Chevrolet only debuted the new mid-engine Corvette C8.R this week, but already the American automaker has released a clip of the GTE/GTLM-spec racer in action.
While brief, this clip gives us a glimpse of Corvette Racing’s latest challenger in action at what appears to Kennedy Space Center – the same place the new racer debuted alongside the 2020 Corvette Convertible during a special event this week.
As a fan-shot video first revealed last year, and which this new video backs up, the Corvette C8.R has a much higher engine note than the Corvette C7.R it replaces. There are a handful of explanations floating around the internet for the race car’s radical exhaust pitch, but the most convincing is that it features a newly developed dual-overhead-camshaft V8 with a flat-plane crankshaft. To put it very simply, a flat-plane V8 has a different firing order than a cross-plane V8, which in some scenarios can lend itself to a more high-pitched note.
As per IMSA rules, any car competing in the GTLM class (which the Corvette C8.R will certainly fall within) must be “derived from a series production engine produced at more than 300 units and fitted to a series vehicle from the same manufacturer.” While the chest-thumping Corvette C7.R features a race-specific cross-plane crank 5.5-liter pushrod V8, its design is based on a Small Block, rendering it legal for competition. Similarly, the Corvette C8.R’s engine could be heavily based on the C8 road car’s but feature some different elements and still be legal per IMSA rules. As such, this makes it quite hard to say if the C8.R’s unique engine note is indicative of the arrival of a road-going flat-plane crank Corvette C8.
We’re getting a bit carried away with speculation, so for now, check out the first official video of the Corvette C8.R in action embedded below and feel free to discuss this radical new racer in the comment section. It will make its competition debut at the 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona in late January, by which time we should have much more information on Corvette Racing’s latest challenger.
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Comments
Live to dream.. one can already imagine companies preparing aftermarket kits for the Chevrolet C8 Corvette Stingray Z51 to look more like C8.R.
Hey, you never know what GM has in store 🙂
They already have a wing option no one is talking about and a larger front nose spoiler.
Flat plane crank?
Hmmm…IDK about the Flat Plane. I guess we will see at the Rolex 24. Higher RPM = more wear and less bottom end torque. IMHO, I think it’s a big mistake.
When are we gonna see the Nurburgring time?
The competition has it and consumers want it.
If humans resisted change, we would still be at the stage of the horse and buggy or worse…
The very first engines were flat plane!
Companies like Ferrari have had flat plane engines forever, and they are not known for reliability, I like how the cross plane sounds too. But we will see if GM did a good job in the design.
I have been known be wrong once every 10 years or so. 😉
LOL, downvoted because I don’t roam with the flock.
Haters gonna hate.
My “Flat plane crank?” question was rooted in the fact the car in the video does NOT sound like a cross plane crank V8.
In a racing environment, with displacement limitations and no boost, it’s all about RPM – it is the last resource to gain power. No one cares about “bottom end torque” on an engine that will never be used under 4,000 RPM.
Flat plane vs cross plane has little, if any, impact on reliability. Ferrari, et al, have poor reliability because they are hand made Italian cars that people buy for many reasons other than reliability.
Flat plane cranks allow engines to achieve improved volumetric efficiency at higher engine speeds, which produces more power. I think that’s kind of the point with most any race car.
Just read this in a new piece here on GMA, and copied and pasted it here:
Put it all together, and the Corvette C8.R is likely powered by a new, naturally-aspirated 5.5L DOHC V8 engine with a flat-plane crank. A street-legal variant of this engine will most likely see street use in the C8 Z06. Meanwhile, the rumored twin-turbo variant of this 5.5L DOHC, otherwise known as the LT7, will go into the C8 ZR1.
Read more: http://gmauthority.com/blog/2019/10/corvette-c8-r-previews-upcoming-dohc-v8-for-c8-z06/#ixzz61bsDYdzC