Welcome to Quick Shifts! Quick Shifts is a content feature here at CorvetteBlogger featuring links to Corvette and automotive-related stories of interest. The content that we have hand-selected for you this week includes a comparison of the 2020 Corvette Stingray and the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, a look at the high-priced C8 Corvettes available for sale, you can buy a racetrack in Oregon that’s for sale, rumors of the Corvette Z06’s Performance Pack may see the return of a center-mounted exhaust tips, a fun round-up of automotive entertainment, how Tesla is on track to the be the world’s most valuable automotive company, and a look back at the mid-engine sports cars that could have beat the C8 to market.
FIRST GEAR:
A full comparison between 2020’s two hottest, and hardest to get vehicles; the all-new, eighth-generation Corvette and the Shelby GT500 with the Carbon Fiber Track Pack (CFTP). We have seen a lot of the new top-of-the-line Mustang and its 760 horsepower around these parts lately. These appearances have traditionally featured boneheaded footage of illegal street racing between the new ‘Stang and one of the C7 Corvette’s supercharged variants but here, Joe Raiti of the Raiti’s Rides channel does walkarounds and drives of each to answer the question, which one is the better sports car? The best part is that, courtesy of our friends at the Dream Giveaway, both cars (along with some pretty cool sidekicks) are going to find lucky new owners this year, don’t sleep on it, one of them could be you!
SECOND GEAR:
Next, we have an investigation of current C8 price gouging by The Drive. The numbers that people are charging for the limited amount mid-engine Corvettes on the market is really getting out of control. The good news is that ‘Vette aficionados aren’t alone with this problem right now. Our foes from the first gear comparison have it just as bad!
THIRD GEAR:
While you are in a big-spending kind of mood, check out this story from Road & Track: if you have $10 million sitting around, there is a road course in Oregon that has your name on it! It seems like a great companion purchase to the $20 million Colorado mansion that we posted about a few weeks ago.
FOURTH GEAR:
The rumored items from the forthcoming Z06’s ultimate performance package will be joined by the return of center-exit exhaust. This news and more conjecture, including some interesting speculation about the road car actually dropping the C8.R’s flat-plane crank in favor of a more traditional cross-plane setup can be found in this interesting piece from Hagerty Media. One quick note about the massive size of the alleged rear tires of the C8Z, at 345/25, they are a full 10 mm wider than the units fitted to C7 Z06s and ZR1s and they add a whopping 40 mm over the base 2020 Stingray! Coupled with the massive downforce provided by the active aero, this thing is going to hug the road like your grandma when she sees you after months of COVID isolation!
Speaking of speculative journalism about your author’s two most anticipated vehicles, don’t miss this above average CT5-V Blackwing article.
FIFTH GEAR:
This week, fifth will be our official home for Corvette-adjacent news and entertainment. Back over to The Drive for a dyno video of a first-gen Camaro with a new, twin-turbo LS mill that puts down 2,740 HP. That isn’t a typo, this thing is just 260 ponies short of three-thousand… at the wheels!
Next, an educational article from autoblog. If you, like many Corvette aficionados, are curious about the C8’s new transmission, they have you covered with this piece explaining DCTs, their advantages, and even some shortfalls. It is a great read that just so happens to have their C8 video review at the bottom of the page, solid work, guys!
Finally, Motor Trend’s Angus MacKenzie did a fun writeup this week about the times he has chased top speeds outside the confines of a race track. It features stories about our old friend, the Cadillac XLR-V and the C6 ZR1, amongst others. If nothing else, it highlights America’s need for a Autobahn-style interstate system free from the shackles of limited speeds. Check it out right here.
SIXTH GEAR:
We usually reserve the final forward gear for automotive news from outside of the Corvette brand, and our General Motors comfort zone. Unlike the previous two weeks, this one was sadly devoid of new vehicle reveals or teases of interest so we are going to share what struck us as the biggest news of the week. From Automotive News, Tesla’s stock price soared to over $1,000 per share (a 23% gain since the first of the month), making for a market capitalization of more than $190 billion, with a B. This puts the eight-year-old company that still has never turned an annual profit within spitting distance of Toyota’s valuation of $210 billion as the most valuable vehicle manufacturer in the world. Tesla’s stock price continues to climb, in spite of the previously mentioned lack of profits and far lower volume than the competition (without the margins of other niche car companies like Ferrari). Tesla produced 103,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2020 compared to Toyota’s 2.4 million units. Read the mind boggling stats for yourself here.
REVERSE:
Another article from The Drive inspired this edition of Reverse. The piece, entitled “Before the C8, the 2004 Chrysler ME Four-Twelve Could’ve Been America’s Mid-Engine Supercar” got us thinking about all of the great ME concept cars produced by the Detroit big three in the past 20+ years. Apart from the insane Four (number of turbos) Twelve (number of cylinders), we have selected readings on the Ford GT90, which Blue Oval fans tell me is the greatest concept car of all time (I can’t get over its “only a mother could love” looks) and, our choice of the bunch, the 2006 7.5L V12 Cadillac Cien. Ah, what could have been!
Thank you for reading and have a great, safe weekend Corvette Nation!
Previous Quick Shifts:
C8 Style with Brett Golliff, C3/C6 Buyers Guides, Jordan Taylor, GM Corporate Espionage, and more!
C8 Review, LS Swap, Business Case, British ZR-1 Sedan, 2010 Grand Sport Reveal, and more!
Future C8s, Banshee History, Four-Rotor C8 Project, Harley Earl WWII Manuals, Dream Cruise is On, and More!
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![[VIDEO] Commuting Around Town in the E-Ray's Stealth Mode is Harder than it Looks](https://www.corvetteblogger.com/images/content/uploads/2024/04/041724_10-218x150.jpg "[VIDEO] Commuting Around Town in the E-Ray’s Stealth Mode is Harder Than It Looks")
in “Fourth gear”, did you mean “mm” or “cm”? 10 mm is less than 1/2 an inch. 40mm is slightly more than 1-1/2″. Not exactly an impressive gain in width!
Stepping up to a 345 from the C8’s 305 rear is an addition of 13.2%. Adding 1.58 inches when you start at 12 is hardly trivial.
Loved it, still the C8 is my love
That last photo of the Cadillac looks positively inviting. That car would definitely drawn Corvette money away from the Corvette particularly with the Black Wing engine driving it. Could it be that more than just market share and SUV popularity, GM had to choose between releasing two popular cars into the market, one of which would have stolen market share from the other? AF
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