GM's new Corvette is so powerful, it's warping the frame in tests

This just amazes me.  I am old enough to remember when Detroit was marketing a v8 putting out 185 HP as a performance engine.  How times have changed!!!  

Link to article.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gm-apos-corvette-powerful-apos-145649463.html

GM's new Corvette is so powerful, it's warping the frame in tests, report says

The redesigned 2020 Chevrolet Corvette's new engine is reportedly so powerful that it's compromising the vehicle's structural integrity in testing, causing General Motors to delay the car's reveal, according to an industry report.

Sports car fans have been anxiously awaiting the debut of the eighth generation of the Corvette, which got its last total overhaul with the 2014 Corvette Stingray.

But the 2019 Detroit auto show, which would have provided a major global stage for the vehicle's unveiling, came and went in January with no reveal.

What gives?

Well, it sounds like GM engineers are scrambling to get the vehicle ready for prime time, in part because they made it so powerful that the vehicle is bumping up against physical limitations.

Classic-car insurer Hagerty reports that a Corvette prototype with a twin-turbocharged, 8-cylinder engine is generating 900 to 1,000 horsepower and is causing a "structural distortion of the aluminum spaceframe" during tests.

"The twist in back was enough to fracture the glass hatch covering the engine," Hagerty reports. "Be glad this flaw was discovered in advance of your top speed runs in Chevy’s designated Ferrari-beater."

At those speeds, the new "C8" sports car would be faster than the 2019 ZR1 performance model, which GM has bragged is the fastest-ever 'Vette at a top speed of 210 miles per hour.

Other bugs, including electrical issues, are also still being worked out, according to Hagerty.

GM representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

The Corvette is widely expected to debut as a 2020 model. 

The current version ranges in price from $55,495 to $128,900.

Hagerty estimated that the redesigned model will start in the range of $60,000 to $70,000 and get a 6.2-liter, 8-cylinder engine with at least 500 horsepower, which would be about 50 more than the current base version.

 

Said another way: "New Corvette's Chassis Engineers Didn't Talk to Powertrain Engineers" 

I read about that. Honestly I'm torn between hoping the general doesn't rush an underdeveloped flagship car to market, or putting out a fragile thoroughbred to be a more realistic competitor to the prancing pony. Time wil tell.

thatsnowinnebago said:

Said another way: "New Corvette's Chassis Engineers Didn't Talk to Powertrain Engineers" 

First thing I thought too. You're designing it from the ground up with one of the best engineering groups in the world...and you have to delay launch because the engineered space frame isn't strong enough?

GM nails powertrain.  Always has.  Sometimes they have difficulty building a decent car or truck but  by god it’ll run.

Steel.  Steel is always the answer, unless you are building pistons.

Now get off my lawn.

ultraclyde said:

thatsnowinnebago said:

Said another way: "New Corvette's Chassis Engineers Didn't Talk to Powertrain Engineers" 

First thing I thought too. You're designing it from the ground up with one of the best engineering groups in the world...and you have to delay launch because the engineered space frame isn't strong enough?

At least they found grip.

Streetwiseguy said:

Steel.  Steel is always the answer, unless you are building pistons.

Now get off my lawn.

The first Vega prototype was made of steel, and its front suspension collapsed within a few hundred yards on its initial run.

At least, according to some guy named John Desomethingorother in a book he wrote about about what it was like at GM.

Knurled. said:

Streetwiseguy said:

Steel.  Steel is always the answer, unless you are building pistons.

Now get off my lawn.

The first Vega prototype was made of steel, and its front suspension collapsed within a few hundred yards on its initial run.

 

At least, according to some guy named John Desomethingorother in a book he wrote about about what it was like at GM.

I read an autobiography of some Henry Smokey something or another.  He didn’t have a very high opinion of most of (well none of in fact) GM brass.

Pretty amazing that you can have that kind of power with reasonable fuel mileage and a warranty.

Hard to beat the bang-for-the-buck you get out of a new Corvette.

Heck, even Ferrari’s come with a 3 year warranty now don’t they? 

Well, you know our 3rd Gen f-bodies do this too, but with 20-25% as much power.

Koenigsegg doesn't have these issues. 

It’ll have 1100 hp, run the quarter in 8 flat, generate 2g lateral grip, get near 30 mpg, cost only $60k and people will complain that it has the same steering wheel as a Colorado.  And oh, I can’t drive one because gold chains.

yupididit said:

Koenigsegg doesn't have these issues. 

Well at $2 million a pop I'd certainly hope not!

Ehhhh, I find this hard to believe in the modern engineering age.

The FEA that is done with computers that cost more than the average GRM fleet + their home.

I'll wait for more info.

Sounds like an awfully positive leak" "It has Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo   much power.  Eh? 

Some development engineer is bolting on a minor bracket to compensate for something they found at the upper .1% of the  performance design envelope and smiling at the major insider leak that revealed "Too much power". 

We are talking about it. Whats that worth to GM?

Pete

z31maniac said:

I'll wait for more info.

This, plus the car is still in development - stuff happens during design and testing, and then it gets fixed.  The car is still a ways from being released to the public.

A 401 CJ said:

GM nails powertrain.  Always has.  Sometimes they have difficulty building a decent car or truck but  by god it’ll run.

Remember: a Chevy will run like crap longer than most cars run at all.

This is also why you never fly the A model of anything.

GCrites80s said:

Well, you know our 3rd Gen f-bodies do this too, but with 20-25% as much power.

Clearly GM peaked in the 80s and has such lost a whole lot of efficiency.

A 401 CJ said:

It’ll have 1100 hp, run the quarter in 8 flat, generate 2g lateral grip, get near 30 mpg, cost only $60k and people will complain that it has the same steering wheel as a Colorado.  And oh, I can’t drive one because gold chains.

And it can't tow 16,000lb.  And the horn doesn't play "La Cucaracha".

GCrites80s said:

Well, you know our 3rd Gen f-bodies do this too, but with 20-25% as much power.

E36s did too, with 20% the power!

So what GM is saying is...it has so much torque, the chassis twisted off the line? 

NOHOME said:

Sounds like an awfully positive leak" "It has Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo   much power.  Eh? 

 

Some development engineer is bolting on a minor bracket to compensate for something they found at the upper .1% of the  performance design envelope and smiling at the major insider leak that revealed "Too much power". 

 

We are talking about it. Whats that worth to GM?

 

Pete

They could not have engineered a better leak. 

In reply to Toyman01 :

I didn’t talk about nor did I care about the newest Corvette. Now I do both. And so do the people I sent the article to.

Genius ploy. I approve of what GM has done with our money!