Mid engine 800hp ZR1 Corvette [Rumor]

[Organ-Donor]

Mid engine 800hp ZR1? The rumor returns

http://m.motortrend.com/wot/1408_scoop_mid_engine_chevrolet_corvette_is_a_go.html

 

[Cale]

Nah. When Corvette news gets slow, someone whips up one of these pictures and it gets around. Been happening for the last 40 years or so.

 

[YSSMAN]

Nope.

How long have we been kicking this rumor down the road? Since what, 1970, with the XP-882?

Every generation, we get a new one. What was the plan for the C7 that was kicked around five years ago? That the Corvette "brand" would be split up into thirds? A basic Corvette, a faster Stingray, and a top-tier supercar ZR1 that would be mid-engined? Yeah, I remember that. Remember when people thought the Cadillac Cien was the herald of a mid-engined C6? What about all those ridiculous Corvette concepts from the '90s that pointed to that direction for the C5?

The only mid-engined Corvettes we'll see will be the race cars for IMSA, and that'll be about it.

 

[miata13B]

Nah. When Corvette news gets slow, someone whips up one of these pictures and it gets around. Been happening for the last 40 years or so.

Speaking of which, when I was younger this was rumored and now looking back at it I do wish Chevy produced it.

In the End though if my memory serves me correct Honda was the only manufacture at the time to put it balls out there and give us the NSX. Although Toyota granted us with possibly the best MR2 at the time, Honda produced the affordable supercar.

I do not think that Chevy has the balls to produce a MR car, nor do I ever think they will unfortunately :-(

 

[Exorcet]

I do not think that Chevy has the balls to produce a MR car, nor do I ever think they will unfortunately :-(

I wonder more about if we'll ever see a front engine hyper car, even if the only justification is "just because". You could probably get quite a bit more performance out of the Corvette even if you didn't mess with the engine layout.

 

[Organ-Donor]

I'm pretty skeptical and know mid engine has been kicked around for a long time. Also could just be MT being MT. I do however believe a front engine C7 ZR1 will happen.

 

[McLaren]

Doubt it. Chevrolet was just saying a couple months ago (before the Z06 was unveiled) that a ZR1 was not currently planned for the time being.

 

[Turtle]

They might as well make it a rotary, too.

 

[BKGlover]

(snipped)

The only mid-engined Corvettes we'll see will be the race cars for IMSA, and that'll be about it.

It would be a massive stretch, but who's to say that the DP wouldn't get a road-legal iteration, if for nothing more than to get it out of P2/DP and into a GT class.

I miss GT1.

 

[Organ-Donor]

Doubt it. Chevrolet was just saying a couple months ago (before the Z06 was unveiled) that a ZR1 was not currently planned for the time being.

"Time being". Well they obviously wouldn't want to talk about a ZR1 to take away the thunder and buyers of the Z06 by saying a ZR1 would be in the works. But down the C7 life cycle I can see one coming. Especially considering the horsepower cars are putting out now, Hellcat 707hp, next top dog Mustang most likely surpassing that. And if the C7 Z06 claim of keeping the top tier Z07 package right under $100k then a ZR1 could fit in around ~$120k-140k and push 700+hp.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

To make it mid engined they'd pretty much have to design a new chassis from scratch. It's far too expensive a project, and if they did do it I very much doubt they'd call it a Corvette.

 

[niky]

I wonder more about if we'll ever see a front engine hyper car, even if the only justification is "just because". You could probably get quite a bit more performance out of the Corvette even if you didn't mess with the engine layout.

Well, by the standards of ten years ago, top-tier 'Vettes are already in hypercar territory, performance-wise.

Would indeed be interesting. A 1k horsepower 'Vette with a sub-seven minute 'Ring time.

 

[McLaren]

"Time being". Well they obviously wouldn't want to talk about a ZR1 to take away the thunder and buyers of the Z06 by saying a ZR1 would be in the works. But down the C7 life cycle I can see one coming. Especially considering the horsepower cars are putting out now, Hellcat 707hp, next top dog Mustang most likely surpassing that. And if the C7 Z06 claim of keeping the top tier Z07 package right under $100k then a ZR1 could fit in around ~$120k-140k and push 700+hp.

And yet, they would decide to reveal now a mid-engine ZR1 is planned under the next generation? That wouldn't affect buyers back in January in the slightest when the next generation is years away.

To make it mid engined they'd pretty much have to design a new chassis from scratch. It's far too expensive a project, and if they did do it I very much doubt they'd call it a Corvette.

This. After 20+ years of mid-engine rumors, the biggest argument comes from the diehards themselves; a MR car doesn't fit into the Corvette legacy.

 

[OriginalCheezIt]

I say give Cadillac engineers free reign to construct an upper-tier hypercar, fit it with a big, fat, American V12 in the middle, some hard-edge, Cien-esque styling, and some magical three-letter combination with a "V" at the end.

I think ZLS-V might work nicely.

 

[Azure Flare]

Here we go again...

 

[McLaren]

I say give Cadillac engineers free reign to construct an upper-tier hypercar, fit it with a big, fat, American V12 in the middle, some hard-edge, Cien-esque styling, and some magical three-letter combination with a "V" at the end.

I think ZLS-V might work nicely.

I'd love to see this as well but Cadillac has a history of producing some interesting concept cars and then going, "Nah. Build more Escalades".

 

[ClydeYellow]

Not happening, for the same reason that the 911 is still rear-engines and hell will freeze over before Nissan will release a RWD GT-R: brand recognition. The Corvette is the quintessential American sportscar, with a powerful V8 at the front and party at the rear.

However, I do not find the idea of Chevrolet launching a mid-engines supercar with the underpinnings of the Corvette that unlikely.

 

[Tornado]

One would think that after literally every generation change the Corvette has had there have been "rumors" of their being an MR one that we would have just started ignoring them by now.

 

[Legro]

I don't think this will happen, mid engine just doesn't go with name Corvette.

 

[JMoney]

That would be (almost) as big an atrocity as a mid-engine 911. Not gonna happen.

 

[BKGlover]

That would be (almost) as big an atrocity as a mid-engine 911. Not gonna happen.

J, There was a mid-engined 911. It was only for homologation, but it's a thing.

 

[Aesthetics]

Literally the first paragraph of the article:

You like rumors? Hot, hard-to-resist rumors? Here’s one to jack your blood pressure through the roof! The next Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 will be mid-engined. That’s right, kids! Multiple sources have told us that the next version of the Corvette ZR1 will be mid-engined. One of these sources even stated that the next-generation Corvette -- the C8 -- will ship with its engine mounted in the middle. The rendering above, by Tom Matsumoto, shows what the mid-engined Corvette could look like.

Now, how reliable does that sound?

However though... the render is sexy, I'll give them that.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

I'm not sure which is worse- the fact that this rumor always appears or the fact that some people actually believe this rumor every time that it makes the rounds.

 

[JMoney]

J, There was a mid-engined 911. It was only for homologation, but it's a thing.

As in a modern, standard-production mid-engined 911. Not cars like the GT1 or the 9ff.

 

[eSZee]

I'm pretty skeptical and know mid engine has been kicked around for a long time. Also could just be MT being MT. I do however believe a front engine C7 ZR1 will happen.

Looking at cutaways of the C7, they need to move the engine just a couple inches rearward and they have a MR car. FMR but still MR.

 

[TexRex]

Beetle went from RR to FF, so who knows...

 

[yabiggoose]

Slow news day, eh.

 

[Pupik]

Nah. When Corvette news gets slow, someone whips up one of these pictures and it gets around. Been happening for the last 40 years or so.

Father to the phrases "Is this the next Supra?" or "The next Mustang/Camaro will be Front Wheel Drive".

 

[NFSCARBON1]

That would be (almost) as big an atrocity as a mid-engine 911. Not gonna happen.

Fair enough it was a test mule for the boxter, but to all intensive purposes it's a road legal mid engine 911 (The Gt1 I believe only shared headlights and it's roof with the regular 911)

A mid engine Corvette seems quite unlikely to me.
If GM were considering it, it would likely be under the Corvette Brand rather than being an actual Corvette (like the current Daytona Prototypes)

 

[JMoney]

Who cares about test mules and concepts? They weren't produced because the manufacter realized it was a bad idea, or any number of other reasons.