All posts in “mid-engined corvette”

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 on Patents hint at active aerodynamics for C8 Chevy Corvette
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Ultimate mid-engined C8 Corvette a 1,000-hp, all-wheel-drive hybrid?

Car and Driver apparently has a little black book of notes on the next-generation, mid-engined Chevrolet Corvette, and recently published a few of the meaty bits. Even though Chevrolet is moving the required V8 to a space between the passenger and the rear wheels, The Bowtie doesn’t want the Corvette to leave the realm of affordability.

To that end, C8 body panels will be mainly fiberglass, laid over a spaceframe that’s mainly aluminum, and the initial coupe will launch with an evolution of the current 6.2-liter LT1 V8. The article says weight should be “a bit heavier than the current car’s roughly 3,500 pounds” (Chevrolet lists the base Stingray at 3,298 pounds), but horsepower should also climb to about 500, and CD expects the entry-level C8 to be quicker than an entry-level C7. The follow-up engine will be a 5.5-liter DOHC V8 with at least 600 hp that can spin its flat-plane crankshaft to 9,000 rpm, although the usable redline will be a few hundred rpm lower. Sometime after that, Chevy will roll out a twin-turbocharged version of that 5.5-liter, said to be worth around 800 hp.

Here’s where things go berserk: After an interval long enough to give the world time to appreciate Chevy’s work, CD says the carmaker will add a 200-hp electric motor to that twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8. The 200-hp electric appendage will sit up front and power the front wheels, creating a mid-engined, all-wheel-drive, all-American sports car with roughly 1,000 hp. Sold at dealerships next to the Malibu and the Trax. With a traditional carmaker warranty. Which, if it comes true, is bonkers. And then some.

Elsewhere around the car, a front end designed to inhale as much cooling air as possible will be stuffed with intercoolers, and vents under the taillights will provide escape for engine heat. Active aero devices include the C8 Corvette using the front-axle-lift system to vary the coupe’s angle of attack, and a powered spoiler will sit on the rear decklid. Tailpipes move to the edges of the rear fascia instead of being lined up in the center, and coil springs replace transverse composite leaf springs.

But there won’t be a manual. The magazine says an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox developed with Tremec will be the only shifting option.

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June 3, 2018 / Comments Off on Ultimate mid-engined C8 Corvette a 1,000-hp, all-wheel-drive hybrid?
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