By Jeff Glucker
Chevrolet engineers are taking their time to make sure they get the upcoming C8 Corvette just right. After all, this is the car that will finally end the “Will GM make a mid-engine Corvette?” rumors. Yes, Chevy is set to crank out a Vette with midship-mounted power. And it seems that the power figure may be enough to put an end to the horsepower wars once and for all.
According to a story on Hagerty, the first run of C8 Corvettes will feature familiar 6.2-liter V8 engines cranking out at least 500 horsepower. From there, however, turbochargers will come into the mix. Climb the Corvette ladder, and you’ll eventually land on a twin-turbocharged V8 producing something in the neighborhood of 1,000 horsepower.
If it’s priced below $200,000, the top-tier Corvette (likely a ZR1 branded beast) will offer truly monstrous power per dollar. And it should be the final ka-boom on this wild time we like referring to as the Horsepower Wars.
Dodge went nuts in recent years, especially with the drag-strip destroying Demon. But not even FCA insanity has hit a four-figure horsepower mark.
A 1,000-hp Corvette will be the high-water mark for power in our time. The waters will recede and we will enter the next great automaker shootout. Get ready for a time of added lightness. That’s right; the next great era of automotive production will be a race to drop curb weights will keeping vehicles safe and comfortable.
And that will eventually lead us into the time when EV offerings expand exponentially. As the added lightness allows for ever more powerful battery and motor combinations, while battery backs themselves become more efficient as well.
But until that day comes and the waves of the horsepower war slink back to sea, a banshee yell of a 1,000-hp Corvette will serve as a calendar stamp on history.
Ross Ballot
I’ve read that that TTV8 is twisting the new Vette’s frame, requiring a re-design and possibly causing delays in the debut of the top-spec trim.
The same thing happened to the first bicycle I bought with my own money. Asking for the third new frame on warranty, they sighed and offered me my money back instead. Valuable lesson in how to pick a product, in consumer rights, and now I can also say a Corvette prototype and teenage-Sjalabais have certain similarities…
As in twisting enough to crack the rear glass!
…and rattly door panels and switches lifted directly from a Silverado. I kid, I kid (kind of).
But if this really does come to fruition, I hope it will finally end the naysayers/doubters/car snob’s opinions of what GM’s throwing down. A true supercar, at (somewhat) affordable prices. USA! USA! USA!
I think at this point, GM could build a Ferrari 488 with one of their engines and crossed flag badges for a third of the price, and the car snobs would still find something to complain about. Depending on your feelings about the C4, the Corvette’s been a hugely competitive car for 20+ or 35 years
Isn’t half the point of buying a Corvette to just don’t care what the naysayers say? Not a car for me at all, but I have always had huge respect for people who just go for it, and they tend to have their own style anyway. At least European Corvette buyers.
It’s definitely a more mainstream choice here, although I don’t know if it’s made much connection with my generation and younger (outside of trackrats). At the same time, I think it used to be a minor bit of status symbol, and I think as sports car ownership has waned, so has that.
Interesting. I was not expecting GM to go quite that retro with the new Corvette design. Certainly not what I expected for a mid engined supercar.
Just what you need to cruise on the freeway at 64mph before going home for a thorough detailing.
Although, ludicrous as it probably is, it’ll be a stupendous performance bargain for the second owner.
“But until that day comes and the waves of the horsepower war slink back to sea, a banshee yell of a 1,000-hp Corvette will serve as a calendar stamp on history.”
No, it resembled an eventual Corvette, but Banshee yelled like a Pontiac.
https://bc.marfeel.com/statics/i/ps/autoweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/gen-932-524/public/60629016.jpg
It’s such a shame that was never made. It is a brilliant looking thing.
Would it be sacrilege to drop an Atlas I6 in a C3 and slap some Banshee badges on it?