Chevrolet is finally going to show us the all-new, mid-engined Corvette later this week at a live event in California. Yes, the car actually exists. In anticipation of this reveal, and to build more hype for one of the most hyped-about cars in existence, Chevy is releasing C8 teasers throughout the week.
Today’s teaser was the name of the car. It’ll be the Stingray.
The 7th-generation Corvette saw the return of the Stingray name on the base model but it wasn’t certain that it would carry on to the new model. Motor Authority is reporting that it will. While we’re expecting there to be Z06 and ZR1 versions ultimately of the mid-engined car, there was some speculation that a name like Zora could make its way to the ‘Vette. Now we know that that’s not the case. For now, anyway.
Earlier this week we also saw the new steering wheel for the car. It’s fashionable to have square-shaped steering wheels on performance cars, and the new Stingray is no different. Most of the buttons are straightforward, but it looks like there’s a new silver drive-mode button on the wheel. Putting it in finger reach of the driver’s hands at all times would be preferable to the rotary knob in the center console of the current-generation car.
While we’re not expecting pricing or availability at the reveal this week, we’re hoping to learn more about the engine powering the Stingray, the transmission GM ultimately decided to go with, and other key performance metrics. It should go on sale later this year.
[Images: General Motors]
Good. It’s what they did in 1963 and hopefully the new car will elicit similar reaction and exceed the expectations.
My rental Peugeot SUV of a few months ago had a steering wheel just that shape. Feels more hexagonal than square in actual use, and not in a good way.
Well it is hip to be square
So saith Huey Lewis!
do you like my hat?
no, I do not like it.
got any grapes?
waddle, waddle.
The first sentence shows me that GM does not understand the Corvette market. Why California? This is every mans car for middle America. It would make more sense to show it in St. Louis, NC mountains, in Miami or hell even in Chicago.
This is the prelude to GM’s Corvette BEV, coming soon to Cali.
Hey, if Harley can come out with a BEV Motorcycle, surely Corvette can come out with a BEV Corvette.
As in 0-100mph in 3 seconds….. then let it charge overnight…..
The standard car is a 30-mile PHEV with the 2.7T 4-cylinder. It comes equipped with 17 different modes of fuel saving technology and undefeatable stop/start.
It is AWD standard. No RWD on the C8.
The new C8 is also the debut of the new “GM Marketplace” mobility center. It comes preloaded with 50 apps from America’s favorite brands like the NFL, Whole Foods, Burger King, Shell, Delta Airlines, and many others. This breakthourgh technology will conveniently display the latest deals in your area on the standard 15in screen before the 9-speed DCT allows you out of park.
I was born as night but not last night haha.
Probably because California buys more Corvettes than any other state, just about anything really.
“This is every mans car for middle America.”
True, because it will be priced like a Model S.
Its worse. Forget the fact that the current Automatic Fuel Management system valve lifters (which deactivate to keep the valves shut and save fuel, on 4 cylinders only) had AFM valves which malfunctioned and ate the engine, is gone; in with the new Distributed Fuel Management – in which all 8 cylinders can take turns activating/deactivating for fuel savings. Double your pleasure, double your chances of any of 16 lifters failing and eating your engine. Probably not until out of warranty, when it costs $3,000 just to drop the engine, and then the parts & labor to repair it.
In the rarified air in which Chevrolet, a common man car if ever there was one, hopes to prance and dance with their European copied me-2 mid-engined
dreamcruiser; the rich have yachts, and they have a second boat following called a yacht tender. The yacht tender hauls all their stuff. When Joe Six-pack, who took a 2nd mortgage on his ranch-style tract McMansion castle to buy the Chevy poor mans lambo, finds he can’t even fit a 24 case of PBR in the Frunk, will he too return to Chevrolet to buy a second Stingray-tender to carry his stuff? Popcorn and binge ready to watch the rise and fall of the common man mid-engined sports car. Wait one minute, i done seen this show, it used to be called the Pontiac Fiero!
They should have dropped the Corvette name and just called this the Fiero, it would have made more sense.
I don’t disagree that the engine is over complicated for the sake of proving you can make a OHV complicated but the AFM eating the engines was mainly a 2007 to 2011-13ish engine problem on the LS platform, anyone that was willing to be the guinea pig for that in 2007 was asking for trouble. It should have been obvious from the beginning that if the HD trucks and LS2/LS3 wasn’t getting the AFM that it was clearly not ready for prime time.
The LT engines haven’t been shown to be bad about this issue from what I’ve seen, now granted as you said being able to shut down all 8 cylinders in any order is a whole new can of worms and I would circle this back up to my above comment about AFMs introduction in 2007 as to how I would approach this.
In my neck of the woods, Joe Six-pack usually sticks to buying old 3rd gen F-bodies and tossing caveman-simple SBCs under the hood. A simple solution for simple men.
Unless your neck of the woods is the year 2003 you should tell your Joe Six-Packs to look into C4 or C5 Corvettes. Because I expect they are spending more money by going with a 3rd gen f-body.
“Forget the fact that the current Automatic Fuel Management ”
AFM stands for Active Fuel Management.
You know a simple tuner will turn the AFM off right…..You can solve the problem quickly before it ever becomes one.
“You know a simple tuner will turn the AFM off right”
Yep got one in my 2007 ‘Hoe but i have to unplug it and plug it back in every so often from the OBD port as it will let the engine start running in V4 again…..software glitch.
The bigger issue with AFM is oil consumption in the cylinders that shutdown which is what I’m dealing with. But even after 12 years and 150K it still runs/drives like a new truck, is an excellent tow vehicle(which is what I care about most) and reliable as the day is long.
The C7 is my favorite Vette since the beloved C3. I hope they (GM) haven’t ruined it all by doing something stupid technology-wise (their usual MO) to the C8.
None of the pictures of the C8 make me interested in the least. It suffers from the short hood/long “trunk” that some mid engine cars have. And no manual.
At the price point it will be at I’d rather have a Boxster and get a manual with it.
The jury hasn’t even been handed the case yet. Hoping for the best, with fingers crossed.