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Mid-Engine Corvette Spied Testing Against Porsche 911 Carrera S

Feast your eyes on yet another sighting of the upcoming mid-engine Corvette. Our photographers managed to get a few shots of the prototypes – of which there were three this time around – testing on public Michigan roads before a caravan of slow-moving support vehicles made it difficult to catch up to the test group, allowing the pack to scurry away into the back country roads.

The prototypes were accompanies by a C7 Corvette Z06, two units of the C7 Corvette ZR1 and a Porsche 911 Carrera S as a benchmark vehicle. Interestingly, however, the group did not contain other mid-engine rivals.

Mid-Engine Corvette C8 - Spy Pictures - May 2018 001

Though never confirmed by GM/Chevrolet, we understand that the decision to move the future Corvette to a mid-engine configuration was made to raise the performance envelope of the vehicle, as the engineering team has reached the maximum performance benefit of the front-engine/rear-drive configuration used in the first seven generation of the Corvette.

As such, the switch to the mid-engine layout will draw unavoidable comparisons to mid-engine exotics from Ferrari, McLaren and Koenigsegg, though none were present for this testing run. But despite its new powertrain configuration, the upcoming mid-engine Vette is expected to continue the nameplate’s tradition of delivering high levels of performance at the best bang-for-your-buck value proposition.

Mid-Engine Corvette C8 - Spy Pictures - May 2018 007

About The Mid-Engine Corvette

Rumored for the past several years, the mid-engine Corvette has been spotted with increasing frequency undergoing testing with a heavy amount of camouflage. At the beginning of April, an attendee of the 2018 Chevrolet national dealer meeting was cited as saying that executives showed images of the future Corvette mid-engine sports car (aka Corvette C8), confirming the vehicle’s existence in future Chevy product pipeline.

Mid Engine Corvette spy pictures - April 2018 - exterior 003

The mid-engine Corvette C8 is expected to launch for the 2020 model year sometime in the 2019 calendar year. Stay tuned to GM Authority more Corvette news and Corvette C8 news coverage.

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Comments

  1. This is the not the first time they used a Porsche for bench-marking this car. It has been seen with a red 911 Turbo S before. It can be seen in the McDonald’s photos, and a few others.

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  2. The MidVette slightly will looks like McLaren 720S

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    1. In as much as it has a passenger cabin ahead of the engine!

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    2. until we know what behind the camo

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  3. They have tested vs. 911. McLaren, Audi and Ferrari.

    The cars were seen at the building at Warren the Vette team works out of during a Camaro preview.

    They are aiming high as usual.

    Reply
  4. Chevrolet is aiming the new C8 Corvette to be a Porsche killer which is important as it tells you what type of performance the car should be capable of and while the top tier car will most likely cost $150,000+ given the price of the C7 Corvette ZR1, one still has to think there’s every possibility that General Motors could do what the C7 Corvette had done when it was first introduced which is to capture a major chunk of the sports and luxury car business with monthly sales of over 2,500 units per month minimum.

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    1. Remember the 911 Carrera S is the ‘standard entry level’ 911. The S4 adds 4 wheel drive. While the Turbo kills almost every other supercar on the road, barring the hypercars.

      It suggests the C8 will initially be as good as or a little bit better than the S. Which begs the question, will there be a higher specced model aimed at the 911 Turbo?

      I think the C8 will come in three spec levels like the Porsche – entry (Carrera S), mid (Carrera S4) and high spec (911 Turbo) – with performance figures to match. In addition option packages for each spec level will push up the luxury of each lower spec to near levels of the next model level up.

      Reply
  5. Comparisons to mid-engine exotics from Ferrari, Porsche, Ford GT, Audi, Lamborghini, Yes.
    McLaren and Koenigsegg, Pagani, Bugatti, etc., not so much. These are hypercars and not supercars.
    The new ME C8 will most certainly be the best value supercar on the market and I for one can’t wait to see it revealed, tested, and priced.

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    1. Doesn’t a McLaren 570S tip the scales at USD180,000?? That is supercar territory not hyper car.

      Very much depends on how you categorize a hypercar from a supercar. For me hypercars are (1) low volume models ie. less than 1,000 units annually, (2) capable of at least 350 km/h and (3) super expensive, greater than USD1 million.

      The McLarens are therefore supercars, although the P1 probably meets the criteria for hypercar.

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      1. You have a point there and I agree, but, isn’t the 570S also the base model? I was thinking at the time of the new Senna which is certainly a hypercar and as are most of McLarens other models which are still in the league of hyper rather than super, IMHO.

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        1. Because McLaren’s commercial car division is so new (in car making terms) they have a unique point of difference. In fact their road going models fall into both Supercar and Hypercar category models.

          I would put the F1, P1 and Senna in the hypercar category.

          A 720S starts at US$289,000 – well under a million….that’s not “hyper” enough for me 🙂 Although there is some delicious hypercar technology included in that price – the carbon fibre monocoque shell that only weighs 71 kg (156lb) – delicious.

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      2. Yes Mclaren has models now under $180k and all the way up to over a million.

        There are two sets of supercars one $150k to $300k then the hyper supercars $900k to $2M plus. The Ford is in the middle.

        I expect the Corvette to be very competitive with the first group with some special editions with power over 1,000 HP. If Hennessy can do it why not GM?

        Reports they have test over that mark are out there.

        It used to be GM built a Corvette that was good for the money. Now they have gotten to where they are offering a great car no matter the money and still a bargain. The present car is 911 like in performance but closer to Cayman price.

        While the Vette will remain a steal for a supercars they will flirt with the Hypercars like performance but at much less the price. Not that they will beat them but they will be a lot of performance vs cost.

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  6. With the current C7 yearly sales of 30-40,000 units, I wonder what kind of volume GM would be targeting for the new mid engine Corvette? If the price is over $150,000 then I’d think the target volume would have to be lower?

    The goal for GM is to make sure the Bowling Green operation runs near to full capacity, I would think?

    I know they will still build the C7, for a while, but maybe it would still remain for a longer period?

    Maybe also a Corvette SUV could become a new addition?

    Main thing is that GM is committed to the future of Corvette, with several models, of meaningful volume !

    Reply
  7. Corvette must become a brand separate from Chevrolet. Or give it to Cadillac, let the mid engine be more exclusive than Chev maker of Sonic.

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    1. Corvette is a car not a brand. Hummer should have been a model and not a brand too. It would have been easier and cheaper to deal with.

      The plan is For Cadillac to get a model later but with the changes?

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    2. Nope Corvette is a car – it is the halo car for Chevrolet. If they move to a brand strategy, they would need to invest literally billions and billions building up a brand portfolio, model range, production and marketing.

      If you use Porsche as the example, they had the 911 in the 60s, that was pretty much it. Then you got the likes of the 914, 924 and 928 – all sports coupes with differing engines and levels of performance up through the 80s and early 90s. Zoom forward 30 years and you have the Cayman, 911, Cayenne SUV, Panamera sedan – it has taken them that long to build up the models and brand portfolio.

      I don’t think a Corvette SUV is something I’d really be interested in. The brand values of “Corvette” are a Chevrolet high spec Coupe with V8 Power and RWD, that is affordable to the masses at a price that undercuts the nearest Euro or Japanese competitor.

      Move too far away from that brand & market ecosystem and you risk killing off the values (and buyers) of Corvette.

      Reply
    3. Should FoMoCo spin the GT off into its own brand, or is Ford inexorably joined at the hip with their GT as Chevrolet is with it’s Corvette?

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  8. Isn’t it positioned mainly against the Ford GT, the winning car in the GTE category at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans?

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    1. Yes and no.

      The Corvette is a street car that will be raced while the Ford is a race cars that was street driven. That is why the Ford is so expensive and so limited.

      It is more than most supercars but it is not yet really a hypercar.

      GM will sell more models and make more money as the Ford was only for racing and promotional work.

      The Corvette will target the $150k plus cars but at $69k- $175 at some point.

      I expect a more varied editions with a greater range of engines and performance. We may even get a hybrid.

      Reply
    2. Do you mean the Ford Gt built an mostly designed by Multi Matic Corporation in Canada? Do you mean the Multi Matic GT {Ford GT} that sandbagged and purchased LeMans in 2016, one of the biggest farces in the history of motor sports? Or, do you mean the Ford Gt built by Multi Matic that has lost to the Corvette two straight years in IMSA? Or would you be talking about the car that was beaten by almost 2 full seconds at VIR by a production Corvette this spring? Just observing.

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      1. Multi Matic? Isn’t that — or wasn’t it — a computer or other electronics company? That one building cars?

        Whatever, what I had in mind is the Ford GT which was presented two years ago and which raced in last year’s 24 heures du Mans.

        Besides, in the mean time I have read about the Audi R8 V10 Spyder with its V10 mid engine and a Lamborghini with a tuned version of the same V10 engine. That is another of the competitors of the mid-engine Corvette.

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  9. I bet these super car companies are shaking in their boots!!!

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  10. ITS STILL A 21ST. CENTURY CORVAIR
    Would have made it to next “Back To The Future part 4” anyhow.

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    1. Jack@$$ troll.

      Reply
  11. Yeah, the bs continues. If porsche can make it happen with its current and future lineup, SO CAN GM if marketed PROPERLY!
    GM NEEDS to market a proper expansion, and if your BLIND, follow Porsches lead….

    Reply
  12. Why are front tyres small compared to rear ones ?

    Reply

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