This is the C8 mid-engine Chevy Corvette

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Nevermore

I saw a truck load of what were obviously Corvettes (due to the shape) the other day, but my novice enthusiast eyes couldn't ascertain whether or not they were C8s under the white shipping plastic. All I could see was the checkered flag badge and a vaguely Corvette shape.

Most likely C7s. They haven't started full production yet, I don't believe.

[Nevermore]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Most likely C7s. They haven't started full production yet, I don't believe.

This was my guess. They didn't look long enough in the rear to be mid-engine.

[vh_supra26]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZGCJu2OaAg[/ame]

[Irace86.2.0]

This is a good summary video:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0cud9Nw4gA[/ame]

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by vh_supra26

vv

Jay is kind of a goober. He is a car enthusiast and knows a lot, but then at times he just seems clueless. I can't say I enjoy most of his reviews.

[ermax]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

Jay is kind of a goober. He is a car enthusiast and knows a lot, but then at times he just seems clueless. I can't say I enjoy most of his reviews.

yeah it bugs me when he asks a question and the car owner returns an elaborate and intelligent answer and then he cuts them off to ask another question that was already answered as part of the first answer.

I kind of get the idea he just has enough money to own a lot of cars and truly enjoys them but his knowledge is basically limited to trivia.

[unhappymeal]

Originally Posted by ermax

I read an article that makes it sound like a manual isn’t in the foreseeable future if ever. The Supra doesn’t stand a chance being so close in price to this thing. Seems a manual gearbox would at least give them one thing to market with.

No manual period. The take rate was only 15% and if you believe the Lead Engineer, they couldn't find a supplier who was willing to do it (at the price they wanted).

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/...dying-business

[unhappymeal]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Most likely C7s. They haven't started full production yet, I don't believe.

Get ready for the C7 fire sales. GM is sitting on a shit tonne of inventory and C8 allocations are only going to dealerships who are willing to help them with the C7 inventory. It's going to be a blood bath.

[gymratter]

https://www.carscoops.com/2019/07/20...vins-for-5000/

Want to buy a 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and put your own unique touch on the supercar? Well, the latest order guide for the car reveals that customers can purchase the C8 with a bespoke VIN.

Cars Direct reports that customers can request the last 5 digits of their car’s VIN to be customized. Chevrolet says not all VINs will be available for customization and that those which are will be subject to availability.

Personalizing the VIN of a C8 Corvette doesn’t come cheap. In fact, the option costs an eye-popping $5000 which equates to $1000 for each custom digit. That’s a lot of money, particularly when you consider that the car itself has a starting price of less than $60,000.

If we were in the market for a C8 Corvette, we’d probably prefer to spend that money customizing the vehicle’s exterior or interior. The official online configurator for the C8 hit the web late last week and while the tool doesn’t offer pricing details about the car, we’re sure that $5000 can go quite a long way to make one ‘Vette stand out from all others.

Chevrolet is offering the new Corvette Stingray in 12 different colors and with six wheel designs. Additionally, trim level packages dubbed 1LT, 2LT, and 3LT are offered alongside three different seat designs. The Corvette can also be equipped with a number of different graphics although we’re not particularly sold on the designs of any of them.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by unhappymeal

No manual period. The take rate was only 15% and if you believe the Lead Engineer, they couldn't find a supplier who was willing to do it (at the price they wanted).

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/...dying-business

But they had a supplier who was able to make a DCT? Kinda odd, but it could be a volume thing. The manual is gonna die real soon, but what about in other countries where more than half the population drives a manual? Oh well.

[unhappymeal]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

But they had a supplier who was able to make a DCT? Kinda odd, but it could be a volume thing. The manual is gonna die real soon, but what about in other countries where more than half the population drives a manual? Oh well.

It absolutely is a volume thing. It basically works like this. GM looks at the sales of the C7 program (~160,000). They look at the attributes of the C8, figure there'll be some conquest now that it's mid-engined and come up with a forecast. For the sake of simplicity, let's say 200,000 over the 6 or 7 year lifetime of the C8 program.

They then come up with the specs they need and decide if they can do it in-house or not. GM decides they cannot or do not want to do it in-house, so they go to vendors with a request for proposal (RFP) and say "We need x specs for an 8 speed DCT. We expect to sell 200,000 C8s, 170,000 of which will be automatic and 30,000 will be manual. Bosch, ZF, Tremec, Aisin and Jatco, show us your proposal to meet our requirements and your bid".

Borg Warner, ZF, Tremec, Aisin and Jatco all sit down and look at the RFP and decide if based on the requirements and GM's projected sales, can they make what GM wants profitably. They consider the cost of the development, tooling, projected sales, projected sales of replacement parts and other aspects and they all bid.
GM goes with the RFP they like best. In some instances, they skip the RFP process and just go with a preferred supplier unless the preferred supplier cannot do what they want or their proposal is too expensive.

In the case of the manual transmission, the vendors all looked at the RFP and either said "GM we can do it, but we will charge you <xyz>" and that was too high a price for GM's program budget to be profitable or the vendors straight up said "nope, the tooling alone is too expensive for a bespoke transmission that will only sell 30,000 over the program's lifetime and we cannot re-sell the design to someone else".

[Coaster]

Interesting and informative by EE.



[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_SH4c-oLUQ&t=605s[/ame]

[conehead]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

Jay is kind of a goober. He is a car enthusiast and knows a lot, but then at times he just seems clueless. I can't say I enjoy most of his reviews.

Jay cracks me up. He knows enough to know that all the little specs don't matter, and can't help but interrupt with his random old man rants. I love that he will take a priceless one-of-a-kind classic, and promptly mod it so it can be driven and enjoyed again. When he dies, the Leno Museum will be the best in the world.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by unhappymeal

It absolutely is a volume thing. It basically works like this. GM looks at the sales of the C7 program (~160,000). They look at the attributes of the C8, figure there'll be some conquest now that it's mid-engined and come up with a forecast. For the sake of simplicity, let's say 200,000 over the 6 or 7 year lifetime of the C8 program.

They then come up with the specs they need and decide if they can do it in-house or not. GM decides they cannot or do not want to do it in-house, so they go to vendors with a request for proposal (RFP) and say "We need x specs for an 8 speed DCT. We expect to sell 200,000 C8s, 170,000 of which will be automatic and 30,000 will be manual. Bosch, ZF, Tremec, Aisin and Jatco, show us your proposal to meet our requirements and your bid".

Borg Warner, ZF, Tremec, Aisin and Jatco all sit down and look at the RFP and decide if based on the requirements and GM's projected sales, can they make what GM wants profitably. They consider the cost of the development, tooling, projected sales, projected sales of replacement parts and other aspects and they all bid.
GM goes with the RFP they like best. In some instances, they skip the RFP process and just go with a preferred supplier unless the preferred supplier cannot do what they want or their proposal is too expensive.

In the case of the manual transmission, the vendors all looked at the RFP and either said "GM we can do it, but we will charge you <xyz>" and that was too high a price for GM's program budget to be profitable or the vendors straight up said "nope, the tooling alone is too expensive for a bespoke transmission that will only sell 30,000 over the program's lifetime and we cannot re-sell the design to someone else".

For years the automatic was the more expensive option. These days the manual transmission is still the cheaper option if it is offered, but we are seeing the trends change. Sometimes the manual transmission is offered at the same price of the automatic, and sometimes the manual transmission is only offered on the lowest spec, assuming that it was the penny pinchers who picked the manual transmission, so they also wouldn't want any fancy options.


Times have changed. The manual transmission might not be feasible for many vehicles like crossovers, SUVs, large sedans or even econoboxes, but there is still enough demand for a manual transmission in the sports car world where I could see them offering the manual as a premium option. Meaning, it is the enthusiasts who want the manual, so the enthusiasts will likely pay more to have three pedals if the manual option was offered with a surcharge. Maybe the costs are still prohibitive to make it possible.