QUICK SHIFTS: C8 Convertible Reviewed, SEMA360 Engine Debuts, Magnesium Wheels for the Blackwing, and More!

Welcome to another fun-filled edition of Quick Shifts! Quick Shifts is a content feature here at CorvetteBlogger featuring links to Corvette and automotive-related stories of interest. In this edition, C8 Convertible review, engine swaps, where is the Z06?, Evo comparison, and a look back at the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon.

FIRST GEAR:

Kicking things off this week is Road Show’s Andrew Krok who recently got his first go in a hard-top convertible C8 after spending some quality time in the coupe earlier in the year. This fun review, complete with “unoriginal topless jokes” makes a solid case for the rarer breed of 2020 Corvette. Read (or listen with CNET’s innovative podcast-style button) the full thing here and if you were lucky enough to score a drop-top Stingray already, put down the technology and enjoy your ride before winter really creeps in!

SECOND GEAR:

Engine-swap time! SEMA360, the boring, online version of the world’s most exciting auto show wrapped up this past week and the big news out of Chevrolet was the introduction of the eCrate. Presented in the engine bay of a beautiful 1977 K5 Blazer, the Electric Connect and Cruise eCrate motor is the first example of an envisioned range of electric crate motors that “ChEVrolet” will start to roll out in their performance catalogs next to their current LS and LT V8 offerings. It makes 200 HP and 277 lb-ft of twist which sounds rather pedestrian but actually improves upon the 400 cubic inch V8 that the K5 originally housed. Read all about it in Chevy’s press room.

Those of us who are far from ready to give up on internal combustion, Chevrolet’s monster LT5 crate engine has some competition on the horizon.

Mopar took to the internet this week to announce that an 807 HP version of their Hellcat Redeye (that’s 10 ponies more than the factory unit installed in Challengers and Chargers) will be available as a crate motor for $21,807. That is an insane amount of power but we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that the Redeye has a cast iron block so it carries a significant weight penalty over the $4,000 cheaper LT5.

The Blue Oval is also readying their most potent V8 for plug-n-play duty. The Shelby GT500’s supercharged 5.2 liter, 760 HP “Predator” V8 will be available for purchase soon.

Prepare your project cars accordingly!

THIRD GEAR:

Is anyone else getting frustrated with the lack of C8 Z06 news? Other than a handful of spy shots and videos (which have been nonexistent of late) it has been nothing but crickets on the Z front.

Contrast that with GM’s second most exciting upcoming product, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. We have seen official teaser images of the super sedan’s slick carbon fiber racing seats, the high-tech steering wheel, and now a set of magnesium wheels! Word is that deliveries of the 2022 Blackwing will start next summer.

Back to the C8Z that we are also expecting to debut as a ’22 model for a second. If the Z and the V have such similar timelines, where are the teaser images, slow information leaks, and countdown websites for the Super-Stingray? Even if the Coronavirus and the multitude of 2020 delays have pushed the Z06’s on-sale date back to a full year from now, it is about time for the General to throw us a bone; we are ready!

FOURTH GEAR:

Congrats, everyone, we made it! For the most part, we have put the election in our rearview. No matter how you feel about the outcome, we have to take a step back and think about how fortunate we are to live in this incredible country!

I spend an inordinate amount of time on car websites, consuming as much information as I can each week. For my money, the finest automotive publication going is EVO, from ye olde United Kingdom. The best thing that I have read in the time since posting the last edition of Quick Shifts was a four-way comparison test that the EVO staff put together. Its writing is poetic in a way that could only come from a true lover of the art of driving (a trait mysteriously absent from so many of today’s car journalists) and the reputations precede the assembled vehicles, but something’s missing.

The author eloquently waxes about sports cars, concluding that “[they] are born of elements that can be as varied as those of the periodic table…” and yet, all four of the legendary vehicles included in the test (the E46 M3 CSL, the wild TVR Sagaris, the previous generation Porsche Cayman GT4, and the R34 Skyline GT-R (the Paul Walker 2Fast 2 Furious car that the youths are crazy about)) have but six cylinders to spin out power with.

As good as it is, without regular access to Corvettes, Camaros, or the good Mustangs (Shelbys aren’t sold overseas with their lesser kin), EVO’s tool shed almost always lacks a proper sledgehammer. Toss a ZL1 1LE or a Z06 Carbon into that group and it suddenly looks a lot more fun (or, at least, less stuffy) and simultaneously more impressive, and more attainable.

The democratization of supercar-levels of horsepower and a newfound talent for turning it into world-class, every-direction speed and engagement are just a few of the things that make this union the greatest nation that the world has ever seen and the only one that most of us would ever want to live in. Don’t take any of it for granted and be sure to enjoy every minute of your time here, it is too short to waste on any form of negativity.

REVERSE

CT5-V Blackwing anticipation and this week’s first drive of the perfect all-around car gave your author a hankering to reverse to early 2012 when both of those vehicles predecessors were available in long-roof form and the Caddy even had a clutch pedal! Enjoy this mega-wagon showdown from Motor Trend’s back in the day café.

Still hungry? Watch the sedan sequel (complete with nail-biting laps from Randy Pobst that made me leap out of my seat upon first viewing!) right here while you wait for the upcoming conclusion to the trilogy in the months to come!

Previous Quick Shifts:
C8 Convertible, More Reviews, C7 ZR1, New Hummer, and More!
C8 at Watkins Glen, Special Editions, 8,500 RPM LS7, Van Halen Tribute, and More!
Corvette Racing at Le Mans, C8 Reviews, New Nissan Z-Car, Super Comparo, Edmunds C8, and More!