Motor Trend: The C7 Corvette Body is Done!

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Motor Trend: The C7 Corvette Body is Done!

As the C7 Corvette project moves along, gird your loins for many of these prognostications about the status of the new car, including new features and options that are being considered. Today’s rumor about the next generation Corvette is a two-fer from the MT Confidential column on page 17 of Motor Trend’s December 2010 issue.

Motor Trend “MT CONFIDENTIAL” editor Mike Connor says:

“The C7 Corvette body is done, after a two-design in-house competition at GM design. Like the C6 that launched as a 2005 model, the 2013 or 2014 Corvette will be an evolutionary update of the current car, say a C6.5.

One sticking point on the engineering side is whether Chevrolet can apply cylinder deactivation to the V8, though it’s coupled to the rear-mounted transmission.

Engineers are reluctant to try new solutions to the situation, because the solutions could result in problems with drivetrain quality or power.

Why all the interest in cylinder deactivation in a V8-powered sports car? Because post-2016 fuel economy standards are expected to dictate it…”

If I recall, the 2007 GT1 Corvette C6.R had cylinder deactivation to help conserve fuel during safety cautions and at Le Mans it caused an issue with the drive shaft that left Oliver Gavin standing on the side of the track. I checked the recap of the race at Corvette Racing and while it mentions the #64 Corvette was a DNF due to a failed drive shaft, nothing is said about cylinder deactivation. Checking…


Source:
Motor Trend

Related:
[POLL] Should the C7 Corvette’s Design Go “Retro”?
GM Trademarks the “Stingray” Name

 



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4 COMMENTS

  1. Pedro:

    Thanks for your question. That’s the logo on the nose of the Corvette Stingray Concept. Since we were talking future Corvettes, I thought that logo was appropriate. I felt if I showed one of the various C7 photoshops, readers might assume that we were saying the car in the picture represented the new C7 design.

    Keith

  2. The 2007 Le Mans was the first one in a few years that I didn’t get to attend, but what I heard at the time of the DNF was that the cylinder deactivation system had a problem during a safety car period that caused it to fire in a way that wasn’t balanced. The resultant violent surges in power ran straight through the drivetrain. The C6R used a carbon fiber driveshaft that began to splinter and delaminate under the uneven stresses being put on it and eventually failed.

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