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2020 Chevy Corvette C8 startup animation, new logo leak

Last we saw of the mid-engine 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8 it was a camouflage-wrapped mule version out for a spin in Michigan around the holidays. Now, the website GM-Trucks.com takes us inside the cockpit with leaks of what it says are the C8’s new logos, gauge-cluster startup animation and script.

The startup animation is what appears in the gauge cluster display when you open the driver door. In this video on GM-Trucks.com, it shows the script “Corvette by Chevrolet” take shape followed by a revised V-shaped logo with the bowtie logo on a red flag on one side and a checkered racing flag on the other. The website won’t say how it obtained the animation, other than to say someone passed it along after it was “collected from (a) publicly available file.”

The website also surmises this animation may be intended for a higher-performance version of the C8, since it differs slightly from a logo it previously leaked that had chrome surrounds and a white-and-black checkered flag, not grey-and-black as seen in the animation. It could even be the “Zora” name that GM has toyed with over the years with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Or, of course, they could both be prototype animations or just something someone unaffiliated with GM created to get attention.

Either way, recent reports have suggested that the C8 prototype developed an electrical issue that has delayed the supercar’s debut. But it’s still believed the new Vette will debut at some point this year, so expect leaks and reveals to only increase in the coming months.

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February 8, 2019 / Comments Off

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Patents hint at active aerodynamics for C8 Chevy Corvette

In May of 2016, General Motors filed patent applications for an active aerodynamic system. The patent papers featured drawings of a C7 Chevrolet Corvette, and described aero aids that the system could operate on, including a front splitter, air dam, grille shutters, and rear diffuser. That patent was published nearly a year later, in March 2017. Last month, GM had another three patents published for specific active aero mechanisms: active side skirts, active spoilers, and downforce-generating ducts. The application again used C7 Corvette drawings, leading people to believe that the C8 is in line for the aero gadgets.

The previous patent described the use of a sensor to measure body height, and a controller used to adjust various aero surfaces to maintain the ideal height relative relative to a reference plane. One special feature of that system was that it accounted for suspension action and tire deflection.

The latest patent app goes into the features such a system might control. The active side skirts would be able to extend toward the road in order to contain airflow under the car and streamline airflow around the rear wheels. The active spoiler could raise and lower the entire structure by moving stanchions within rails set into the fenders, as well as pivot just the wing portion. And get this, one image in the patent app shows a movable spoiler on the roof. The downforce-generating ducts, potentially placed on the roof and the lower portion of the vehicle, would hasten airflow past the car, and could otherwise be used to produce a venturi effect. Should the mid-engined Corvette wear such appurtenances, America’s sports car would get more ammo to join a tech conversation dominated by European marques.

After pulling a no-show at this year’s Detroit Auto Show, rumors say we’ll see the C8 in Detroit next year. Or who knows, we might be seeing three – a standard flavor with an evolution of the current 6.2-liter V8, one with the new 5.5-liter flat-plane-crank V8, and a twin-turbo version of that V8 with about 800 horsepower. Best to wait and see, though; looks like whatever we’re getting, and whenever we get it, it’ll be pretty good.

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August 16, 2018 / Comments Off

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Chevrolet Corvette factory tours suspended for 18 months

A new Corvette is coming, and preparations for its inauguration are already under way at GM’s Bowling Green Assembly Plant in Kentucky. According to The Bowling Green Daily News and the National Corvette Museum website, factory tours will be suspended for 18 months beginning June 16. While there has been no official explanation for the closure, a year and a half seems like enough time to rework the factory tooling for a mid-engine sports car.

Yes, automotive publications have been predicting the reveal of a mid-engine Corvette for half a century, but numerous spy photos show that GM is working on something special. Additionally, we have reason to believe that the Corvette’s V8 will move away from pushrods, finally adopting a free-revving DOHC layout. While GM has worked Merlin levels of magic to make pushrods possible in this day and age, the move to overhead cams was going to occur eventually. In addition to the mid-engine platform, the factory might be installing a new DOHC engine production line.

Of course, the halting of tours might simply be to hide the new C7 Corvette ZR1 that we’ve seen running around. The truth is likely somewhere in between, since we believe both cars are coming and 18 months is far too long to rework the plant for another variant of the C7, even if it is the hot and ready ZR1. If the ZR1 is everything we expect it to be, it’s going to be one hell of a way to close out this generation of Corvettes.

2018 will mark the sixth year of production for the C7 generation, a short lifecycle when compared to past Corvettes. The thing is, the C7 has roots going all the way back to 1984 and the introduction of the C4. Since then, the car has been undergoing heavy alterations and modifications, but the lines can be traced back. The real question has nothing to do with camshaft placement or factory tour dates. What we really want to know is, where does a leaf spring go on a mid-engine car?

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May 2, 2017 / Comments Off

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GM’s European Opel division may eventually go all-electric

General Motors’ Opel division in Europe may transform itself into an all-electric vehicle maker by 2030. Granted, a lot can happen between now and then, including a potential buyout by French automaker PSA Group. Regardless, Opel appears to view its electric future beyond the Ampera-e, which is the sister vehicle to the Chevrolet Bolt, and more like Tesla.

Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann indicated that focusing on electric drivetrains would be a superior strategy to expanding its EV technology while pushing forward with conventional drivetrains, says Automotive News Europe, citing comments Neumann made to German publication Manager Magazin. General Motors could make the decision to move towards an all-electric vehicle line for Opel as soon as May.

Of course, that depends on whether Opel is bought out by PSA, the parent country to Peugeot and Citroen. PSA is in talks to buy General Motors’ Opel and Vauxhall divisions, though government and labor representatives in Germany have expressed concerns over potential job losses from the proposed buyout, Reuters says.

Regardless, GM has hinted at expanding its electric-vehicle line far beyond the Bolt, which has a 238-mile single-charge range and debuted late last year. Mary Barra, in an interview with CNET, said the Bolt’s all-electric platform could be applied to a “huge range of vehicles,” though wasn’t specific about additional EV models.

Opel first showed off its Ampera-e at the Paris Motor Show last fall. The name of the model raised some eyebrows because the Ampera badge had been previously used by Opel for the sister version of the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in. Either way, Opel is looking to take on Renault for electric-vehicle sales supremacy across the Pond.

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February 15, 2017 / Comments Off

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