking for the tried-and-true, bang for your buck sports car.
“The Corvette is still a Chevrolet. Corvette buyers are not Ferrari buyers. They demand unmatched bang for the buck, in part because they have fewer bucks,” Lawrence Ulrich stated in his own opinion piece.
But, with the Ford GT sweeping Corvette Racing at Le Mans, the traditional Corvette formula could be in danger. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, but we could be staring at a much different animal at the 2018 North American International Auto Show.
Comments
Wow I never expected the Free Press to get so desperate to play the speculation card like so many of the cheap magazines.
Here is the deal the car is coming but all the parts of the puzzle have not been presented. This is key as it would explain much and confirm some of what we do know and discard what we are wrong about.
Here is the deal Chevy will not abandon the present buyers. They will not just be offering a $200K and up model.
GM will either keep the C7 and develop it separately or they will find a way to build the mid engine in various forms for various prices to cover all the bases much like the present car.
The key here is if they remain with the present formula they will just become a nostalgia car much like a Morgan and no longer offer top performance at a lower price.
The fact is the C7 is hitting the wall of performance. They lengthened the wheel base to move the engine back more and it can not go back anymore unless you want something that looks like a Panoz race car. Not a pretty sight.
Also the new systems they are hinting about would be much easier to do in the mid engine configuration.
This is what we do know.
The Corvette will still be offered in a affordable sub $100K model or models that could be front, Mid or both engine.
This is not just going to be a Ferrari priced car. It will also not be a limited volume car.
There is a lot of things still to be discovered here and it will change much in the market. Do not mistake this as a Ford GT program that is really just a limited car that is priced way out of range.
Chevy is committed to a volume sports car that is still affordable and that is what we will get.
As for changed it is either change or get left behind. We have survived the sacred cows that have changed like pop up headlamps for better head lamps and less weight. Also the round tail lamps that vanished are no longer even a topic of tears by the die hard enthusiast.
When you build a car like the Grand Sport you can do many things that will change minds about what you are doing. Taking the future Corvette to the next level will change minds fast with most enthusiast.
The engine will move but the formula of performance and price will remain.
The Panoz Esperante of the year 2000 was beautiful. Corvette could easily look good with more hood. Ferrari does alright with the F12, and it has more performance than the Ford GT
The Esperante was nothing but a roaster touring GT street car and not a competition car. In other words a more powerful Miata in a way.
The car I speak of is the Panoz GTR1 Or their LMP 1 that have very long hoods to move the engine to the center of the car. They also because of the high cowl suffer more aero frontal area as they can not put the passenger compartment lower. This adds to the higher center of gravity.
Ferrari does well but at a great cost. They use many composites to accomplish what they do. But when push comes to shove they resort to Mid Engine when they pull out the stops as in the La Ferrari for the ultimate performance.
As for the GT it was built for one reason to race. They will build a few hundred street cars to make it legal and that is it. It did what they wanted it to do win at Lemans [with some BoP help].
The point is to get the mass more centered and lower the only way to get the car to go beyond what it is now is to go mid engine.
We race Soap Box Derby cars and even with the simple task of going down a hill the key is centered mass to make the car faster. We balance the car but the most weight has to be on the center of gravity. Just the transition of the hill can rotate the mass of the car to the point that if it is at the end of the chassis it uses energy.
Now while we are not turning the same principal applies to the cars that turn right and left. If you center the mass you use less energy to turn the car and it helps keep the car from wanting to step out and provides a car that turns in and out much more effectively. The center mass move little in polar movement and provides a more stable base for handling.
Putting an engine in the mid section is a pain. But the gains are worth it. It is pure simple physics.
I also own a mid engine car and have a tuned competition suspension on it. The mid engine car gains much over the front engine cars and yes they do have some quirks like drop throttle over-steer. But if you know how to drive and plus with today’s electronics it is easily controlled.
In my opinion , A regular Corvette and Mid engine Corvette Could work side by side , with the Mid Corvette being the higher class model . A win win condition !!
it would be nice Chevrolet will make two different Corvettes; one with the front engine base; Z51.
And with the central engine; Zora ZR1-Z06- high performance versions
So all of Corvette fans will be happy
A Corvette for Cadillac money, competing against the Audi R8, 911 Turbo, BMW i8. Right when Caddy has a Chief who brought us the R8 when he was at Audi. Just after he said “Cadillac will have a halo model”. Right when the new IMSA DPi class will have new mid-engined Cadillacs including one for Wayne Taylor Racing… By the way, have you ever been to an IMSA race and spoken to Corvette owners in their corrall about a mid-engined Vette? Many of them can afford one of those Astons/Porsches/Ferrari’s that the Vette’s regularly beat, but they want to DRIVE the car, so they don’t want to have all their money in it in case they crash it or it gets stolen. Corvette’s get way higher mileages than Ferrorschini’s.
I mean sheesh! It walks like a duck, paddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck, but it’s a really a squid? Seriously?
First off Corvette is nearly a brand of its own.
Second Cadillac is having a hard enough time getting their sedans to the place where they are selling like they should. The last thing they need to worry about is a high priced sports car that would likely fail now like past attempts of selling an expensive 2 seater as they have not first earned enough image yet to pull it off. Audi and BMW both earned their image on sedans and coupes before really tackling an expensive sports car.
As for IMSA I have been to their races back when they were racing the GTP Corvette at Hendricks and the 962 revolution.
Most Corvette owners buy because it is a Corvette. They have always been easier to maintain and even if the Corvette goes mid engine it will still be a third the price of a 488.
If it were left to your thinking we would be like Morgan and still on three wheels and wood frames.
The bottom line is if the Corvette does not keep itself relevant it will be gone. The Corvette never gets a free pass and has to make a business case.
Just a couple years ago sales dipped to right at 12K units. It was in danger and the C7 had to bring up sales. Now they are up but they will not stay there unless they advance the car .
The Vette was canceled in the 90’s and only survived as the manager ignored GM call. He paid for it with his job.
GM can no longer let the Corvette get by with runs like the C3 where they do not change anything for a decade or more.
If you really know your Corvette history and some of the real actions that have taken place you know where this program is today. But with your comments I can see you are missing much of it.
GM should really consider doing a Corvette sub brand/family much like Land Rover did with Range Rover. Offer multiple models targeting different market segments and price points, all while maximizing performance in each configuration. They could easily offer a new generation Corvette Stingray with front engine layout and mid engine Corvette Zora or whatever it will be called.
check out test track day you know the day before le man, corvette ran the fastest lap and were penalized for being the best. i believe ford and a few others, porscha sand bagged and so was awarded the win by putting such a big bop on corvette. i know corvette racing has to much honor and integrity to complain but come on. all contestans ran within a few hundreths of a second of each other. there was no bop needed. corvette racing team, everyone on that team got screwed, period. NO BODY WANTED CORVETTE RACING TO WIN THERE 6TH MAJOR IN A ROW OR GET THEIR HUNDRETH WIN. That boo took corvette racing out of the race. i whole heartedly beleive le man and the other teams sand bagged corvette racing and gave the win to ford who by the way is not only not selling their gt on off the showroom floor yet but are sending out letters to people who want to buy one telling them to bad it may be years before one is even made to sell to the public. oh yea, corvette is made in america by americans while the ford gt is built in canada, the people who hid our vietnam deserters. ford a so called american car company doesnt even make ford picups in america, they moved to mexico.
corvette racing does it by the book and does not sand bag. congratulations on your 10pth win and 60th 1-2 finish in 20 years.
Finally someone points out the obvious. Corvette racing was severely handicapped with the restrictions put on the engine after qualifying so well. Between the rest of the teams (possibly) sandbaging and or recieveing lesser penalties the race Corvette’s advantage wax essentially stolen form team Corvette.
With the limited power they were forced to run with it was garuenteed they would not dominate their class like previously.
sorry, 100th win
I have my 100th win hat and wear it proudly.
You must remember the Bop is what controls the race teams. The street cars have no real advantage here. The series controls the inlet sizes and weight amounts and placement to try to even all the cars. You can not just the street cars performance based on this.
As it is the rule of late are favoring the mid engine cars more and the turbo engines. I suspect if GM wants to remain competitive they will have to adopt both or the series will not give them the advantage back with the Bop next time.
As for Le Mans. They did sand bag and Chevy has in the past too. Everyone does. This is a big game and politics.
At this point GM appears to hold the advantage again with the change in BOP. I suspect since Chevy got screwed the last two years and at Le mans IMSA will give them an advantage for the rest of the year and may win the series this year. Then next year the Bop will change again and they can be a back marker if the series chooses.
I have been a Pratt and Miller team follow since they ran the black and silver GM Goodwrench cars back in the late 90’s and 2000. They have played this game for a long time.
If you were to ask Binks and Fehan if they wanted a Mid Engine car their reply would be when can we get it.
The last reply from them when asked was they will run what ever GM wants and win.
As for two cars. Yes it has been mentioned that they had considered two cars one front engine and one mid engine on a platform that could support both. This was investigated with the C7 before ordered by Lutz to retain the front engine only.
It has also been reported that the mid engine car would be available in several mid engine models one starting at $70K.
What path they take is TBA.
Either way they will be successful with no worry. Even if they lose a few people a mid engine will draw in more buyers from other makes.
you have your opiniun and i have mine so quit being a bully and live and let live. i fought to keep freedom of speech and ill be damned if some troll is going to tell me im wrong and i dont know what im talking about. im glad you have a hat i just hope it keeps what brains you have left in your head from falling out. im really sorry you dont want me to have freedom of speech but im pretty sure my 217 buddies did not die for nothing. i just wish they were here to tell us their thoughts on this but dont worry vietnam has been killing me for49 years and its almost over so you will not have to here what i have to say much longer as a matter of fact fyck you i will not be posting anything else, YOU WIN.
I am sorry but all I posted was my opinion and it differs from your post. But this is a place to debate and exchange ideas as that is why it is call a forum. Bulling is when I call you or you mother something rude.
As you say have my opinion and you have yours.
If you like challenge where I am going wrong. Again it is debate.
The idea of a forum is a place to post ideas and open them up for debate. This has gone on all the way back to the Greeks and longer.
This is not about throwing stones but ideas be it yours, mine or ours.
You should know that PRIVATELY owned websites, such as GMA, aren’t subject to laws governing free speech. As such, the owners can be as tight or as loose on allowed speech as they like, and thus are allowed to set controls for dialogue between users on their site, or even disallow user dialogue completely.
It’s in the PUBLIC realm that you have freedom of speech, meaning that the US government cannot silence you unjustly. You can still be punished for loudly shouting ‘bomb’ while on a tour of the White House, but the justifications there are evident.
gm authority, please take me off your list, unsubscribe me. i dont need to be harassed by some troll just because i have my own thoughts. good bye i will miss you.
If Chevrolet does build a mid-engine sports car, it is unlikely Chevy will be selling volume numbers similar to the C7 Corvette which is over 2,000 cars a month; thus, Chevy should take their motto by ‘Finding New Roads’ which is to build both a front-engine Corvette as well as a mid-engine Zora because abandoning the front-engine rear wheel drive car would be giving away over 2,000 units to another car builder.
Where would moving the engine behind the seat drive away all sales?
I agree with doing both cars which is what I am expecting for a while but if priced similar why would being mid engine drive away sales.
Even a car like the Fiero with a limited power 4 cylinder sold [be it too many] in the first year over 140,000 cars. the fact it held no power let alone power steering did not stop sales from happening.
Now to be honest Pontiac over sold the car as a 2 seat car is a limited sale item and needs to remain around 18K-35K yearly. To go over that would flood the market and limit sales in following years.
The Fiero even with the so called fire claims [there were many cars with greater fire issues] and engine issues still sold over 33,000 units the last year.
Pontiac never even had a convertible and I expect Chevy will bring one of these too even with mid engine.
I agree a few folks will leave but more will come. Also like when they killed the pop up lamps half the people complained but sales were fine and they had little trouble selling the C6 till it started to get long in the tooth styling wise.