C8 Corvette ZR1 Will Get 900-HP, Twin-Turbo, Hybrid V8 Engine: Report
This is the first time that we’ve heard concrete news about a hybrid version of the C8, and their source has confirmed that it is indeed coming very soon. The supposed ZR1 will utilize the engine found in the Z06, a dual-overhead-cam V8 that happens to be flat-plane-crank and twin-turbo; similar to the one found in the C8.R race car. The hybrid system will be completely performance oriented, and will place an electric motor between the engine and transmission to increase output considerably to 900 horsepower. That’s not all, apparently, the C8 Stingray has some space in the front trunk that’s reserved for a pair of front-mounted electric motors that are said to increase performance and apply torque vectoring to aid the rear axle and its electronically controlled limited-slip diff, essentially meaning that the ZR1 will be all-wheel drive.
More Tiny C8 Details:
2020 Corvette Stingray Almost Had A Split Rear Window: Report
Furthermore, their source indicates that the rumor of the 4.2-liter Blackwing V8 engine from Cadillac being shared with Corvette models is false; GM gave Cadillac and Chevrolet the resources to design and develop two different V8s at the same time. The hybrid system also has the consequence of added weight and proper placement to retain performance and a low center of gravity, so your guess is as good as ours as to where Chevrolet plans to mount the entire system.
Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter is No. 4 on MotorTrend’s Power List for 2020
If you ever doubted the significance of the upcoming mid-engine Corvette, take a look at MotorTrend’s Power List for 2020, a compilation of the 50 most important names in the auto industry.
On the strength of leading the design of MotorTrend’s 2020 Car of the Year, the 2020 Corvette Stingray, Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter, unranked on the 2019 list, zoomed to the No. 4 spot in the 2020 ranking – ahead of two of his bosses, General Motors President Mark Reuss, who came in at No. 28, and GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra, who ranked No. 6.
Said MotorTrend of Juechter:
“Juechter was able to squeeze the final dollops of power out of the C7 Corvette and then create a whole new beast: the long-awaited C8 with a mid-engine to increase power and performance. Despite all the tech, he engineered an affordable everyman’s supercar: 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds for $60,000.”
Reuss, who moved up from No. 32 in 2019, earned the following praise from MT:
“Reuss is managing the day-to-day for an automaker as focused on the Corvette and Silverado as the goal to put 1 million electric vehicles on the road annually while developing autonomous vehicles and still making a profit. It means overseeing a leaner company going forward to fund the expensive tech.”
Barra, meanwhile, tumbled from the No. 1 spot in 2019 but still earned serious kudos from the magazine:
“Barra continues to be the tough, shrewd, and strategic leader that GM needs to remain profitable while investing heavily in electric and autonomous vehicles. Her decisive, no-nonsense approach has led to unpopular decisions to discontinue models, stop production, and cut jobs to meet long-term financial goals.”
Another GM leader, Chief Financial Officer Dhivya Suryadevera, was unranked in 2019 but made it to No. 23 for 2020.
MotorTrend says of her:
“In charge of GM’s finance department since 2018, Suryadevara is pivotal in achieving annual cost reductions of $4.5 billion through 2020—ensuring the automaker has the resources for ambitious EV and autonomous vehicle plans while keeping things running during a protracted labor strike.”
At the top of the 2020 list is MotorTrend’s Person of the Year, someone you may never have heard of, Peter Schreyer, President, Head of Design Management, for Hyundai Motor Group.
Writes MotorTrend of its No. 1 pick:
“Schreyer once said he wishes he could be a painter. The MotorTrend 2020 Person of the Year has taken a Korean canvas and created a masterpiece.”
Original source: Mitch Talley, CorvetteBlogger
Tadge Juechter and the 2020 Corvette Stingray Convertible Visit Jay Leno’s Garage
Folks, this is some of the best 55 minutes of TV you can watch!
The 2020 Corvette Stingray Convertible with Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter makes a visit with Jay Leno at his Garage out in Sunny California. During that 55 minutes, the new C8 Corvettes are discussed and dissected as only Jay can do, and then he and Tadge go for a ride where the Stingray is tested on the streets.
Jay was at the reveal of the 2020 Corvette Stingray Coupe and had the opportunity, albeit limited, to be among the first to drive the new C8 Coupe. This taping of the show with the Convertible Stingray happened roughly 1 week after the Convertile’s reveal at Kennedy Space Center on October 2nd. The car is the same Sebring Orange Convertible that was part of the West Coast reveal that occurred on the same night.
Here’s a pretty good exchange between Jay and Tadge on the C8 Corvette’s starting MSRP of $60,000 (for the Coupe):
Jay: “I think its fantastic and of course the price point is what really freaks people out. I think people were just stunned by that as much as they are by the styling…it was like, What? How can you make it…?”
Tadge: “I think you brought it up before, that would have been a different business strategy, and it would have been a safer business strategy to keep the old car in production, move this one to a higher price point and if you starting a sportscar company from scratch and you wanted to cover all those price points you might do that. But as we were developing this car, we thought ‘you know what, we can go all in’”.
Jay gets an exclusive first drive of the highly anticipated 2020 Corvette Stingray Convertible with Executive Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter.
Watch Full length video below,
Originally written by Keith Cornett; Corvette Blogger