Last week in this video posted by California-based
realtor George Kenner, six C8 Corvettes are spotted driving along a road in
Yuma, Arizona. Covered in camouflage as many spy shots and videos are, you can
still make out enough visuals to stoke the imagination a bit and envision how
exciting the fantastic and high-powered C8 will be when it arrives on the lot
here at O'rielly Chevy of
Tucson. Just after the 8:38 mark is where Mark Reuss can be spotted
with a hefty smile on his face, enjoying the raw ability and power of the C8,
and obviously enjoying killing it at his new responsibilities after being
appointed president of GM earlier this year.
At the tail end of the fleet is the current C7
Corvette model, which the videographer thought for a split-second was an Audi
R8, due to the clear mid-engined proportions that catch your eye first. Reports
gleaned previously from Motor and Wheels Australia have
gradually alluded to the final word regarding the next-generation Corvette,
which has already been officially shown to Chevy dealers nationwide. Different
leaked documents and computer-generated drawings lead many experts to believe
that 4 different V8 engine configurations are likely for the C8.
The 6.2-liter LT1 V8 will most likely be one
option, and a turbocharged 5.5-liter unit with a hybrid system will also likely
be in the works. The folks on duty at the Road and Track blog had a great feature last month chock full of details regarding the
arrival of the C8, and here you get to see a cool video of a fleet of five C8s
testing in the snow-covered mountains of California. At this point, we are
still under the impression that the car won't debut until early summer of this
year, and some are keeping their eyes on the New York Auto show in April.
When we mull over the many various reasons we have
to be thrilled about the coming of the C8, the time spent innovating and
designing the engine is one of the elements at the top of the list. Many hours
of studying and testing were put into the design of the cover that has been
made with aiding cooling in mind, which may be why the rear of the car was
always seen covered so frequently during testing. Another batch of photos
featuring the C8 testing on the famed Nürburgring track revealed two very
distinct cut lines on the roof, which makes us wonder if a removable roof panel
will be part of this very exciting and track-ready contender.
Another patent that was dug up while gleaning the
various newswires was one that GM filed for a clutch-by-wire system: it could potentially
replace the traditional hydraulic master-and-slave cylinder mechanism by means
of a high-tech electronic actuator situated in the transmission. A system like
this would ultimately result in a much simpler actuation of the clutch, which
would be of great benefit to a prototype featuring an engine located in the
middle of the frame. We are definitely excited about the potential of seeing a
run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans once this slice of heavily-horsepowered heaven
hits the market, and we will all soon see the vision materialize that spanned
half a century and many various drawing boards during the making!
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