New C8 testing at the Ring

I'm in.
Corvette number 3 for me.

 

This one's a no brainer-in, as well.

 

That will be my next racecar. My C5 from the 90's is still competitive in racing today! 22 race tracks and 1000's of race miles and the vette keeps going trouble free.

 

Seems a bit unstable sometimes. Skinny tires --like the C7 -- probably to save on fuel mileage.

The noise from the motor is BORING.

Well, it's a start. I'm still interested but this doesn't "send me over the moon". Seems to lack passion, particularly in the exhaust. I'm sure it has the C 7 electric power steering which was the worst part of the car. That really concerns me.

 

That's why it's called "testing". It won't be unstable. It will have plenty of tire. If they can make a Camaro out handle many of the Ferrari's on this site, I'm pretty sure they can get a mid-engine Corvette around a corner.

 

Ive driven the camaro fairly extesively. If you think it out handles a ferrari 458 then we have vastly different concepts of handling.
Anyone can make a heavy car "handle" on paper, or more acuratly put out some test numbers.. All it takes is unyeilding suspension and big tires, same principle as a go kart which has no suspension.

Having suspension that works, that has compliance yet keeps the car stable on corners thats an art. The ability to absorb undualations and bumps mid corner without spitting you into trees thats handling. The ability to feel fluid yet pinpoint accurate thats handlign too. Not to say the vette wont have those attributes, but lets not get all camaro on ourselvs. The camaro is a really heavy car with big tires and decent suspension pieces thats great for what it is.

The mid engined vette, potential has all the attributes of a great car, and the vette team certainly knows what its doing. However its also easy to get stuck on competing attributes. Like comfy ride and excess hp to impress squids, or ability to store golf clubs etc. Or as we saw with some vettes obsession with paper numbers to the extent street ride is near impossible. Lets see how they balance the forces and whether they deliver a complete car with inbuilt potentiial to go in different directions.
Personaly I think weight will be its achilies heel..

 

I never said it would out handle a 458, now did I? The Camaro, when optioned properly, handles very well with no qualifiers needed(and, yes, it will out handle many Ferrari's on this site). Nearly every enthusiast magazine and many pro driver testers have stated that the 1LE versions are sports cars. Period. Some have selected the Camaro over M BMWs and Porsches. You can complain about the styling, the greenhouse and the lack of Bugatti level leather-you can't say it doesn't have a sophisticated suspension that is both livable on the street and competent on track. You simply display an inaccurate bias when you dismiss the Camaro's handling. Perhaps its because they pass that little Lotus of yours without difficulty?
My point was only that if GM can make their ponycar handle like a sports car, I'm quite certain they can make their sports car handle like a supercar.

 

A agree with your last point, they can make their sportscar handle like a supercar, btw most supercars (aventador) are not the gretaest handlers, but I take your point.

As to the Camaro debate. Its a bugbear of mine, heres why. Pro driver testers are hired guns to run a car round a set track for 3 laps before it wilts to try get the best possible time. That has almost zero relevance if you actualy take a car to the track where you'll expect the car to run near full pace for 10+laps multiple times per day. You metion BMW Mcars, the current crop handle like crap in track context(yes the camaro is way better), except maybe the M2. Porches in general hold up on track all day, you do get what you pay for here.

As to relevant speed, all street cars including ferrari speciales etc are soft on track, some wilt others do not, depends on the manufacturer. With a lot less power like say 360hp in a 2400lbs little lotus everything from camaros to z06 vettes are no more than a cone or a chicane when passing. The only street car i see thats really fast on track runnign hard all day long is a porche GT3, although magazine 3 lap "tests" woudlnt put it in front, from what i see the others (ferrari vetets etc) are not even close..

When corvette makes a street legal car that can run with precision and all day hard(without eating 8k in consumable (Zr1)) on track, that will have my total respect. Untill then in my book a vette is like an aventador a really cool looking fast road car, thats pretending to be a track/race car and can maybe snap off a few quick laps.

Not to say modded vettes are not excellent on track, because they are, and the underlaying suspension pieces are really excellent, just put one on lift and you see that.. The better ones though tend to be the older ones, like a C5 as opposed to a C7 because they are just so much lighter.

The simple fact is that weight is evrything on track. While you cant make a road car really light, its also hard to have respect for a car weighing nearly 4000lbs thats in the end faking it by adding lots of power brakes and tires and you know will wilt due to physics. For the vette to be really serious some version of it needs to be around 3klbs, thats where ferrari maclren porche etc are going and there is a reason for that. Theres road test paper performance and real performance.

in the C6 generation we had the Zr1 which killed it on the street, and the z06 which was 3150lbs and an excellent potential track platform(once you sorted the Gm brake lines and a few other bits) Lets see if Gm makes a real z06 this time and whether the ME layout can actualy have a light version. From what we read its heavier than a C7. Lets assume that at 80k+ the interior and build is nice, lets assume that the platform is really stiff(I hope so) then the question will be how light can they make a version, and is the wheelbase short enough to really make for a pointy car.

You and I both know that the vette engineers have to steer thorugh hundreds of comitees and approvals. They probably have to be able to put golf bags in the trunk, have x ride height really lardy seats etc. And thats all validf because 90% of sales are to people who want to drive what is essentialy a sporty looking Gt car. the question is whether those compromises negate it having a version light and buttoned down enough to really perform.

Now maybe you say who cares about real track performance. But in the 2ks where street driving has all sorts of consequences, and where the performance of moderns exceeds streets anyway the track is the place where most drivers go to really drive. hence the explosion of trackdays and country club tracks. I woudlk say how a car performs in this enviroment is more important to its cred than some loosly related race car in series no one watches.

Porche 911s have cred because of the Gt3, and the suvs (which are Vws)have cred because of the 911. As ever it all goes back tot he track, win on sunday sell on monday. except today its not races per se, its the weekend trackday joust where the wheat is seperated from the chaf. Pluy of course if your car is rewarding to drive on street at 5/10ths sounds great and feels quality.

 

http://fastestlaps.com/tracks/willow-springs

http://fastestlaps.com/tracks/laguna-seca-post-1988

 

I haven't driven one, but I'm told the suspension is absolutely brutal on the street. I know of more than one that was returned to the dealer within a month of purchase solely due to how stiff the suspension is.

 

I've driven a few-not bad on the street-unless you live in Detroit.

 

The Porsche 911 once weighed 2000 pounds. Sadly almost every car has gotten heavier since then. The Corvette has put a lot of engineering into reducing weight but overall they appear to be losing the weight battle in recent times. Making a smaller vehicle would help with the weight battle but that is simply unacceptable to the majority of buyers. 450HP and 2,750 pounds with a footprint of 70 inch width by 170 inch length is no longer possible it seems...

 

From the back you would think it's a Camaro.

 

That's soooo 2014!

 

The more I see it, the more I don't mind the look of the back end as much. I think that ugly wing ruins it, though. It just doesn't fit.

Is it me, or do the camo'd cars look like they're on stilts in some of the pics and vids?

 

I'm sure my Euro car driving friends will have plenty of opportunities to analyze the new Corvette's tail lights.

 

Agreed, the Gs is the best of the C7s, far lighter than the supposedly fast ones, and the equal of the ferrari road cars in handling grip, if not as entertaining. the Gs hifghlights what i am saying, its not the most powerful C7 simply the combination of the ligtest na motor and supercharged car suspension making it functionaly the best on track. Now Imagine if Gm had stick with the ls7 motor at say 550hp and losty another 200lbs from the Gs platform as they did in the C6 era.

Whereas the z06 and ZR1 which are supposed to be the great fast vettes are simply too heavy to hold up to repeated track us, unless you dont mind 8k in consumables per day and a blown motor here and there..

 

Road cars driven for 3 laps.

 

Just enough to get people talking but of little value otherwise.

 

I guess you guys must have these:

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Hey maybe its just a corvette with the engine in the middle, nothing really more than that.

 

It has very generic mid-engine proportions so I cant really comment on the design until the camo is removed. Right now it could be a new Lambo for how generic the proportions are.

 

It looks like (we have) the new NSX.