Corvette C8.R vs C7.R sound comparison
Sports car racing fans have come to know the sound of Corvette Racing’s menacing V8 engines as one of IMSA’s most unmistakable soundtracks. The punch to the chest delivered by the Corvette C7.R through the 2019 season, and all of its predecessors dating back to the program’s debut in 1999, was as unique as it was thrilling.
It makes the brand’s greatest shift with its mid-engine C8.R (pictured above) — which debuts in competition this week at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, featuring a fresh V8 motor with an entirely different voice — a new experience for Corvette fans. Thanks to the move to a flat-plane crankshaft in the 5.5-liter naturally-aspirated powerplants, the C8.Rs strike the ears with a higher pitch that, in typical Corvette Racing fashion, is unlike anything else in the field.
Which exhaust note sounds better? Take a listen to the C8.R from testing at the Roar Before The 24, and from a C7.R during December Daytona testing in 2016, and you decide.
Original Source: Marshall Pruett for Racer.com
Garcia, Gavin uncertain of Corvette C8.R’s Daytona prospects
Corvette Racing’s veteran stars, Oliver Gavin and Antonio Garcia, are positive about the new mid-engined C8.R’s progress but are uncertain how it will perform relative to its GT Le Mans class opposition at this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Gavin’s full-time partner Tommy Milner set Corvette Racing’s fastest time in Roar Before the 24 qualifying which decides garages and pit stalls, and he was encouragingly just 0.108sec off the top time in class, set by James Calado in the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE.
However, Gavin warned that the race will be several hours old before everyone gets an accurate picture of how the GTLM contenders match up.
“The C8.R is a brand new car and this is its first race outing,” said the 2016 Rolex 24 winner. “We won’t know where we are in respect to the competition, and they will be looking at us and figuring out where we’re strong and where we’re weak.
“You can pick up little bits and pieces during the Roar and even in the two or three practice sessions before the Rolex 24, but you never really get a great idea of where you’re at until you get five hours or so into the race.
“But it always comes down to the last two hours. It would be quite remarkable if we could come right out of the box and be super-fast, super-reliable and have a successful weekend the first time out.”
Two-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans title winner and 2015 Rolex 24 winner Garcia also sounded a note of caution.
“So far, the new Corvette has been quite decent in testing,” said the Spaniard who is entering his seventh season with the legendary team. “It is still very early stages for this car.
“Even though we think we are ready, there are things that can come up. We must do everything we can to make sure we are as prepared as possible. Then we can see what we really have.
“Our testing has been a consistent evolution between track days and simulator work. We’ve been able to develop a plan to develop the car even though we weren’t testing on the track. The correlation of data has been good. Everything that we have tested virtually is working in real life. That makes life a lot easier when you can use all your tools to improve.
“We continue to validate all the work we’ve done and what we find on the racetrack. We are on the right track.”
While Gavin and Milner continue to be partnered by Marcel Fassler for the endurance races, Garcia not only is working with a new enduro extra – Nicky Catsburg – he also has a new full-time partner.
Jordan Taylor, who in 2017 won the IMSA Prototype title with the team owned by his father Wayne Taylor, and has two Rolex 24 wins to his credit, has moved to the GTLM class with Corvette, replacing Jan Magnussen.
This continues a relationship with the Doug Fehan-run team that stretches back to 2012, the first of six years in which Taylor raced a Corvette in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Partnering Gavin and Milner, he won the GTE Pro class at Le Mans in 2015.
“I’m excited to go back into GT racing with Corvette in GTLM with all-manufacturer teams and all-professional drivers,” he said. “The class will get a lot of eyes on it with the first race for the C8.R.
“The race itself will be extremely difficult. I’ll have to get used to looking in my mirrors again! In testing, I was reminding myself to check the mirrors leaving certain corners so I could get in the habit of doing it for the race.
“So I’m looking forward to it. Overall wins are fantastic, but a win is a win; you still get a Rolex watch no matter what class you’re in! But for us in GTLM, the competition will be the same if not more difficult than in prototypes.”
Source: David Malsher-Lopez
Big C8 news!
And we literally mean “big.”
With production of the all-new 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray about to get underway next month, attention is now turning towards future variants. More specifically, the E-Ray, the first of two hybrids planned (the second likely named Zora), as well as the Z06, and, eventually, the ZR1. While we don’t have a precise timeframe as to when any of those will arrive, it goes without saying the Corvette engineering team led by Tadge Juechter is hard at work this very moment.
Details remain mostly vague, but GM Authority has learned something very cool about the C8 Z06. An inside source familiar with the project is claiming the C8 Z06 will sport a massive rear wing, even bigger than what’s found on the outgoing C7 Corvette ZR1. What’s more, it’ll produce higher levels of downforce and create less drag.
Although the C8.R race car has a big rear wing of its own, the Z06’s will differ in both appearance and functionality. Think more along the lines of the rear wing on the Koenigsegg Agera RS. Another unknown is whether or not the C8 Z06 will come with the rear wing as standard or if it will be optional. Some sources are claiming the Corvette team is leaning towards making it standard.
Assuming all goes to plan, the next Z06 could arrive in about two years’ time. Instead of the naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 with 490 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque, the C8 Z06 is expected to have a new NA 5.5-liter V8 with a flat-plane crank. Expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 hp.
Additional elements will include an improved suspension, brakes, and additional aerodynamic components aside from the rear wing. There shouldn’t be any mistaking the C8 Z06 for the C8 Stingray, even when the latter is equipped with the Z51 performance package. It should also go without saying the Z06 will command a significant price premium. A fully-loaded 2020 Corvette Stingray will surpass $100,000, so don’t expect the Z06 to cost any less.
Source; Jay Traugott; Carbuzz
Corvette C8.R impresses at Roar Before the 24, Daytona
The Corvette C8.R #4 driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Marcel Fässler at the Daytona Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway. The C8.R is Corvette’s first mid-engine race car.
The Corvette C8.R #4 driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Marcel Fässler at the Daytona Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway. The C8.R is Corvette’s first mid-engine race car.
The #3 Corvette C8.R driven by Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg at Daytona’s Roar Before the 24. The C8.R uses a 5.5-liter flat-plane crank engine different than the 6.2-liter push-rod engine that will be in the first production C8.
Chevy debuted the Corvette C8.R with the #3 and #4 cars. The race car gets lights in the lower fascia corners – where the production car has oil coolers. The #3 C8.R driven by Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg at Daytona’s Roar Before the 24.
At the Daytona Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, the #4 Corvette C8.R driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Marcel Fässler set fast time of the ‘Vettes – the time was just a tenth of a second off the fastest Ferrari.
The Corvette race car is lighter with more down-force (see the big wing) than the 3,647-pound production C8. The #3 Corvette C8.R driven by Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg at Daytona’s Roar Before the 24.
The Roar Before the 24 was the Corvette C8.R’s first outing in the IMSA Weathertech Series. The C8.R #4 driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Marcel Fässler.
The #3 Corvette C8.R driven by Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg negotiates the infield turns at Daytona’s Roar Before the 24. The C8.R hits speeds of 170 mph ion the oval.
Corvette Poised for Sebring WEC Return
Corvette Racing set for COTA-Sebring double FIA WEC run with C8.R
Corvette Racing looks set to contest the 1000 Miles of Sebring, in what would be the second consecutive FIA World Endurance Championship outing for the new Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
Sportscar365 has learned that provisional plans are in place to run the Sebring WEC race alongside its two-car factory GT Le Mans class program in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring the following day.
It would come as one of the prerequisites from the ACO, which has stipulated that the Pratt & Miller-run team must run in at least two regular-season WEC races in order to be guaranteed a pair of GTE-Pro entries for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The team ran the Shanghai WEC race in 2018 in addition to Sebring last year with its previous-gen Corvette C7.R.
While declining to comment or confirm on any WEC plans beyond its COTA entry, Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan said that it’s been their intention to run two regular-season races in the 2019-20 WEC season.
“Right now, that’s the plan but we’re running down a road,” Fehan told Sportscar365.
“We haven’t refined what exactly that plan is going to be. I couldn’t give you every detail and widget.
“We’ve been busy for a couple of years trying to race and design, build and develop the new car. This adds to the challenge of all of that.
“I think most people would understand that we don’t have it completely defined yet.
“It’s a case of dealing it in an orderly fashion.
“We can’t become overwhelmed too much with what’s going on down the road when we have to focus on what we need to accomplish [in Daytona] in a couple of weeks.”
While set to give the new mid-engined GTE contender its competition debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona later this month, the car’s second race will come just four weeks later at Circuit of The Americas, with a single entry having been submitted for the WEC replacement round.
Fehan said details on that program, including drivers, have yet to be determined.
He explained the reason for doing the additional WEC races is to “try as best we can” to support the globe-trotting championship.
“We understand the value that has to the sanctioning body and the value to the global fan base,” he said.
“We know it’s important but they also know the business side of it that prevents us from doing both things. They get that.
“I think they also appreciate how hard we’re trying to make all of the accommodations we can to keep the ball moving down the field.
“It’s not easy for us and they know it’s not easy for us and they appreciate that.”
No Issues in 2019 ‘Super Sebring’ Endeavor
Fehan said the team faced no issues in its double-duty endeavor at Sebring last year, in what was only the second-ever time the team raced three cars between two different series on the same weekend.
In addition to its over-the-wall crew and several other staff, drivers Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller took part in both Friday’s eight-hour WEC race and the around-the-clock IMSA enduro the day later.
“That worked out great,” Fehan said. “We were lucky because we had enough equipment.
“It’s not like you can piggyback what you have set up. You’ve got to have a completely additional set of stuff.
“Between stuff that we had in stock and stuff that we had for the Cadillac program, we had enough in place.
“That system is getting better and we learned from that on all the things we did right and all the things that we know we could improve upon.”
Source John Dagys; SportsCar365
Fassler impressed after first laps in new Corvette
The waiting is over for Marcel Fassler. This weekend’s Roar Before the Rolex 24 was the first opportunity for the three-time Le Mans winner to drive the revolutionary mid-engine Corvette Stingray C8.8 — either in a test or even on a simulator — and he likes what he’s found.
“I heard really good things beforehand, so I was really looking forward to my very first drive,” said Fassler. “I finally got my first chance on Friday, and I am more than positively surprised how good and how much fun it is to drive. It’s difficult to compare both cars, because they are completely different in how they were built and set up, but this is a big step forward. I’ve enjoyed every lap in this car around the track.”
Fassler won GTLM honors as part of a 1-2 outing for Corvette Racing in his Rolex 24 debut in 2016, with his car prevailing by 0.034s in the closest class finish in event history. The 43-year-old Swiss driver enjoyed the changing conditions at the Roar — which have ranging from a warm Friday to a wet Saturday to a sunny but chilly Sunday — as he tested the silver No. 4 Stingray with Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin.
“The weather this weekend is the best we could have,” Fassler said. “Now we know hot conditions, we know wet conditions and today we’ll work with colder conditions. Experience shows that everything can happen at Daytona. It can be super warm or freezing cold, or a lot of rain like last year.”
Antonio Garcia, who shares the traditional yellow No. 3 Corvette with Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg, was also pleased with the progress of the C8.R.
“It’s going the right way,” said Garcia, a two-time Rolex 24 winner. “We’ve got to gather as much data as possible to prepare for the first race of the season — the first race for the actual car. It’s going to be very difficult for us, because we don’t know how the car is going to behave, with a lot of unknowns. I think we’re as prepared as we can be, and we are using this test to be even more prepared. So far, it’s going well. But in racing, you never know. We’re probably the best team out there to get with a new car, and so far it looks good and drives good. I can’t wait until the start of the race.”
Corvette Racing Program Manager Doug Fehan shares the optimism of his drivers.
“Everything operationally has worked out well,” Fehan said. “The cars are performing well. We haven’t had any major issues in durability and reliability — things we are looking for here. Every day we come out we write another page in setup and learning about the chassis and aero on the car. So every lap’s an important lap.”
Original Source: J.J O’Malley; Racer
Garcia: “Big Steps” to Come With Corvette C8.R at Roar
Corvette Racing drivers on anticipation of Roar Before Rolex 24 with new mid-engined C8.R…
Antonio Garcia believes there will be “big steps” to come in the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R’s development as the new-for-2020 mid-engined GT Le Mans class contender makes its public debut in this weekend’s Roar Before the Rolex 24.
The Pratt & Miller-built Corvette, along with Porsche’s 2019-spec 911 RSR, are the two all-new GTE-spec cars set for their first official competitive outings in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition during the three-day mandatory test.
While having already completed private testing at the 3.56-mile oval/road course, Garcia believe every lap will matter in their plan for the weekend.
“There is a lot to discover and develop,” Garcia said. “Usually your starting point is better than what you previously had.
“But this is completely different. We are still in the early stages with this new Corvette.
“There will be big steps for sure.
“I don’t know when we will get to the point where we will start making little steps. We need to run this car and we need to race it to find out where we are against our competition.
“We are concentrating on our own work. Whenever it becomes race time, we will know where we actually are.”
Garcia’s new full-season co-driver Jordan Taylor said they won’t necessarily be concerned about pace at the Roar, which will also set the pit lane and garage allocations through a qualifying session on Sunday morning.
The 28-year-old, who makes the switch from his family’s Wayne Taylor Racing operation, said little things, such as driver changes, will be a focal point as well once they achieve the targeted baseline.
“As many laps as we can get at the Roar and going through the program, getting all the drivers on the same page from a setup point of view and then the little things like pit stops and driver changes will be different than what we’ve had in the past,” he said.
“The car is a little more tricky to get in and out.
“Understanding that muscle memory of the process of getting in and out, where the seatbelts go, where the drinks bottle is, where the air hose goes… those little details that we haven’t refined that were refined with the C7.R are things that will show up in a 24-hour event, so those are things we will need to check off the list at the Roar.”
Gavin: “Very Structured” Plan for Weekend
Team veteran Oliver Gavin, who returns to the No. 4 entry alongside Tommy Milner, said that coming away with achieving 60 or 70 percent of their list will be considered a “big win” over the weekend.
“The team is going to have a very structured plan,” Gavin said. “And that’s one of the things that’s so good about Corvette Racing. We plan our time and fundamentally understand what all we have to work through and the list of things we need to achieve.
“The third drivers will need time in the car. We’ll all have to work through that program and procedure as best we can.
“Certainly we’ll learn a huge amount every time we go on track just with how certain tires work, how the braking package works, the aero setup, weight placement… all kinds of different thoughts that the team will look to work through.
“We know that of that list of 50 things we want to try and achieve, the chances are that if we can come away with 60 or 70 percent of that done, it’s a pretty big win.”
Original Source; John Dagys. Sportscar365
Silver No. 4 completes Corvette C8.R unveiling
Corvette Racing completed the unveiling of its brand-new C8.Rs with the predominantly silver No. 4 entry shown in private testing at Daytona International Speedway. The yellow No. 3 driven by Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, and Nicky Catsburg was revealed last week.
The mid-engine halo car from General Motors replaces the ultra-successful front-engine C7.R and its many predecessors, which delivered victories at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and numerous championships for the factory team based in Michigan.
The No. 4 will rely upon team veterans Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner as its full-time drivers and Marcel Fässler, who slots in for the Michelin Endurance cup rounds.
Both C8.Rs return to Daytona for IMSA’s official Roar Before The 24 test, which runs from Friday through Sunday.
Marshall Pruett; Racer