Former Corvette Racing driver Andy Pilgrim recently sat down with Corvette Online to discuss the potential benefits of the team’s new mid-engine Corvette C8.R from a racing driver’s point of view.
While Corvette Racing’s new mid-engine platform race car has yet to make its debut, speculation about the car is rampant and anticipation is high. The team has been racing the Corvette C7.R since the 2014 IMSA season and has been racing a front-engine car since its inception in the early 2000s, so the switch to a mid-engine platform quite a big deal for General Motors and Chevrolet.
Pilgrim can help us better understand what such a switch could mean for the team. The British driver joined Corvette Racing shortly after it was founded and has driven all sorts of factory-backed GM vehicles, including the Corvette C5-R, a Pontiac Daytona Prototype and the Pontiac GTO.R, among many more. He’s also piloted countless Porsches in a competition setting, including the legendary 911 GT1 and multiple generations of the 911 GT3 , along with the previous Ford GT GT1 race car. Pilgrim knows his way around a wide variety of race cars with different engine types and layouts, then.
Andy Pilgrim racing a 911 GT3 R in 2016
Pilgrim says the C8.R will likely feature more sophisticated suspension setup thanks to its mid-engine layout, which helps with cornering grip and the overall balance of the car.
“I’ve learned that with a front-engine configuration, you’ve got a ton of stuff packed around the engine,” said. “You need to connect the front wheels with steering, which typically resides under part of the engine. That means you can’t get the engine down low enough. With a mid-engine, you can lower the engine and have a ton of space to do what you want with the suspension/steering.”
Pilgrim said the mid-engine layout can help with braking balance as well, due to the more even weight distribution of the car. He also mentions some other factors someone who is not a racing driver might not consider, such as the better visibility enabled by having the engine behind you, allowing you to look further ahead into the corners, and the superior tire heating.
You can read the entire Corvette C8.R interview here.
(source: Corvette Online)
Comments
Best part, Made in the U.S.A. with some parts being made in Canada.
Actually the parts for this car will be made globally.
The suspension bit are from France. and other parts will becoming from Germany and other countries.
While the race organizers will not allow the C8.R to be any faster than the competition, the goal is for it to be easier to drive at the same speed with more balanced handling, braking, and tire wear.
Mid-engine layout of the C8 Corvette affords the C8.R to have equal footing with European competitors which feature mid-engine cars; although the C7.R has experienced a lot of success since it’s introduction.
The rules will be more even with all the mid engine cars.
Less Balance of Power will be needed to keep the front engine car competitive.
This will help more at LeMans we’re they have not been as favorable to the Vette.
also makes for easier installation of the all wheel drive system.
I had what was called a mid engine car a (Ford Pantera) and it was very unstable in wet roads and a dead loss if there was any snow on the road. Though the weight distribution was supposed to be near 50/50 it would under steer severely going into a corner on a dry road until I let off the gas and hit the brakes, with the sudden weight transfer the front end would dig in and it would corner in a more normal fashion until I got back on the gas at the apex and it would suddenly under steer again.
This mid engine Ford was no race car and was a hand full to control and I suspect the Corvette would be the same were it not for all the electronics nanies that take away total driver control the car.
Corvettes must be front engine, they proved very tough to beat at Le Mans and anywhere and to let Porsche win the 2018 24 Hours Le Mans the smart French organizers played it real dirty on the Corvette with the safety car trick. Corvette has a tradition of great balance and enormous American personality, a plus that should never be given away. My dream C8 should come on a carbon fiber bathtub type chassis and an aluminum block, direct fuel injection, 427 cu. in. Chevrolet R07 derivative, then destroked to the silly 5.5 liter FIA displacement limit. That would be the answer to all competitors, the real Corvette way, on the road and at the track The real Corvette Grand Sport!,