Mid-engine C7 Corvette still being considered
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Corvette Goes Midengine? Not So Fast.
Corvette Goes Midengine? Not So Fast.
August 23, 2007
Here we go again. Parts suppliers to automotive blog sites are atwitter about the prospects for a midengine Corvette. Indeed, that discussion –- which has occurred repeatedly since the 1960s -– is heating up yet again inside General Motors.
Automotive Web site AutoExtremist.com claims to have inside information that the C7 going midengine is nearly a done deal; a final decision is due next month, it insists.
Not so, say sources. Such a move is a long way from being a done deal with the C7 not due until mid next decade, and a decision to go midengine is not imminent. In the meantime, numerous enhancements will be made to the C6 Corvette before the C7 arrives, around 2013.
Proponents argue a midengine Corvette would allow them to do things with the sports car that can’t be done with a front-engine version, not the least of which is boost acceleration. Such a car would go a long way toward establishing GM’s global technology leadership, a top goal for the automaker, they contend.
But is a fast, high-horsepower midengine Corvette the right symbol for GM's global technology leadership? Might not be, in this era of more stringent fuel-economy efforts.
Cost is another major question mark, however. Proponents insist a midengine Corvette can be accomplished at a cost minimally more than the cost of the current model, so it would sell at the equivalent of about $66,000, claims sources talking to AutoExtremist. The Web site adds that a more luxurious version would replace the Cadillac XLR, which now shares the Corvette’s C6 platform, and would feature a unique motor, retractable hardtop and different styling.
Other sources and outside analysts don’t buy that a Corvette, with its hallmark for affordability, can go midengine without a significant cost bump that would have to be passed onto the customer –- or eaten by GM, not a desirable situation in light of the automaker’s struggle to stay in the black.
Forecasting firm, Global Insight says GM’s move to a midengine Corvette is risky business.
“To replace the Corvette with a halo sports car nearly half again as expensive as the current model would be an extremely risky move,” Global Insight said in its daily analysis of news today. “A halo vehicle for GM could be a good move internationally, but to so dramatically change what has become an American icon would seriously risk alienating the market that the vehicle already has in North America, by far its largest market.”
Global Insight warns GM risks the current price advantage Corvette has over comparably performing competitor sports cars. “But to move the model into the more rarefied territory occupied by the Porsche 911 and Audi R8 would move it out of the affordability range presently enjoyed by its current owners.”
Edmunds' own Jeremy Anwyl, CEO, agrees: "Corvettes should be front-engine and Porsche should not be a sport-utility. Some things just shouldn't change, like Classic Coke."
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:12 AM
August 23, 2007
Here we go again. Parts suppliers to automotive blog sites are atwitter about the prospects for a midengine Corvette. Indeed, that discussion –- which has occurred repeatedly since the 1960s -– is heating up yet again inside General Motors.
Automotive Web site AutoExtremist.com claims to have inside information that the C7 going midengine is nearly a done deal; a final decision is due next month, it insists.
Not so, say sources. Such a move is a long way from being a done deal with the C7 not due until mid next decade, and a decision to go midengine is not imminent. In the meantime, numerous enhancements will be made to the C6 Corvette before the C7 arrives, around 2013.
Proponents argue a midengine Corvette would allow them to do things with the sports car that can’t be done with a front-engine version, not the least of which is boost acceleration. Such a car would go a long way toward establishing GM’s global technology leadership, a top goal for the automaker, they contend.
But is a fast, high-horsepower midengine Corvette the right symbol for GM's global technology leadership? Might not be, in this era of more stringent fuel-economy efforts.
Cost is another major question mark, however. Proponents insist a midengine Corvette can be accomplished at a cost minimally more than the cost of the current model, so it would sell at the equivalent of about $66,000, claims sources talking to AutoExtremist. The Web site adds that a more luxurious version would replace the Cadillac XLR, which now shares the Corvette’s C6 platform, and would feature a unique motor, retractable hardtop and different styling.
Other sources and outside analysts don’t buy that a Corvette, with its hallmark for affordability, can go midengine without a significant cost bump that would have to be passed onto the customer –- or eaten by GM, not a desirable situation in light of the automaker’s struggle to stay in the black.
Forecasting firm, Global Insight says GM’s move to a midengine Corvette is risky business.
“To replace the Corvette with a halo sports car nearly half again as expensive as the current model would be an extremely risky move,” Global Insight said in its daily analysis of news today. “A halo vehicle for GM could be a good move internationally, but to so dramatically change what has become an American icon would seriously risk alienating the market that the vehicle already has in North America, by far its largest market.”
Global Insight warns GM risks the current price advantage Corvette has over comparably performing competitor sports cars. “But to move the model into the more rarefied territory occupied by the Porsche 911 and Audi R8 would move it out of the affordability range presently enjoyed by its current owners.”
Edmunds' own Jeremy Anwyl, CEO, agrees: "Corvettes should be front-engine and Porsche should not be a sport-utility. Some things just shouldn't change, like Classic Coke."
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:12 AM
The way this paragraph was written:
I respect your viewpoint, but the part about GM "not allowing the price of the car to swell" indicated to me that they were trying to have it both ways. GM, today, is just too financially strapped for that....though there are some signs of improvement, such as the second-quarter profit.
I respect your viewpoint, but the part about GM "not allowing the price of the car to swell" indicated to me that they were trying to have it both ways. GM, today, is just too financially strapped for that....though there are some signs of improvement, such as the second-quarter profit.
Now of course as much as all of us here would like to believe we are experts on cars-just ain't so, we can comment on them based on our own opinions and some enjoy sharing that to the fullest extent but in the end it is meaningless to the car manufactures so we can just speculate and comment as if someone is actually paying attention.
Second, you probably couldn't use any of GM's existing transmissions, final-drive differential units, suspensions, or drive shafts on an all-new mid-engine layout......you would have to start more or less from scratch by re-engineering all four.....and that, of course, costs money.
I think the biggest issue is the cooling system as you mentioned. And IMO the looks. Because that concept is one ugly car.
As long as they don't go the route of Porsche and purposely dumb down their mid engine car to keep their iconic car seemingly superior. We all know that if Porsche wanted to, they can make the Cayman head and shoulders above the 911. But they wont. If Chevy creates a mid engine sports car competitive to the Corvette, what are the chances they will actually engineer that car to its fullest potential? Probably slim to none because it will wipe out the Corvette in performance.
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