Join tonight�s live reveal of the 2020 chevrolet corvette stingray

[Jaime G.]

I don't want folks to get the wrong impression from my Tesla rant. I love Corvette and the culture it created.

I want Corvette to endure, and that requires forward thinking and exceptional performance at value pricing.

That's what mid-engine technology promised in the 1960s. What will it take in the 21st century?

Meanwhile, C-8 owners should beware of battery powered cars.

I attended the unveiling last Thursday evening and saw the car, sat in it, heard it run, looked at the accessories, talked to the large contingent of GM Brass present and GM is going in the right direction. For the money, the performance and comfort you get is unequaled. If you want a Z06, you might have to wait more than one year, a Hybrid version definitely will be offered so all of us who don't like technology need to get on board. By the way this is not a TESLA forum.

[Terry M.]

Making the C8 a hybrid like a Porsche 918, or an EV would have tripled the price or more I suspect. And since EVs are such a tiny % of the market, I can see why GM did not go crazy trying to push a technology that is not ready for prime time just yet on their halo car. Last year, EV sales accounted for about 1.4% of the new-vehicle sales of 17.3 million in the U.S. EVs may be the future, but Musk's objectionable personality, coupled with his marketing and sales tactics (no stores, dealers, or service establishments, buy online only, no test drives, etc.) are not something that would attract me. And the way I drive, I just completed a 3300 mile + Texas Road Tour to the Nationals, I can't even fathom waiting long periods of time to charge up after a few hundred miles, or searching for a charging station in the rural south. Just not there yet, maybe in time, and with great improvements in technology and infrastructure, it will be.

Mike
There is a Tesla store about 10 miles from me, and I see more and more of them on the road. Perhaps because I am in an urban area.

[Gary C.]

[Michael J.]

Mike
There is a Tesla store about 10 miles from me, and I see more and more of them on the road. Perhaps because I am in an urban area.

Yes, when I go to big cities I see them, obviously with limited range and the need for charging infrastructure, big cities is where they will be practical. I have never seen one on I-25 or I-40 between me and California, or on the recent trip to SC. EV has a place in urban environments, and of course we in rural places do not see that. I had seen Musk was closing many stores to save money, since they have lost so much over the years, and going online only. But I see they reversed that decision recently. But they still have no dealers (some people don't like dealers, I do), and in states like New Mexico, you have to have a dealer and service network to sell cars. I see some in New Mexico, but they are bought online and shipped in. Not for me.

[Michael J.]

Michael,

Suspect the high HP C8 may employ EV technology.

Had an interesting discussion at the Awards Banquet with Joanna McLellan, who's a EE doing EV car consulting. The EV cars do not have an AM radio due to RFI aka EMP. From what I've read most of the manufacturers are not addressing the RFI problem. And either don't know how to resolve or are not willing to spend the $$$$$ to resolve. a quick Internet search on this issue returns a lot of results.

Future prospects are; when there are a zillion EV cars on the road the RFI/EMP for cell phones could render them useless. Just saying,

Gary
....

Interesting, there will be unintended consequences unless all the problems are addressed with EV. But I was hoping a ZR1, over 755 HP, gasoline engine variant would emerge in a few years to tempt me to relook at the C8........

[Michael J.]

[Duke W.]

[Duke W.]

I saw the reveal last night and was impressed. Lots of build-up and speculation over the past several months. I saw this buzz for the C6 and C7 but am curious as to what it was like when the C2 or C3 was announced and then when they started to be seen around town. They say collector cars had to turn heads when they were released back in the day. Did that happen a lot ?

Back in that era there were no pre-production "national announcements" that I recall. "Announcement day" was uniform across the country, done by dealers, and the new cars were kept under wraps until the official announcement day, which was usually in October.

On that evening in October 1962 I went down to Tad Davies Chevrolet, an old, small dealership at the eastern edge of downtown Seattle. The showroom was big enough for two or maybe three cars at most, but there was only one there, a new 1963 Corvette Sting Ray Split Window Coupe, Sebring Silver as I recall.

There must have been over 100 people there, stacked four deep around the car. I was waiting my turn to get up close and struck up a conversation with a well dressed man of about 40 next to me. I told him that I had been working and saving since age 11 (I was 16 at the time) and was going to buy one. He said he was likely to do the same.

I always wondered if he believed me or figured I was just some starry-eyed kid with a pipedream,

In any event the introduction of the '63 Sting Ray was a national sensation.

Duke

[Gary C.]

[Dick W.]

[Michael J.]

According to what I have read, the high output engine will be based on a version of the Cadillac Blackwing DOHC 4.2 turbo engine. It will have more displacement that the Caddy version.

If it is north of 800 HP, I can consider that, and would work really hard to start appreciating the C8 design and styling........

[Gene M.]

[Don H.]

If it is north of 800 HP, I can consider that, and would work really hard to start appreciating the C8 design and styling........

OK, you really need 800+ hp?
It begs the question, why?
Is your brother-in-law the police chief in Santa Fe NM?

[Duke W.]

Duke,

Any idea how the transmission is driven by the engine? Couldn't tell from any of the cutaway photos. Thanks,

Gary
,,,,

I'm still trying to fully understand "dual-clutch transmissions". One thing I can say is that, architecturally, they are more like traditional manual transmissions than traditional automatics. For one thing they have no torque converter and have conventional main shaft/countershaft gear trains rather than the planetary gears typical of automatics. I expect first gear of this new 8-speed twin clutch transmission will be on the order of 4:1 because of the lack of a torque converter, so first gear needs to be really short to prevent excess clutch slippage and wear.

The dual clutches are multi-disc and "wet" and inside the gearbox, like a typical motorcycle clutch. One clutch is for the even numbered gears, and the other the odd numbered gears. They shift lightening quick, like about a 100 milliseconds by simultaneously disengaged one clutch and engaging the other. Of course clutch engagement/disengagement is actuated by hydraulics under electronic control.

One disadvantage is that it appears that gears have to be changed sequentially. You can't drop two or three gears in one shift that is sometimes necessary to make a maximum performance pass at freeway speed, which can be done very quickly with a conventional manual transmission.

Sorry, I can't answer your actual question, but I'm working on it.

Duke

[Mark H.]

Back in that era there were no pre-production "national announcements" that I recall. "Announcement day" was uniform across the country, done by dealers, and the new cars were kept under wraps until the official announcement day

Yup. Back then, Fall meant two things. 1) School starts (Boo!) and 2) The new cars are coming out! (YAY!!). I was only 10 in 1963 so didn't have any interest in cars when the first Sting Ray came out, but when the '68s came out I was in the showroom at Rapid Chevrolet in Rapid City, South Dakota where I grew up to get a look. The first one they got was a silver small block convertible. I had really hoped for a coupe with the new-fangled T-tops and removable rear glass, but was impressed nonetheless by the new Corvette.