Rumor Mill: V6 Corvette is Coming

[Scott Winebarger]

For two reasons:

1) I saw a small engine in The Unser Museum (http://www.unserracingmuseum.com/) smaller than my daughter's 22RE Toyota engine making 740 HP.

2) If the option were to be a V10, would the majority also object?

GerryLP:cool

Yes! Leave it alone! This isn't a ricer and its not a Viper.

 

[JoeMackin]

OK

Yes, I think there is a market for this vehicle. Yes, I think it will be a profitable program. Yes, I think it will attract allot of ricers. More than anything it will be a deeply customizable car. I think Chevy has come up with a vehicle that could easily kill the Scion market. If the cost is a Corvette name, then that’s the cost. I even think putting the bowtie on it is a good idea. My greatest suggestion though would be to keep the bowtie off the Corvette as a distinguishing feature.

 

[AIRBUS]

With a 240hp V6, 6-speed, RWD this little "Chevy Solstice" would make an interesting car. Put a turbo on it and boost it up to 300hp and it would be VERY fun to drive.

But IT'S NOT A CORVETTE! It should not be referenced in the same category. They are two completely different platforms. So keep the naming separate.

MHO

AyyyyyyyMAN, Bruhvuh !!

 

[WhiteKnight]

A move like this does not make sense for GM.. maybe for Chevy. They already sell the platform as a Pontiac and a Saturn. They need to stop competing with themselves. They were late to the party with the retro econo utility (HHR) and killed the Camaro for the SSR. Now they drag thier feet getting a retroish Camaro to compete with the retro Mustang.

They only thing the were on the ball with was launching the re-styled trucks before the new Toyota's due next year.

 

[silver98]

Rob, don't you mean L6 back in '53?

I'm not sure that adding an entry level sports car to the Chevy line is a good idea especially if they call it any name that has Corvette tie-in. If GM wants Chevy to have an mid range sports car, at least they out to pick a totally new name for it that can not be mistaken for anything Corvette.

I thought that was what the new Camaro was for!!

 

[AIRBUS]

Couple of things occur to me:

1) Desparate times call for desparate measures. If GM goes down the "tcherlit", so goes the Vette.

2) With a pseudo Sting Ray out there, how much would the value of the real McCoy be enhanced? Would it help or hinder?

 

[warren s]

NO –

GM should spend the money and do the R&D work on improving the quality of the current line up, when the roofs of C6s come apart and need to be recalled, GM could really put the effort in some place else instead of watering down the Corvette line up. (one of their few perennial successfully selling cars.)

 

[KANE]

The Corvette has been a front engined, rear wheel drive, two seat, V8 powered car since 1955. It is a formula that has worked for 50+ years. I just see no reason to mess with success.

I agree- to a point.

The Vette has always been at the forefront of innovation. If they can build a fire-breathing V6... and it keeps the car in production... then by all means- LONG LIVE THE VETTE!

Besides, even the 3800 series churns out more power than the L48s of the seventies!

 

[ROCKYQ]

ARE YOU SURE THEY MENT CORVETTE NOT CORVAIRE?

THIS IS REDICULOUS, YOU DO NOT MESS WITH A LEGION, I WOULD BE INBARRASSED TO DRIVE IT, THAT WOULD BE LIKE BUYING AN 8-PACK OF BEER AND ONLY GETTING 6. HOPEFULLY IT'S NOT TRUE. "SAVE THE LEGION" AND "SAVE THE WAVE"

C/O ROCKYQ
CHECKERED FLAG CORVETTE CLUB
ANNAPOLIS MD.

 

[Brett]

I don't think the article is saying it will be a Corvette at all. Just a lower entry sports car. A completely different automobile.

 

[Scott Winebarger]

In February 2006, Motor Trend published a short article about the Corvette Sting Ray coming back as a V6 powered version of the Kappa platform.

 

[GerryLP]

For years I grew confused about the Stingray and Sting Ray badges. For a while (in my youth) I thought that Stingray or Sting Ray was some special package or option. That is really what it implied. Not just a Corvette, but a Stingray or Sting Ray special model or option. Not unlike we now regard the Z06's.

However, that could not be further from the truth. They were just Corvettes slapped with an additional badge thanks to the GM's marketing department. No special features were available under the Stingray or Sting Ray badge. The special package was just a series of RPO's that equipped a particular Vette in a particular year that were open to any buyer.

So after all, a Corvette is a Corvette. In the evolutionary road of old muscle cars that were redesigned (i.e. The Nova [in the sub-compact direction] or the Chevelle/Monte Carlo [in the opposite direction]), the marketing strategies abounded.

So fear not, nor fret!:nono The Stingray or Sting Ray badge has been missing for over 15 years, and just as its disappearance took nothing away from the subsequent Corvette generations, its re-packaged emergence will not obscure nor sunset the Corvette name.

GerryLP:cool

 

[black_81_vette]

Actually I think the corvair name would be a good ideal ! Corvairs are good little cars that handle well and were economical and the proposed car would slot in well in that market.Truthfully it could compete with the miata and others in that group.And im like the rest of you sting ray belongs on the new super vette!

 

[stu]

The only way I could see a 6-cyl Vette is if they could get it to out perform Z06. Of course if they managed to do that it would have to cost more and would defeat the purpose of coming out with an affordable, fun car for the masses that could bring up sales.

Something I noticed about marketing and name recognition, I can say I drive a Vette and it means something. It doesn't matter that she's not a C6 or a classic. Looking at it, Mustang owners have the same thing, no one cares which one it is, only that she is.

With a Camero everyone always has to say Z28, IROC, or SS. A Trans-Am is a Trans-Am, not a Firebird. With the rice rockets, it would be Civic, and then you get to hear about the list of parts that make it more than just a Civic.

Using the Sting Ray name would be a mistake. The car would always be in the shadow of the cars of the past, and they would never get the effect they want. If they did it and someone says they have a Sting Ray, people would ask what year and when the response is something from the 2000's the moment would be lost.

If they really want to do something with the kappa I'd say call it a Monza.

 

[354RwHpLT4CE]

Call it what it is....a Chevette.

 

[vett boy]

Cheapens the market.Another bad thought from GM.

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

After GM re-badged all of the Daewoos in <st1lace>Europe</st1lace> with the Bowtie and told the owners that they now own a Chevrolet I gave up all ability to be surprised, amazed or disgusted by the General. What marketing genius – stick a crap product under a logo with a crap reputation and tell customers that were too cheap to buy a real car that they now own a Chevrolet.
<o> </o>
If the GM bean counters think that they can make a short term buck by whoring a Corvette logo then that logo will be on the street corner in the blink of an eye. They couldn’t care less what we think about it.
<o> </o>
I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Matiz Grand Sport.:eyerole

Who steals my purse steals trash;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
Othello, 3. 3

<o></o>

 

[Rob]

I'm going to write a larger commentary on this in the Wheelspin column (which I seriously need to blow the dust off of...) a little later, but I'll just say this for now:

I'm kind of split down the middle on this issue. On the one hand, my first reaction is to say, "no way!" The Corvette should remain V8 powered only or possibly look at more powerful engine combinations like V10 and V12 engines (like Ferrari).

On the other hand, Porsche has been extremely successful with a V6, and they've done a hell of a job extracting a lot of power out of a small engine.

More on this as well as brand marketing and awareness as it relates to the bow-tie emblem, later.

 

[1KULC7]

They already produce the SKY and Solstrice (sp), why bother? I would rather see them sell a Corvette with less options (no power windows, door locks, power mirrors etc.) keeping the V8 then downgrade to the six.

It would be just like Chevy to get rid of the V8 eventually, and just put in the V6's.... this could be the way the phase out the V8....

Why don't they built that concept car the "SS" they showed several years ago and put the V6 in that???? Or better yet, why don't they build a V6 Monte Carlo Convertible with the V6, but why the Corvette? Makes no sense...

 

[Tuna]

How about a 2.4 liter Cosworth F1 V8 in the new car?

The F1 race this weekend will be the swan song for the Cosworth engine in F1 as no one bought them for next year.

Might be fun - a Saturn Sky with a Cosworth 2.4 V8 and 7-speed paddle shift trans and a Chevy gold bow-tie on the front. Hummmmm.