The mid-engine C8 Corvette had taken to the famed Nürburgring circuit for testing as new spy video shows. We’ve come a long way from Holden ute camouflage on the streets to simple swirled camouflage showing off production sheet metal.
The video above gives us three minutes of uninterrupted mid-engine C8 Corvette footage as the car shoots around carousels, blasts down straights and grips its way through the circuit’s tightest corners. And the skimpy camouflage makes it clear this will be a revolutionary Corvette.
Without the extra cladding, we’re able to see a wide front fascia with gaping vents up front and a set of flying buttresses lead the eye to the rear. Out back, things appear chiseled and square, while a cover likely hides an area where onlookers will one day find the C8 Corvette’s mounted in the middle of the car. The same set of dual exhausts are present and we can now see a small spoiler take shape on the decklid, too.
Something about this prototype sounds slightly different to our ears, too. The exhaust tone comes off as more refined and less raucous than the C7 Corvette stable’s exhaust notes. We don’t have any confirmation on what engines we’ll see in the mid-engine C8 Corvette, but we can sort out rumors.
According to reports, an upgraded 6.2-liter LT1 V8 engine is said to serve as the base powerplant, before a 5.5-liter DOHC V8 joins the lineup. Eventually, Chevy is rumored to add a twin-turbo version of the 5.5-liter V8, and then a hybrid system further down the road to make around 1,000 horsepower. In the video, it’s also clear we’re listening to an automatic transmission, and it doesn’t appear a manual transmission is in the cards for the next-generation Corvette.
If we follow clues, we’ll likely see the mid-engine C8 Corvette make its debut sometime next year. The 2019 Detroit Auto Show seems like a good guess, but such a car may receive a dedicated unveiling at a later point next year, too.
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Comments
Do you think the new C8 interior will help the car make faster laps around the ring?
I hope this C8 dominates the competition both on the street and at the track in the performance categories. What kind if soft touch materials that are used for the interior is the least of my worries.
You know the C8 will have the best seats available for performance driving.
“Do you think the new C8 interior will help the car make faster laps around the ring?”
Nope, but a better interior will captivate and impress people, both new and existing Corvette owners. In turn, it will allow GM to charge more, thereby increasing the ATP and ultimately revenue.
Like I said before, you’re not Corvette material if you can’t understand the importance of cars’ interior, especially at the purported higher price range.
It’s a lot more than just soft touch materials. The ergonomics are for a sprots car can make or break it’s performance in the market, and the interior itself is effectively the interface between man and machine. If you want it to look like garbage, as you’re suggesting, then the driver won’t enjoy the car.
You may want to give this a read;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_factors_and_ergonomics
If all you want is to go fast and you’re willing to suffer with a glossy plastic dash, then perhaps you’d be happy with an SVT Cobra. Otherwise, the C8 Corvette isn’t for you.
Mindless, happy-go-lucky speed doesn’t matter if interior design makes driving the car difficult or counter-intuitive.
We all expect the tachometer to be front and center, but if GM was to listen to you, the tachometer could be relocated to where the rear-view mirror is, because to you, the interior design doesn’t matter.
You sell less than a complete package you run the risk of low to no sales that = no lap times.
People complain about the current Corvette interior and to date the C7 has been a sales success. Obvious there has to be a minimum of interior content, my point all along is that the majority of the focus should be on the performance of the Corvette.
The Corvette team could install the most amazing interior in the C8 and somebody will complain about it.
When I have driven people around in a Corvette in the past, not once have I mentioned or talked about the interior! My passengers never say a thing about the interior either good or bad.
What we talked about is how the Corvette drives performance wise. A small percentage of people I run into feel the interior of a Corvette is the most important thing about the car!
This new C8 will sale like hotcakes with or without a great interior
This is old technology, even for GM! The Germans made hundreds of millions of rear engine cars even before the first Volkswagen, and other European nations did, too. GM had the Chevy Corvair in the 1960s and it was good, but unfavored incorrectly. And then GM made the Pontiac Fiero, which I still see on the roads in my area.
This is a mid engine car, Fiero was also mid engine. Come on Raymond, do better…
ICYMI Ray
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-a-mid-engine-car-and-a-rear-engine-car
Looks well planted and especially stable in the rough spots. Wasn’t using the whole track though it didn’t appear to be near the limits of the car.
The exhaust tone that can be heard from the 2:05 mark that suddenly changes tone at the 2:09 mark indicates DFM may be present in some of the lower spec models. It can be heard at the 2:48 – 2:49 mark also!
Could be DFM coupled with a little regenerative breaking testing going on here?
GREAT DESIGN. RADICAL CHANGE BUT YOU STILL KNOW ITS A CORVETTE.LOOKS ALONE COULD SELL THIS CAR.
The video gives a definitive look of what buyers can expect from the production C8 Corvette as the car looks finished and devoid of camouflage says Chevy doesn’t care anymore who sees their new C8 Corvette because it looks ready for production.
This look of the exterior nearly captures the look of the recent renderings that was shown on YouTube a few weeks ago. The design at this stage, looks pretty solid. it will do well in the market though it will take awhile prehaps for a large percentage of C7 loyalists to get used to the C8’s body style, overall, I’m onboard with this major overhaul.
I love the way the C8 is shaping up