[PICS] New C8 Mid-Engine Corvette Renderings from the Corvette Forum

Seeing renderings of the upcoming 2020 Mid Engine Corvette ZORA by various artists gives us different takes on how the car may look.

With each new render, there is usually something about it that you’ll love, hate or both. GM has made it a bit easier for designers in the last month by showing the cars “nearly naked” while testing at the Nurburgring, and those designs we’ve seen over the last month are getting more refined as a result.

With the release of these new designs, we wanted to highlight this recent comment we received on the first C8 interior render from a reader named Joe who warns all the “gullible readers” that “rendering(s) are NEVER what the actual production car ends up looking like.”

Yes, that’s true in a certain sense as GM is still finding ways to camouflage even the naked cars at the Nurburgring. It’s also fun to be surprised which I am sure will happen at the C8’s reveal and so I am counting on the fact there will be major differences on the final product from any of these renders being put out by these designers.

Our friends at the Corvette Forum have shared a new set of C8 Mid-Engine Corvette renders and we feel there is a lot to like about them. Overall the color choice gives the car a very muscular feel. Gray with carbon fiber trim and black wheels, I had to check with FVS as these designs are also sporting the ZR1 rims instead of the somewhat polarizing “Mickey Ds” wheel design.

One of the most interesting elements is the front hood which has a major indentation along the front edge where the hood meets the front fascia. We know it won’t exactly be like this as the fascia spotted in the paint shop appeared to show the ridges on the hood would terminate on the fascia itself. I do like the look of that recessed hood and our friend John from the MidEngineCorvetteForum.com said the following:

As so engineered with its two, roughly 1” high air gaps on each side of the hood, this would excellently answer our longstanding question of how is air coming through the center radiator going to be vented. As rendered, it shows a great engineering solution to that question, looks terrific IMO, and simultaneously in the process, its configuration would avoid front-end lift. It is similar in execution as Porsche does on some of its models, yet very, very much more attractive visually. As noted one dealer who spoke about its appearance at April’s dealer meeting, the front fascia echoes what we have oft heard, that it echoes the ZR1. That makes sense, in that the ZR1 includes the latest aerodynamic testing/advancements in a GM production Corvette.

The side view is also very attractive and I like to see how different designers tackle the door line and the side air vent. The curves on the car’s front and rear fenders are very graceful and the feature lines lead the eye from front to rear. The rear quarter window is a dead ringer for we’ve seen on the prototypes and in addition to the ZR1 wheels, it looks like this render has carbon ceramic brakes, something we haven’t seen on any ME yet.

Most of the negative comments about these new renders are about the rear of the car. Whereas the front and sides are graceful, the rear appears very “blocky” if that’s a word (technical term?). Each of the feature areas (taillights, license plate holder and rear vents) are recessed into the rear fascia. As John from MECF said, it looks like the lights are lifted off a Camaro.

From the CAD images released last year (and enhanced by c7pimp on CF), we know the taillights will have a wraparound design to them and their design will most likely take the LED projector-style lights found on the C7 Corvette to the next level with the C8.

The other issue with the rear that many are having is the design of the wing spoiler itself but that’s on GM as it’s modeled after the ones spied on the Nurburgring cars. Again, those rear fascias spotted in the paint shop appear to show a “blown” design instead of we currently see on the C8 prototypes. Just another indication that GM may not be ready to share the real deal until it fits their timetable.

So know that you have our take on these C8 Corvette images, we want to hear from you! Let us know in the comments below or if you want to be part of the discussion, head over to the MidEngineCorvetteForum.com and join in!

Source:
Corvette Forum

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