GM's V8 Production Down by Half - Should Next Gen Corvette Adopt a V6 to Keep Up with the Times?

[QZRBLU]

I agree.

PS: Beginning 2012, BMW has moved away from the I6 for its 3-series opting instead for a lighter, more efficient but just as potent I4. The Germans aren't dumb.

maniac,
I predict their sales will drop a bunch with that 2L 4 cylinder. We recently bought a BMW Z4 35i twin turbo I-6 6-speed and we would NOT even consider the 28i 4Cyl model. It's has 100 fewer HP and a miserable noise when it's stressed. Another drawback, it ONLY comes with the automatic transmission, no 6-speed option.
Government Motors has to keep the V8 in the Corvette. It can be downsized if needed to meet some arbitrary epa(idiot) number but twin/triple turbos or a properly sized supercharger would be mandatory.

Mick

 

[Mabolzich]

No

I hate turbos!! I had a Buick Regal with a turbo. I was fast for the time, but every time I turned around I was replacing a turbo. I changed the oil all the time and they still seized up after a while. Real pain in the butt and they're heavy too. Give me a normally aspirated LS engine every time. It's amazing how well the tech's at Obama Motors got it to run. I drive like a real a** and I still get 23.5 MPG and when I'm cruising on the E-Way I get 29-30 MPG with the cruse set at 80. That's great for a car with 160,000 miles on it. If you want a fast 6 get some Jap or German ride. Leave the Vettes form the men.

 

[ROCKETBLOCK]

As usual, there are a lot of good thoughtful comments coming from different angles. A more efficient V8 is my choice. Leave the Gee Whizzy Bang Techie Tiny motors and hybrids for the other cars, like minvans and grocery getters. The Corvette is a PERFORMANCE CAR. It was never "mass" produced for the masses in huge numbers.

Until the electric car makes sense in the performance arena let's keep the V8.

 

[73shark]

Anything but a V8 will spell the beginning of the end for Corvette.

 

[WhalePirot]

WTH? politics?

With 7 Corvettes in my past 40+ years, I have no issues with Chevrolet engineers; bean counters who cheapen the product, yes. Germans? HA! I own 3 BMWs, and had a few others. The are no smarter than we are, nor are the Japanese, nor the Indians or Chinese. Our creativity, rooted in imagination, has long set many standards, across many industries.

GM needs to know who they are and what worked, especially regarding the Corvette. Check Coke and Sears for two examples of forgetting what made them households words, oft worldwide. That means listening to their customers, not some MBA wanna-be-all, bent on change for change sake and allowing their talented people the freedom and latitude to excel.

The Corvette is a trend setter and a technology developing platform, not a follower. The '84 wowed the world despite needing refinement. Our favorite marque is still that because it delivers world-class performance at a far lower cost than any other car.

I am neither yeah or nay on the V-6 question, but take a longer and wider view. I loved the 454 LS-6 in my custom '71 but it plowed unlike the 350s. I think Corvette has hit a tough-to-follow note with the Z06, balancing power, reliability, economy. technology, cost and handling that no other brand can match, bias aside, but I have confidence in the Corvette team's ability to keep it exciting, with whatever powerplant. Also, the 409 SBC in my custom C4 is damn nasty, pulling like NUTZ across the entire RPM range; the 383 SBC in my '55 F100 will pull hard while delivering good economy.

It is not horsepower that we love. It is TORQUE that slams up back in the seat.

Chevy needs to stay focused and not spread the brand too thin, either, certainly not divesting the Vette, ala Viper.

 

[QZRBLU]

I hate turbos!! I had a Buick Regal with a turbo. I was fast for the time, but every time I turned around I was replacing a turbo..

Mab,
The new turbos are a LOT different than those old Buick models. They are now water cooled and our oils have come a long way. Conventional oils still turn to coke if you subject them to the heat of a turbo bearing. BMW even runs the water pump for a few minutes if you shut the engine off with a higher than normal oil temp.
300HP at 5800RPM, 300Ft Lbs at 1350RPM make for a pretty peppy little car.

I STILL want a big V8 my Corvette.


Mick

 

[6880 Mike]

Half a million less V8s spread over five years? That's only 100K per year less for GM - a drop in the bucket. The poll serves no purpose other than to incite opinions.

Here's what we all need to understand: if GM wants to put a V6 in the Corvette, they'll do it and they won't ask our permission. V6 or V8, they'll sell every one they make.

 

[Corvettedude]

I don't care if the only V8s GM makes all go in Vettes...I don't want to see anything less than V8 power in the Vette. The Vette is doing just fime with gas mileage in it's segment! If I want an econobox, there are plenty to choose from. The Vette is an Icon...stop trying to make it 'politcally correct'!!! However...the way GM has been screwin' up over the last several years...they'll end up screwin' this up too!:nono

 

[garllo]

Why not. It's about time technology played a bigger role in the Corvette's engine. Twin turbos, DFI, etc. There is a lot of potential there to leave it unused. I'm not so hung up on the number of cylinders as I am on the overall performance. Ferrari does some great things with smaller displacement V8's, BWM and Acura do some great things with 6's. Cylinder count doesn't matter so much anymore.

I'm not a purist that insists that things stay the same but I will say that I have driven my son's Ferrari and while it's a great car , it doesn't have the " push your eyeballs into the back of your skull" torque that my Corvette has and yes, that goes hand in hand with a lower displacement.Is that important to me? No, I like the cars road handling characteristics rather than how quickly it can get up and go but it is fun! While I'm more in interested with performance than the number of cylinders there is a trade off.

 

[lostnfoundc4]

A V6 will kill the brand for sure. Call me an existentialist but they could rename it a VOLTAIRE

 

['67 Chevy]

Not no, HELL NO.

REAL CAR GUYS will never embrace a V6 powered Corvette. Some of the yuppie/lawyer/accountant types may buy one but there aren't enough of them who would be potential buyers to make up for what they'd lose otherwise. I wouldn't buy a 6 cyl Corvette if it had 750 horsepower. Overall it would be a brand killer. I hope we NEVER see it, even as a base engine with V8 options also available.

Agreed.

If necessary, make the V8 better, but don't play "follow the europeans" just for the sake of following the europeans, they are operating under different constraints (fuel costs and progressive tax rates on engine size, for starters).

Imagine the resale value on a used 6 cylinder Corvette, which will become known as the "girl's" car, like the 6 cylinder Camaros of the 1990s. If they put a 6-cylinder engine in a Corvette, that's a deal-breaker.

The Batmobile/Transformers rear end is a deal-breaker too. The classic simple lines ALWAYS beat complicated and contrived lines, and will stand the test of time much better.

As usual, they should stop trying to fix what ain't broke, a problem so pervasive in society that year-long courses should be taught in high school and college on this subject, teaching people how NOT to screw up a great thing.

 

[mikeyh514]

yes and no

I don't like the idea of a 6 cylinder corvette.Corvette is ment to b a v8 and if they do put a 6 cylinder in the new vetted, make them a special edition with a different body styles. Maybe like an option.

 

[89IRZ28]

Vetts started off with a 6 remember?

Seems that they didn't take off until the small block chevy came along . I don't give a rats arss about what German or Japanese auto makers do or should we just put a Toyoda emblem on the nose and call it good! In case you all forgot the CORVETTE is a Muscle Car!

 

[garllo]

I'm sure that they could go with a smaller displacement V8 and get the horsepower up there. I don't see the need for a V6 just as I don't see the need to change from an pushrod to overhead cam outside of the ability to use VVT. Nothing wrong with an engine that has a lower center of gravity ,high horsepower and torque and will run 300K

 

[Inline6]

While many here are hardcore Corvette fanatics, many Corvette buyers do not know this site exists. They just want a car that looks good; they never go over the speed limit, never autocross and never run at the drags. A V6 with reasonable performance would be perfect for them. Look at all of the Camaros with V6's and the RS package, stripes big wheels etc. There is a market for looks over function. If it takes a V6 version to keep the CAFE where it needs to be so Chev can continue to build ZRs and Z0s, it is all good.

The last MotorTrend quoted a survey Chevrolet did with high school and college students. The majority did not know a Corvette was a Chevrolet. If the Corvette is going to survive, a lower cost V6 version may be attractive to the next generation and help the brand survive. How many of us went from a lesser Chevrolet to a Vette? If you cannot correlate a Corvette to a Chevrolet, the migration path may disappear and the brand go the way of the XLR or even the "Mercury" Pantera.

 

[shotzie988]

V6 Corvette WHAT A JOKE if you have the 60 to 125k to buy it why worry about gas prices

You buy a corvette for status and POWER if you can pay the 60 to 130k to buy one then the money for GAS for it should not even be in your mind if you want a V6 go buy a VAN or HONDA you dont need to even own one or deserve it ( if you aint got no money take your broke ass home and stay leave the V8 and V12 alone the rich can keep buying them and the want to be's will have to stop ad

 

[oldtimer]

Wow that sounds great. And while we are at it lets make it a 4 seater. Twice as many travelers for the same cost. Just because Porsha can use that same old engine for ??? years doesn't mean we have to. And while we are at it lets get rid of it in the Camaro and Caddy.:L

 

[B747VET]

Consider that there are currently three primary reasons why the Corvette is looked down on by the global world of automotive performance sophisticates. First, it has a "plastic" body. Second, it has a "plastic" interior with poor ergonomics. Third, it has seats unfit for a Volkswagen.

It should be noted that while the ZO6 beat virtually every high performance sports car in the world around Laguna Seca by about 2.5 seconds in last years R&T drivers car showdown, it was ostensibly eliminated from the finals because of the cheap and unsafe seats. Rumors are that Chevrolet will address the seat issue and the impact it has had on high G cornering safety with the C7, if only as an option. If so, that criticism may substantially go away.

It should also be noted that while the mid 1990's Corvettes like the C4 ZR-1 had a perfectly acceptable high quality performance driver's seat, Chevrolet thereafter intentionally chose to regress to a cheaper non-performance oriented sports car seat while catering to the largest percentage of potential Corvette owners who had no desire to whip the car through an autocross course, let alone a twisty mountain road. The surveys said that comfort and ease of ingress/egress were the primary criteria of seat design desired by the masses. Chevrolet could have at least had a performance seat option, especially on the ZO6 and the ZR1, but they chose not to do so. Inexcusable.

An improved leather interior with better ergonomics may also be an option on the C7 line. If so, that criticism may at least measurably lessen.

The "plastic" body? We will likely never see a high end aluminum body on a Corvette. However, the increased utilization of aluminum framing with magnesium components as well as body panels of carbon fiber and soon perhaps composites will help to offset those criticisms somewhat, and may, someday, ultimately lead to ground breaking technology that will make aluminum bodies passe.

However, if Chevrolet in the foreseeable future tosses a V-6 into a true Corvette, even if it is turbo charged, that will be a stigma in the world of sophisticated sports cars that may will undo much of what has been wrought by the dramatic performance evolutions led by the ZO6 and the ZR1.

Could there be a successful Corvette vehicle with cheap seats, a cheap interior, and a V6? Perhaps, but it had better have a different body design and name. Perhaps a smaller more compact design and distinct marketing concept and name similar to the Porsche Caymans. That might be a smart move. But there is a big difference between the technologies of horizontally opposed sixes and highly modified V6's.

But, if they put a V6 in the real full size Corvette, that move coupled with the other stigmas mentioned above, could ultimately be the death knell of a wonderful American automotive performance icon. Heritage is everything. You'll never see a V6 in a high end Ferrari, Lambo, or Aston Martin. A Corvette V6, using current or foreseeable technology, would constitute a retreat, a concession to "properness", a treatise on executive naivete.

High performance V-8's, V-10's and V12's are each unique and wonderful in their own way. Their is no way that any V-6 with twin superchargers or turbos can impart the same feelings of bold power and unending torque.

An iconic vehicle like the Corvette cannot stand still nor regress. The Corvette must continue to advance or risk returning to insignificance in the global high performance automotive realm.

 

[Tuna]

This whole discussion reminds me of the "I hate the BIG BUTT C5" stuff when the Corvette community got the first look at it but the numbers shows that the C5 sold like hot cakes and got a lot more people in the Vette hobby.

Then along came the "exposed headlights" of the C6 and the "if must have hidden headlights to be a Vette" crowd jumped all over that.

Well, a V6 Vette isn't on the horizon yet and we've got the same arguments - "if it ain't a V8, it ain't a Vette" stuff.

Nice to see so many people interested in this but it just doesn't matter in the long run.

 

[Pitbull]

Love the 6.2 liter V8, need to keep it.