The front-mounted high-powered rear-wheel drive, the classic four-circle lamp, and the central four-out exhaust are the unique characteristics of Corvette. It can be perfected in a series of iterations and become a classic. But on the morning of July 19, 2019, everything came to an abrupt end.
The new generation Corvette, code-named C8, officially debuted. The biggest difference between the new car and the previous generation models is that it adopts the body form of the center-mounted engine, and the appearance style is more radical. Some people say that like Ferrari. Some people ridicule that this is “Hongguanghini”. Some people even lament that it has lost its soul.
To be successful, there must be courage to overthrow everything and start over.
The previous generations of Corvette always give people the feeling that it has the horsepower with super running level, but it is always hard to make a achievement in the laps that reflect the control power. In other words, it is “the winner in straight road, the loser in curved road”. With the discontinuation of the Dodge Viper and the rapid development of the Ford GT, the Corvette is sandwiched between the super-running and the muscle car, which is more uncomfortable.
When Dodge introduced the 840-hp Demon and Shelby couldn’t wait to release the 750-hp of the GT500, even the ZR1, the most powerful model of the day, seems that it will be catch up by the younger generation and no way to cope. We all believe that 755 horsepower is not the limit of Corvette, it still has room for improvement. But bigger horsepower means a bigger engine. So, is the horsepower competition still on?
“Your GTR is fast, but the front is too heavy.” – For Corvette, the GTR problem is even more serious in it.
When Corvette’s previous role has been replaced by the current mechanical supercharged muscle car, its goal is not only to survive, but to find its new position.
So, there are two ways in front of Corvette:
1. Stick to yourself: Dodge Viper is not willing to change, and finally forced to stop production.
2. Take the other extreme: Ford GT, but this obviously does not meet the original intention of Chevrolet to build a sports car for the working class.
To be successful, there must be courage to overthrow everything and start over. Why not jump out of this circle to challenge the mid-engine super-run. From the civilian sports car to the civilian super-run, is also in line with consumption upgrades. In fact, Corvette thought of it 50 years ago.
Between 1964 and 1990, Corvette even built eight concept cars with mid-engines. What they had in common was besides all they had mid-engine, also were refused production. Because of the limitations of the transmission shaft technology and the managers was obsessed with the Corvette “High horsepower rear drive super run” formula at the time.
What does the current owner of Corvette will think about?
Of course, the collapse of the image in the eyes of the gossip is not necessarily a bad thing, because they may not understand Corvette. So we found senior Corvette owner Barry Konken to talk about his views. Konken inherited his love for Corvette from his father. He is a Corvette dealer and usually participated in the “Sioux Falls Corvette Club” on weekends, which is a big Corvette car party. Let’s listen to the secrets of the Corvette owners shared by Konken.
In fact, unlike most people’s imagination that Corvette is the rich young boy’s car. The average age of Corvette owners in the United States is as high as 61 years old! For example, at the C8 Corvette launch conference, someone drove his Corvette to participate. When he got off the car, people found that he still carried an oxygen cylinder. The meeting room for 1000 people was crowded. Everyone Waiting for the arrival of a new generation of “God Cars”.
However, it is disappointing that the moderator announced that the C8 Corvette changed to mid-engine. Mid-engine? Sorry, I didn’t know you anymore, Corvette. At that time, some people lost their interest and left. They even didn’t want to listen to the next performance parameters. It seems that some people in Corvette’s owners have the same reaction as ours. They think that it is no longer the original formula, and there is no such taste. It is disappointing.
Later, most people still insisted on watching the conference. These people first thought that the shape of the C8 is very good-looking, sharper than before, and makes people shine. But the problem was coming again. Everyone was worried about the reliability of the new car. Because they heard that the car broke down during the test and the electronic system was faulty. And some people saw the hood of the engine shattered in the Nürburgring. For the veteran that serviced Corvette for decades, the new architecture challenge is not small.
In the end, it is still a matter of sensibility. In the past, the old men looked at the towering hood and enjoyed the pleasure of being pulled forward on the road. Now the engine was set on the back, and you were pushed forward on the road suddenly. It was hard to get used to.
So who can come out and explain why we should do this?
The R&D team talks about the story behind the new car.
The C8 Corvette is powered by a 6.2-liter V8 engine with a maximum power of 502 hp and a 0-96km/h acceleration time of 3 seconds. The official said that to maintain the consistently high-cost performance of the Corvette model. The starting price of the new car basic version will be less than $60,000. A brief basic introduction has spread the information very clearly: C8 will be a civilian super run.
Recently, R&T brought three men behind C8 Corvette and made a soul query. They are:
R&T: (Straightforward) why do you changed front-engine to mid-engine?
Juechter: For various reasons, but the most important is performance. We have hard to break through the existing results. I thought it had been very difficult to beat Z06’s 0-60-0 with ZR1in the past. If it is not the grip of Michelin tires, we dared not adjust ZR1 to 638 hp. If the horsepower is higher, the car will can’t be drive.
And as the horsepower gets higher, the engine gets bigger and bigger, and the weight distribution is more and more uneven. We admire the 40/60 weight distribution of other cars, so the engine can also be small, we can build a car with stronger performance.
R&T: You said that you will not only make the C8 a supercar, but also make it a supercar that can be drove every day. How to do it?
Bennion: You will find that although the C8 is a mid-engine supercar, its wheelbase is longer than almost all competitors (R8, 488 GTB, NSX, 720S), and the trunk capacity reaches two golf bags. Legs space and head space is not inferior to the C7 Corvette.
R&T: So the front-engine mode of Corvette was discontinued, why not consider launching a few models like the 911.
Juechter: We really thought about this and even wanted to continue the production of the old model. But the fact is when the new model is placed next to the old model, and the old model will cannot be sold.
How can we love Corvette once again?
Performance. As far as the information currently published is concerned, except for 0-96 km/h less than 3 seconds, other data are temporarily unknown. However, there are rumors that the 495-horsepower version of the first version is just an entry-level version. The “medium configuration” that will be introduced later will reach 650 horsepower. And the flagship version will use the four-wheel-drive system, which is expected to reach the maximum power of 1000 horsepower.
The lighter body gives a greater push-to-weight ratio. A more reasonable weight distribution allows the C8 Corvette to finally have the confidence to compare with the expensive mid-engine supercar from manipulation to lap speed. At the same time, it has more space and greater daily use. The important thing is that it starts at $60,000, which is only a few thousand dollars more than the C7 Corvette. And you get a mid-engine that you didn’t dare to think about before.
If only need to burn tires and sound waves, why not buy Hellcat directly. Not only to keep old customers, but also to attract new customers, the manufacturer gave the answer with mid-engine car. In the past, Corvette only needed to be a good spiritual totem. But now, Brand new Corvette is brave enough to participate in the competition.No longer need the fans to guard the image. When slogans of faster and stronger are verified by speed, the fans will cheer: our hero is born again!
