C7 Corvette Spied Again in Michigan Plus a Trip Around the Rumor Mill

It’s been a few months since we’ve last seen the next-generation C7 testing in the wild but spy photographers recently caught up with what most believe to be the 2014 Chevy Corvette.

While the new Corvette isn’t expected to debut until January at Detroit’s NAIAS auto show, you can still soak in all that horsepower goodness by checking out these spy pics from automobilemag.com and then bang the “Read More” button for a quick trip around the C7 rumor mill.

As far as the spy photos show, everything is covered up in heavy camo and swirls as expected, but several items immediately came to our attention. First and most obvious is that this is the coupe model featuring one of the mainstays of Corvette design – the removable one-piece top. In one of the photos, we see what appears to be the front yellow side-marker curving around the wheel well which is an element also featured on the Trinity Animation video. And is it me or do these tires look a bit wider than some of the previous spy photos?

While Automobilemag is still thinking the new Corvette will be powered by a 5.5L V8, we’re pretty confident that the new Gen 5 V8 will be 6.2 liters with a horsepower rating somewhere in the range of 440-480. Don’t be surprised if Chevy resurrects a previous engine RPO designation for Corvette’s new Gen 5 powerplant. We’ve heard “LT1” bantered about on more than one occasion.

The new engine will have fuel-saving technologies including direct injection, variable valve timing and active fuel management. Combine those with a 7-speed manual or 8-speed automatic transmission and a curb weight that is rumored to be the lightest in recent history and you’ve got an improved power to weight ratio over the current generation as well as one of the greenest sports car ever produced.

All that performance is well and good, and to be expected by Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter and his engineers, but we believe the C7’s greatest gift to Corvette owners will be a complete makeover of the interior. The driver experience will be enhanced with a combo of analog and customizable digital dash gauges and a new DIC. The 9-speaker Bose audio system is back (with a rumored subwoofer in the trunk) along with Bluetooth and a wireless iPod connector. The NAV is rumored to been refreshed with some of the features of Cadillac’s CUE system, but we’re haven’t seen anything definitive on that yet. Expect better materials in the cabin that puts the C7 close too, if not on par with interior’s found in the Cadillac lineup.

To those of you that are crying that the car is too much like the Jalopnik renderings, it’s time to get over it. The tidbits we caught coming out of the national Chevrolet dealer meetings this week in Las Vegas have pretty much confirmed that this is the design. It’s locked in and should be ready for the show circuit come January.

Check out more of our C7 Corvette coverage.

Related:
Jalopnik: This Image Will Make You Fall In Love With the 2014 Chevy Corvette
[VIDEO] 2014 C7 Corvette Digitally Animated
Fehan: Work is Progressing on the Corvette C7.R