looks sexy as hell. i gotta admit im surprised they went mid engine. i didnt think they would actually do that
They had to. I was talking to Tadge himself earlier this decade, and more than once.
Hybrid - It was the only way to go hybrid, and while GM was looking towards electric in general, both the ACO and FIA has been pushing for GT -- not just prototype -- to go hybrid for a long time. Porsche is already there with a 911 hybrid, and Ferrari has been talking about a lower-cost 400 series hybrid. GM registered the trademark
e-Ray(R), which is the rumored '
Zora' edition, and expect the C8 to loose the storage in the front for batteries. This will also play an interesting role in the 40/60 balance, possibly heading back more to 50/50, but then again, the hybrid makes it 4-wheel.
Speaking of which, the other ACO and FIA
'push' ... DOHC.
DOHC - The C8 has a ridiculous amount of
'headroom' left in that back engine compartment with the 6.2L pushrod, which suggests the engine could be even 50% taller. Ferrari and Porsche have been bitching to both the ACO and FIA for years that Corvette has an unfair advantage with pushrod (OHV) in racing. Even though Corvette has shrunk the pushrod to 5.5L (GT) and 5.0L (Prototype), it's still much smaller (overall volume), flatter (lower center-of-gravity) and more fuel efficient with better low RPM torque.
E.g., even a 6.2L OHV is smaller than a 4.0L DOHC, let alone more torque in naturally aspirated, especially at 6K rpms, in addition to the fuel savings. And sacking Corvette with reduced fuel (it has the least in FIA GT2) and more ballast is no enough.
So don't be surprised when the '20 Corvette GT2 is running with a 4.0L DOHC naturally aspirated, which will still be a reduced displacement without turbos. The
'Zora' e-Ray(R) has been rumored to be 5.5L DOHC twin-turbo with the hybrid, capable of 'boost' of 1,000hp, and that's GM being conservative, of which we now see there is plenty of room for. Which brings us to the next reality ...
With ACO-FIA offering the new
'hypercar' LeMans Prototype (LMP) class in 2020+, it wouldn't be a shocker to see Cadillac take the
'Zora' e-Ray(R) powertrain, possibly even with the C8 chassis (or a modification of it), and mount a prototype shell over it. The new 2020+ prototype class comes from the complaints of Audi now, not just Peugeot and others, as Nissan had basically been
'writing the rules' in prototype (much like Ford in GT, although Ford is now leaving -- long story, they never made the production like the GT car). So if Ferrari and Porsche re-enter prototype, GM might as well, which would please Audi and probably Peugeot as well.
As always, we'll see ...
BTW, what shocks me most is that they have the train-integrated DCT with drysump all in the base model for under $60K. That really makes is 'cheaper' than a C7 with its slushbox, let alone the Z51 package to get the drysump.