Slideshow: Do New AWD C8 Rumors Signal a Potential Split Line of Corvettes?

GM GT?

Until last week, if the rumors and spy photos were to be believed, GM was busy building their own version of the Ford GT, getting ready to slap a Corvette badge on it and on send it out into the world. Recent reports from Car and Driver and GM Authority seem to indicate that it's not a GM Ford GT, or a GM Ferrari, that's being readied—it's essentially GM's take on an Audi/Lamborghini. The information that the new Corvette will feature a hybrid AWD Hybrid system—a system that adds complexity, cost, and weight—means the 'Vette will tick almost every car-as-personal-luxury-appliance box. But will it still a be Corvette? Ford GTs are nice, but they aren't Mustangs. Is Corvette just some flags and (for now) a V8? And is GM willing to risk a loyal Corvette public answering, "No, it's more than that." Or is GM crazy like an '80s New Coke fox? Let's take a look at the most-recently reported changes in store for the C8, ponder the question of What Is a Corvette, and predict the possibility of GM letting us have our cake and eat it too. 

Engine 1

The newest reports on the C8, the mid-engined C8, have it being offered with several engine options. First up is a revised version of the 6.2-liter LT1 small-block V8. Naturally-aspirated, the new 'Vette's version of the LT1 is expected to pump out 500 hp. The LT1 option's existence has been reported for some time, but from here on out plans gets more and more interesting. 

>>Join the conversation about if GM will decide to split the Vette line up right here on LS1Tech.

Engines 2 & 3

Next, come some surprises. Moving up the power chain we find a naturally-aspirated 5.5-liter DOHC V8 engine. The new DOHC V8 will reportedly feature a flat-plane crankshaft and churn out a cool 600 hp. Then—and by no surprise given the size, heat, and recent lawsuits generated by making the extra hundred-odd hp jump from the LT4 to the ZR1 via souped-up supercharging—comes turbocharging. A twin-turbo version of the 5.5-liter DOHC V8 will follow the non-turbo into production, putting out in the neighborhood of 800hp.

>>Join the conversation about if GM will decide to split the Vette line up right here on LS1Tech.

Engines 4

As if 800 hp isn't enough, though it looks like it is—at least for two wheels, the C8 will get an electric motor to power the front wheels. The AWD 'Vette will feature the aforementioned twin-turbo DOHC V8 engine amidships, transmitting power to the rear wheels, and add a 200 hp electric front-mounted to the mix, sending power to the fronts. One thousand hp running through four wheels will no doubt shave tenths off of the C8's 0-60mph times—keeping pace with the best in the world and looking good next to them in print. The electric-plus-V8 option isn't expected to arrive until a few years into the new model's production.

>>Join the conversation about if GM will decide to split the Vette line up right here on LS1Tech.

But Wait, There's... More.

Of course, generating world-beating acceleration numbers requires the use of a dual-clutch transmission, and, if Car and Driver is correct, a Tremec eight-speed dual-clutch will be the sole shifting option, with the manual gearbox getting the boot. With nearly everything changing on the upcoming Corvette, GM is making efforts to maintain a couple of other features—they're trying to keep the price point down, and pledging to keep the body panels made from fiberglass, though the C8's structure will utilize aluminum, carbon fiber, and magnesium elements. The resulting car is said to have a target weight in the ballpark of 3,500 lbs. 
 

>>Join the conversation about if GM will decide to split the Vette line up right here on LS1Tech.

One 'Vette, or Two?

Does GM have a drawer full of market research somewhere that says what Corvette owners really want is a Lamborghini Huracan but instead settle for a Corvette on based on price? Can a Corvette be boiled down to a V8 wrapped in fiberglass? Is an AWD, mid-engine Corvette with no shift lever and none of the curves that have been a defining characteristic for the last 50 years still a Corvette. Maybe it is, maybe you can't stop progress, maybe you have to emulate the exotics if you want to stay in the game. But maybe you don't. Porsche tried to do away with the 911, replacing it with the faster, more technologically-advanced and better-balanced 928. we all know how that turned out. We have an alternate theory: GM will split the Corvette into two lines. The New Coke Corvette with it's mid-engine, AWD, and strange styling, and the Coke Classic Corvette, a car that sticks closer to the one we all know and love. If that's not GM's plan, and they kill off the curvy, front-engined Corvette, they're risking adding an expensive footnote to automotive history. 

>>Join the conversation about if GM will decide to split the Vette line up right here on LS1Tech.

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