at first i didnt like the switch to a mid engine design but i have to say its growing on me.
Racing is why they had to ... especially for hybrid.
Same with the DOHC -- Ferrari and Porsche will
not let Corvette keep running with
pushrod (OHV) without continued protests (long story -- balance-of-performance, BoP, related).
Cadillac is also involved, as they run both IMSA-FIA Daytona (DP) and ACO-FIA Le Mans Prototypes (LMP).
I.e., if the C8.R uses a 4-5L DOHC in FIA GT2, then it's likely Cadillac will take advantage of the C8 'Zora' series DOHC TT Hybrid for the 2020 FIA LMP "Hypercar" classification.
Cadillac is completely against Corvette getting their Blackwing ... for production ... and for center-of-gravity, cost and fuel economy reasons, Corvette will
always have a
base model with a
pushrod engine.
But for racing, pushrod is all but outlawed now, and the C7.R only gets an '
exception' by having the
least amount of
fuel and some of the biggest ballast to make the
Corvette more
'top heavy' (again, BoP) -- especially since its hood is
lower than the
911 (yes, the
front engine C7.R
is still lower).
So ... Corvette and Cadillac
'sharing' on racing isn't unheard of.
And even more so ... ACO-FIA are looking at slowly getting rid of FIA GT2, including ACO GTE (GT Endurance -- all 6-48 hour races -- using GT2), and letting the production cars perform like they do on the street.
I.e., right now FIA GT2 is
'lower spec' than street production, less power, smaller tires, limited brakes (this is where production Corvette is #1 -- shorter distance than lighter hypercars costing 10-30x as much).
This is why I'm into LMP and GTE more than F1. F1 is about technology for 1-2 hour 'sprints.' GTE is about 6-48 hour endurance -- far, far more innovative for real cars than F1 will ever be. Brembo put out a great article-video about how F1 and and LMP/GTE are completely different, and how the latter actually drives innovation for everyday cars, not the former (despite popular assumption).
