2020 Corvette C8 Unveiled

Labcoatguy said:
but everyone who isn't currently in the market for one is saying that.
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I don't know if I agree with that, it costs about the same as a GT350 and that only came in manual. Both of these are essentially track day specials* and the Mustang sold rather well for what it was, there is no reason to think that a manual C8 wouldn't.

*While GT350 is arguably something you could live with daily as it's "just a Mustang" there is a pretty low chance of someone with 60K to drop on a car not having something more comfortable to commute in.

It's basically been confirmed that there will not be a manual C8 due to economics, which makes sense given that GM has absolutely nowhere to source a manual and would actually have to develop something bespoke just for one car.
 
It would be kinda funny if they kept the C7 in production, alongside the C8, and just kept giving it face lifts. lol


Edit: I'm finally able to get onto the configurator. It still lags like crazy though, so I guess the hype is going strong.

Or maybe it's just broken.

3555853
 
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i don't get why they made this car
they needed to go mid engined because that's what the competitors in imsa and wec are doing?
can't be because "it's better for the road"
and even then...why not make a new car and leave the corvette as is?

and since the viper is gone as well, now GM doesn't have a front engined sportscoupe anymore?
 
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bone said:
and since the viper is gone as well, now GM doesn't have a front engined sportscoupe anymore?
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You are probably thinking Camaro since Viper is not GM. I’m guessing they are trying to make it a better value proposition than GT350/Hellcat. Like “look for same money you can have a mid engined supercar”.
 
bone said:
i don't get why they made this car
they needed to go mid engined because that's what the competitors in imsa and wec are doing?
can't be because "it's better for the road"
and even then...why not make a new car and leave the corvette as is?

and since the viper is gone as well, now GM doesn't have a front engined sportscoupe anymore?
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A C7 buyer might cross-shop with an M4, GT350, or even Cayman. The C8 stands completely alone, it created its own segment - there simply aren't any other mid-engined options with this kind of performance until you triple the price. Also, I imagine they started to struggle to put the power to the ground with the current FR layout - the ZR1 has 755hp!
 
 
I've stayed out of this thread till now due to my well known and established hate of Corvettes, but figured its about time to chime in.

Labcoatguy said:
but everyone who isn't currently in the market for one is saying that.
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prizrak said:
I don't know if I agree with that, it costs about the same as a GT350
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It absolutely is true. That's the biggest problem with auto enthusiasts. Everyone complaining about OEMs not offering manuals are the very same people saying "oh, but I wouldn't buy one, maybe a used one in 7 years". Well you buying a used one in 7 years doesn't really help us. And its not just transmissions, but also small cars. You have no idea how many people I hear say "I'd totally buy a used Fiesta ST in a few years" but when asked if they'd buy a new one, they say no. Can't have used cars without new sales, so sorry.

Also its not really fair to compare the Vette to the GT350. The Corvette absolutely isn't a trackday special (at least the base Vette and Z06 aren't), its a relatively decent commuter that you can live with every day (I can't believe I'm defending the Corvette against a Mustang). Looking at sales numbers, Corvette sold 34k units in 2015, 40k in 2016 and 33k in 2017 - and each year the auto box sits at about 77-78% of the take rate. Compare that to 6k GT350s (including Rs) in 2016 and just under 7k in 2017.

prizrak said:
*While GT350 is arguably something you could live with daily as it's "just a Mustang" there is a pretty low chance of someone with 60K to drop on a car not having something more comfortable to commute in.
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Ehh, it really can't. Its not "just a Mustang." There are substantial suspension differences making it hard enough to be a pretty bad commuter. Not saying people don't do it, but its not smart.

prizrak said:
given that GM has absolutely nowhere to source a manual and would actually have to develop something bespoke just for one car.
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Ummm, What? They developed a whole bespoke chassis for just this one car. They already developed a whole bespoke transmission for just this one car. They developed bespoke transmissions for past Corvettes. They developed bespoke powertrains for past Corvettes. Cadillac currently has a bespoke performance powertrain for the CT6. I really don't think thats an issue for them, regardless of how smart of a business decision it is.

bone said:
i don't get why they made this car
they needed to go mid engined because that's what the competitors in imsa and wec are doing?
can't be because "it's better for the road"
and even then...why not make a new car and leave the corvette as is?

and since the viper is gone as well, now GM doesn't have a front engined sportscoupe anymore?
Click to expand...

I don't understand this? Why did they make this car? Because they could? Why did Chrysler develop the Viper? Why does Lamborghini do what they do? Why does Audi develop the R8? To push the limits of whats possible. To make the best performance car they could. To develop new technologies for future applications. To create a halo effect and sell lesser models (this has been a proven tactic - for example someone sees an ultra cool Corvette, walks into a Chevy dealer, leaves with a Camaro).

prizrak said:
You are probably thinking Camaro since Viper is not GM. I’m guessing they are trying to make it a better value proposition than GT350/Hellcat. Like “look for same money you can have a mid engined supercar”.
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I wouldn't lump the Hellcat into that. But basically that.

LeVeL said:
Also, I imagine they started to struggle to put the power to the ground with the current FR layout - the ZR1 has 755hp!
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The C7 ZR1 has a 50/50 weight split. The C8 will end up being tail heavy which will be better for traction, but worse for steering. Though at the performance level for these cars, you need a lot of aero trickery for keeping both ends of the car planted in the corners, and I'm sure we'll start seeing more passive and/or active downforce devices on the front of the C8 on hotter versions.

EDIT: Relevant C7 sales statistics
2015 - https://www.corvettemuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2015CorvetteFINALYearEndHWC.pdf
2016 - https://www.corvettemuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2016-Corvette-FINAL-Year-End-HWC.pdf
2017 - https://www.corvettemuseum.org/wp-c...6/2017-Corvette-FINAL-Year-End-HWC-UPDATE.pdf
2018 - https://www.corvettemuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2018-Corvette-FINAL-Year-End-HWC.pdf
 
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CrzRsn said:
It absolutely is true. That's the biggest problem with auto enthusiasts. Everyone complaining about OEMs not offering manuals are the very same people saying "oh, but I wouldn't buy one, maybe a used one in 7 years".
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Considering the price point of the Vette I don't think that it holds true here, it's cheap enough that it's affordable for a large number of people but expensive enough so that anyone who wants one and can afford one is buying new.
There is also the fact that many times there is not a compelling reason for buying new, say current Mustang vs an earlier S550, aside from a bit more power and divisive looks there is very little that changed. C8 makes sense to buy over a used C7 seeing as how it's a complete redesign.

CrzRsn said:
Also its not really fair to compare the Vette to the GT350. The Corvette absolutely isn't a trackday special (at least the base Vette and Z06 aren't), its a relatively decent commuter that you can live with every day (I can't believe I'm defending the Corvette against a Mustang). Looking at sales numbers, Corvette sold 34k units in 2015, 40k in 2016 and 33k in 2017 - and each year the auto box sits at about 77-78% of the take rate. Compare that to 6k GT350s (including Rs) in 2016 and just under 7k in 2017.
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We don't know how good a C8 will be as a commuter yet, and while C7 could make a decent commuter do you think there is going to be a significant number of people would would chance their 60+k pride and joy on a daily commute?

For the sales numbers, you are comparing a specialized expensive submodel of another [much cheaper] model to an entire model. Better comparison would be comparing the GT350 to say Z06 or even ZR1.

CrzRsn said:
Ummm, What? They developed a whole bespoke chassis for just this one car. They already developed a whole bespoke transmission for just this one car. They developed bespoke transmissions for past Corvettes. They developed bespoke powertrains for past Corvettes. Cadillac currently has a bespoke performance powertrain for the CT6. I really don't think thats an issue for them, regardless of how smart of a business decision it is.
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You sure they didn't interchange a lot of drive train parts between the "V" Caddis and the Vette? Also I was under the impression that they shared a lot between Camaro and Vette, which I could see as being one of the reasons they are dropping the Camaro since they would have to keep two bespoke chassis, drivetrains, transmissions, etc...
Also yes they had to develop a completely bespoke car, but in this particular case it is their flagship model, just like the Mustang is basically a stand alone, but it's Ford's calling card (I'm ignoring Ford GT because I suspect the majority of car guys wouldn't even know of it's existence) so they keeping it around. There is also the suspicion that they are in financial trouble, not the best time to spend a good chunk of money on building two bespoke transmission with one of them being a very low volume seller in the first place.
 
When is the Camaro being dropped?
 
I did a search and all I could find was rumors.
 
True it's not officially confirmed but neither was the C8 until last week ;)
EDIT:
EE made a video about how they are going to be hitting 60 so quickly -
 
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CrzRsn said:
I don't understand this? Why did they make this car? Because they could? Why did Chrysler develop the Viper? Why does Lamborghini do what they do? Why does Audi develop the R8? To push the limits of whats possible. To make the best performance car they could. To develop new technologies for future applications. To create a halo effect and sell lesser models (this has been a proven tactic - for example someone sees an ultra cool Corvette, walks into a Chevy dealer, leaves with a Camaro).
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that doesn't explain why they didn't simply create a new platform and left the corvette as is
the corvette is dead, this new one might be a great car, but it's not a vette in my eyes...
 
bone said:
that doesn't explain why they didn't simply create a new platform and left the corvette as is
the corvette is dead, this new one might be a great car, but it's not a vette in my eyes...
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Funny, I remember the same thing being said in 1984.
 
bone said:
that doesn't explain why they didn't simply create a new platform and left the corvette as is
the corvette is dead, this new one might be a great car, but it's not a vette in my eyes...
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Because name recognition is a big factor? I’ll give you Ford GT as a perfect example. No one knows about that car outside of our community, if you parked it on the street and asked regular people what that is they’d probably say “Ferrari”. It has no appeal beyond a few gear heads most of whom can’t afford it.
Corvette (and Camaro, and Mustang, etc...) are well known to everyone, it appeals to non car guys as much as car guys, plenty of Vette buyers get them as a sort of status symbol/midlife crisis mobile (hence boomer jokes about them).

There is also the fact that it’s not cheap to keep a bespoke model, they’d have to keep two (three if they kept the Camaro).
 
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prizrak said:
There is also the fact that it’s not cheap to keep a bespoke model, they’d have to keep two (three if they kept the Camaro).
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The Camaro isn't really bespoke, it's based on the ATS.
 
prizrak said:
Because name recognition is a big factor? I’ll give you Ford GT as a perfect example. No one knows about that car outside of our community, if you parked it on the street and asked regular people what that is they’d probably say “Ferrari”. It has no appeal beyond a few gear heads most of whom can’t afford it.
Corvette (and Camaro, and Mustang, etc...) are well known to everyone, it appeals to non car guys as much as car guys, plenty of Vette buyers get them as a sort of status symbol/midlife crisis mobile (hence boomer jokes about them).

There is also the fact that it’s not cheap to keep a bespoke model, they’d have to keep two (three if they kept the Camaro).
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That was the idea. Of course most gearheads can't afford it, most people can't afford it - but the gearhead who can afford the Mustang GT is going to lean more towards it because they know what Ford is capable of doing. Many halo cars are loss leaders because they drive sales of more affordable machines.
 
Blind_Io said:
but the gearhead who can afford the Mustang GT is going to lean more towards it because they know what Ford is capable of doing.
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Not sure if that part specifically is true, after all as gearheads we live and breathe cars and would generally do some homework before we get whatever we get, halo cars are not very likely to enter into that particular decision making.

You are right in general that those cars are meant more as a marketing exercise but in Chevy's case they are in a unique position where their halo car is also something that they can sell to the general public. It would be rather silly to not capitalize on it.
 
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