2020 C8 Mid-Engine Corvette Just About Ready For Unveiling

2020 C8 Mid-Engine Corvette

It’s about that time, the cats just about out of the bag and the mid-engine C8 Chevrolet Corvette’s most recent run around Nürburgring raceway has given us a lot to look at.

The 2020 C8 Corvette is getting ready to shred its camouflage. Most all rumors from credible sources all have the same info in common, and that is we will most likely see the first version of the 2020 Vette at the North American International Auto Show.  

But thanks to some great spy photos and some insider info,  we can get a pretty good grasp of what to expect at the Corvette’s international unveiling. Corvette is trying to keep the C8 from falling into a class like the Ford GT, a high-priced limited edition exotic sports car. To accomplish that goal, the new C8 Corvette will be using the C7 Spaceframe to keep cost down.

The C7 Spaceframe is a beautifully designed frame that is more than capable of handling the speeds and the cornering that the C8 will be expected to handle.

The body of the C8 Corvette does feature a lower and wider stance than the C7 Corvette which is much expected. The short front overhang and the big front air dams really make the Corvette look much more like a European supercar. But since Corvette is looking to make a much bigger presence in the global market, the look makes sense.

You won’t find vertical lifting doors (Lambo doors) on these new Corvettes, but you will find a set of dual rear calipers and a set of dual buttress supports placed on both sides of what most people think will be a see-through glass engine cover.

Now The Fun Stuff: Powerplants

When the C8 Corvette was tested at the famous Nürburgring raceway, from what everyone could tell it was being tested with the first engine that will be available with the mid-engine Corvette. That engine is the C7 Stingray 6.2-liter V8 that will put out 500-hp.

Later in the year, a 5.5-liter V8 engine should arrive with a flat plane crank and a DOHC setup pushing out about 600-hp. The next move after that will be to implicate a twin turbocharging option that should boost the Corvette’s 5.5-liter horsepower engine up to 800.  

Corvette has also mentioned plans for a hybrid option. Some old school American car enthusiast might cringe at this idea, but if Corvette wants to compete in the supercar market globally, then they have to get with the times. This new hybrid option will add an electric motor to the front wheels while the twin-turbo engine will be supplying power to the rear wheels ultimately giving the Corvette hybrid a rating of 1,000-hp.

What’s Happening in Bowling Green, KY

About 15 months ago, Corvette closed down their Bowling Green Corvette Plant in Kentucky to make $700 million dollars in upgrades so that they can efficiently mass produce the C8 mid-engine Corvette. The plant will reopen to the public sometime in January 2019.

Unfortunately, with such a massive move to upgrade the plant to accommodate the new C8 Corvette, one can only speculate that Corvette planned for the ZR1 to be the final hooray for the C7 and front engine Corvettes altogether.  

Mid-Engine Corvette Going To Happen - Update

Updated Again: 10/8/2018

Update

So a quick update on what could be one of the most exciting automotive days in my life. Living in the Motor City there has been a lot more talk that seems to be more fact than fluff about the new Mid-Engine Corvette.

Car and Driver, The GM Authority, Auto Week, Jalopink.com, etc. has all been posting on what might be - but I like facts. From sources I can't mention, the word is there should be renderings from Corvette designers (renderings that matter) out as soon as later this year and prototypes at the North American Auto Show in January of next year. And if anyone knows how Corvette does business, when they put something in the North American Auto Show, even if it is a prototype, that means unless something goes drastically wrong, it's going to make it into production.

My hope is Corvette (GM) takes a page out of the Ford Motor Company's play book and does something similar to what they are doing when it comes to purchasing-eligibility for the 2017 Ford GT supercar. Clients who want a chance to get put on the waiting list for the limited-edition Ford GT supercar have to fill out an application. The idea behind the application is to make sure that people who purchase one of Ford's limited-edition supercars will drive it, take it to car cruises and car shows and not stick them into their personal museums to be dusted off 20 years later and sold at an auction for profit. 

Along with the above-mentioned reason, most auto companies that create such wonderful works of art usually store a few of those priceless cars in their own museums anyway. Ford Motor Company, as like most auto companies want to see their vehicles driven, they want to see their beautiful designs being used for what they were designed for, having fun in them.  

But time will tell what happens, the closer Ford comes to getting their supercar out, Corvette will push harder to get their mid-engine Vette rolling and hopefully the competition will roll on harder than ever. 

6/1/2016

I have talked about the mid-engine Corvette in the past, its possibilities of finding its way into the Corvette lineup and what it would mean for GM, Chevrolet and Corvette. After many exciting years of maybes, it's possible, it's just a cool thought and nothing more – the Godfather of the Corvette, Zora Arkus-Duntov, has made it pretty clear that the public will see a Mid-Engine Corvette revealed possibly as soon as the L.A. Auto Show late this year.

Although this would be new to the public eye, it is a well-known fact that Corvette has been working on and has come up with a pretty permanent version of a Mid-Engine Corvette. The drivetrain solutions are said to include a seven-speed manual transmission and an LT1/LT4 700-hp twin-turbocharged engine.

Unfortunately, the many renderings I have seen, which is not much to my surprise, looks almost just like a Ferrari with Corvette badges. And I say not much to my surprise because if you look at a 2016 Corvette Z06 and compare it to a 2016 Ferrari F12, put them in the same color, you can very easily mistake them for one another from a distance (my opinion).  

When this does happen, the word out is that most of the front-engine Corvettes will still be very much a part of the Corvette lineup and most likely none will be bumped out as a result of an extra Corvette coming in. The front-engine Corvette is part of the iconic brand as we know it. If anything, the Mid-Engine Corvette will be more for just breaking track records, giving the Ford GT and other Mid-Engine competitors a run for their money, and or to sit in a rich person's car collection.



When the Mid-Engine Corvette does become an available vehicle for the public to purchase, you won't be able to just go to any dealership and buy one or have one serviced by any dealership under warranty. Selected dealerships with a great reputation for sales and customer service will be high on the list of places that will have the honor of selling and promoting the Mid-Engine Corvette, and of course, three other things will help decide where they will be available at – location, location, location.

The price tag for one of these Corvettes is going to most likely be out outrageously high. That is why location will be a huge part of deciding where they will be sold. If Corvette is thinking about competing with the Ford GT, and when has Chevy ever not tried to compete with Ford, the price tag will likely find its way up into the $350,000 to $400,000 range. That is a supercar status price tag, but Chevrolet has yet to fail on any attempt to make a sports car or supercar worth every penny in the past 10+ years.

3/16/2016

2017 Corvette Zora C8 Mid-Engine Possibilities

If you are that person who has been hoping and waiting for a mid-engine Corvette, your Corvette may be on its way sooner than you think. Many sources like Car and Driver and GM Authority claim Mark Reuss, head of GM's Global Product Development confirms that the company is already working on the next generation Corvette.

As of now, the C8 Zora-ZR1 mid-engine supercar is being pushed to make a 2017 debut. Estimates of  about $150,000 average price tag could be what Chevy will be looking for, and about only 1500 units will be built, much like ZR1 C4's and C6's.



Why the Push for a Mid-Engine Vette
GM claims there is two reasons for the push of the mid-engine Vette. One of those reasons are after tweaking all of the power that they did out of the ZO6, they realized that they would not be able to put any more usable power into the front-engine Vette because the tires simply just will not handle it.

GM also believes that a mid-engine Corvette could bring in a newer, possibly younger customer base. Instead of a big shot corporate man in America showing his success and his taste for the finer things in life with Porches or Ferraris, maybe a mid-engine Corvette could serve the same purpose.

Performance 
Well, nothing is set in stone, but there should be no reason to worry that you might see a 2017 V-6 Corvette anytime soon. Sounds like a single cam V-8 with direct injection and shut down cylinder displacement will still be what's on the horizon. As for a power rating and or what kind of aspiration will be used is yet to be known.

There has been rumors that as government fuel consumption clamp downs become more and more an issue to car designers, we might see a 2020 mid-engine Vette that could host a V-6 that would leave room for an electric motor that would run the front wheels making it a four-wheel drive hybrid Vette.   



Cockpit and Cargo Space
A mid-engine Corvette will give the luxury of giving the driver and passenger better forward sight lines since there won't be no reason for having an elevated hood. But that also means your view looking backwards will obviously be hampered.

There is also a lot of questions about luggage space. Where will the gas tank go? If it gets located in the front, will there be space for golf clubs, luggage, etc.?

I guess time will tell, I'm sure GM does not even have a clear answer to how and where the transmission, trans-axle, radiator, and exhaust will fit.