Chevrolet has only made the Grand Sport option available two other times in the Corvette’s history. The original Grand Sport was a track-only special with a 550 hp V8, and the 1996 version was the only Corvette to use the LT4 engine. So our biggest concern when we heard rumors of the return of the Corvette Grand Sport was that Chevrolet was not going to be able to deliver a car that lived up to the historic name. For the third edition Chevrolet reached into the Corvette part’s bin and pulled out sort of a “best of” package for the standard Corvette.
This iteration of America’s favorite sports car becomes even more desirable by combining styling cues from the much more expensive Z06 and ZR-1 super cars with the availability of creature comforts like an automatic transmission or even a drop top convertible Corvette. The body is one of the main differences between the Grand Sport and the standard C6 is the car’s wide stance and flared fenders as well as a larger wheel and tire package and a set of 6 piston brake calipers up front and a pair of 4 piston clampers out back. The body incorporates an air intake in the hood, gills in the front fender and a small scoop in the rear quarter all in an affordable package. Join General Motors employees Harlan Charles, the Corvette Product Marketing Manager and Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter as they tell you a little more about their latest creation.
Continued after the jump with Launch Control video.
The Italian super car manufacturer SV Competizione has manged to do something that bow tie enthusiasts have attempted and failed for years, they have snuck America’s best loved sports car into a show dedicated to exotics like Ferrari, Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo. Sure the limited edition Sv 9 Competizione has been recovered inside and out with the fine touch of a meticulous Italian craftsman, but just making it to the Concorso Italiano during this past Monterey weekend says something about the SV Competizione. From the looks of things, despite scrutineers best attempts at a close examination, the SV9 was allowed to rub elbows with Gallardos and Dinos.
Just the thought of combining the best affordable sports car from America with the styling of an Italian design house seems like sacrilege, but SV apparently got the Pope’s blessing when they tailor made this fine crafted example of automotive art. The SV 9 Competizione’s upgraded body panels are made entirely out of carbon fiber and the interior has been completely redone using the finest materials available. Under the hood, the Vette’s 6.2 Liter V8 has also received a little attention in the form of a new intake and exhaust bringing the LS3’s output up to 450 HP, up 14 HP from the standard package. Overall the SV 9 is a high tech, upscale transformation from the performance bargain Corvette.
With the extra power and lightweight body, the SV 9’s straight line performance has been improved allowing the car to go from 0 to 60 MPH in just four seconds and complete the standing quarter mile in only 12 seconds. Braking distances have also come down, going from 60 MPH to a stop in 107 feet and handling improved to the tune of 1.03 G of lateral grip. SV prefers to sell the 9 as a turnkey super car for only a five spot under $100,000. The Italian coach builders feel that this is the best way to keep their production at the scheduled 1000 units, so there will be no discount for bringing your own Vette; although we are pretty sure they might reconsider if someone brought them a ZR-1.
You have to hand it to the Russians, aside from their love of Vodka and the freezing cold winters they Ruskies definitely know how to use their high performance machines. Take this series of on highway acceleration competitions for example, using the trusty three beeps of the horn and away we go method the owner of this Lingenfelter Performance Engineering tuned Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 hands it to the 800 HP all wheel drive modified Nissan GT-R complete with Switzer P800 package. The GT-R does manage to out accelerate the ZR-1 in one of the races, but it is partly due to a healthy lead before the start of the race. In the end it is the American steel, the Detroit iron that shows who is king of the Russian highways.
Despite their current economic problems, General Motors has no plans to cancel America’s favorite sports car and will continue development on the seventh generation Chevrolet Corvette. The C7 will go into production in April of 2012 and then go on sale in the 2013 model year. We must remind you that previous reports have said that the seventh generation of the sports car was put on hold until 2014. Thankfully that is no longer the case.
Overall, the C7 Corvette will be smaller than the current version in hopes of reducing the vehicle’s weight in order to create a more efficient, better performing sports car. The materials will also be upgraded for more advances composites, think carbon fiber instead of fiber glass as well as a few high tech metals like magnesium and aluminum. It is possible that with the conservative minded market, the C7 will also be powered by a smaller engine, possibly with a turbocharger.
However the big question remains. Will the C7 be inspired by the Corvette Stingray concept that we saw in the Transformers 2 movie this past summer?
In a successful attempt to make the rest of the world jealous. The editors of the English automotive journal AutoCar have wrangled up two of the most powerful sports cars of the moment and put them in a head to head competition that they are calling the Clash of the Titans. Representing the good old U.S. of A is the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 with its plexiglass hood showing off all 638 intercooled horsepower while the Lamborghini Murcielago Super Veloce makes an impressive 670 HP, but has to send it to all four wheels and the style of something truly out of this world. So with the journalist Steve Sucliffe behind the wheel of Detroit’s most powerful piece of iron, he will try and see if he can keep up with Max Venturi, Lamborghini’s super handler. So was he successful?
In today’s modern media society, it is a great honor to be on the cover of a videogame. No matter whether you are an NBA all star or an NFL rookie of the year, if you are chosen to be featured as the first thing that any video game enthusiast sees when they pick up the game, then it is a sign that they have truly made it. So now there is some very good news for American automotive enthusiasts. That is because the future Gran Turismo PSP will feature the hottest Corvette ever built: the new ZR-1. Why was it chosen over all the other sports cars in the world? According to the game’s creator Kazunori Yamauchi "American cars are so full of peoples’ dreams, and that’s what makes them so great."
In a recent interview the CEO of Polyphony Digital had this to say: "This spring I visited Detroit a few times, mainly to see the factories of the Big 3, and their museums and archives. What I came to realize in those visits was that the designs and mechanisms of American cars, in all eras over the years, have always been aimed towards a bright new future that all little kids dream about, and always full of emotion.
And as you all know, the game “Gran Turismo” was a video game that was nurtured by the kindness of the automotive industry, and that’s why I wanted us to make something, that could cheer up people in the industry.
Many GM cars representative from the Autorama days have really helped build the foundations of my sense of beauty and values regarding cars, but something that has always been deep within my heart over the years is the long line of Corvettes. And the newest Corvette is the C6 ZR-1."
For the last 8 years Corvette Racing has dominated the GT1 category of the American Le Mans Series. Since they began the race spec Corvette has won at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and since 2005 have been competing the C6.R against world-class grand touring cars from automakers like Aston Martin. For 2009 the factory backed racing effort has chosen to step down into the GT2 category in order to compete with the same cars on the track that the production model competes with in show rooms.
Chevrolet will bring out the next generation Corvette C6.R at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 6-8 in order to conduct preliminary testing for the redesigned and restricted race car. The latest version of the Corvette C6.R will be put to the ultimate test when it competes in the GT2 category for the final five rounds of the 2009 American Le Mans Series.
The Corvette race cars will be powered by 6.0 Liter GM small block that is based on the 7.0 Liter LS7.R that powered the outgoing GT1 version. The diameter of the series-mandated air intake restrictors has been decreased from 30.6 mm to 28.6 mm, which also drops engine output from a mighty 590 HP to a bit more conservative 470 HP. Hopefully the Corvette Racing engineers will be able to develop some new tricks to get the most out of the pushrod V8 that will lead to a more efficient production sports car in the future.
Chevrolet is preparing to unveil a special edition Corvette in celebration of the Bowling Green, Kentucky based National Corvette Museum’s 15th Anniversary. This special edition National Corvette Museum Grand Sport Coupe is covered in Arctic White paint and features a unique blacked out section of the hood featuring a ghosted Jake, Corvette Racing’s mascot, in the center bulge surrounded by a red stripe. The National Corvette Museum logo is then incorporated into the B-pillar and adds the finishing touches to this special edition C6.
The car comes standard with a 6 speed manual transmission, a set of retro chrome wheels, with a set of unique vents in the fenders, a dual mode exhaust, blacked out headlight housings and a ZR1 rear spoiler. The interior is upgraded with a pair of red two-tone leather seats and an audio/video system with touch-screen navigation. Not to shabby for a fifteenth birthday present.
The next time you decide to drive around Wake County, N.C., we must warn you that if you get caught by the cops, chances are that you’ll have a tough time outrunning them.
The police department of Wake County has a new - and sneaky - speed limit enforcer – an unmarked black Chevrolet Corvette Z06, which by the mere mention of the name should serve as a warning to those who decide to push their vehicles past the speed limit: it’s no fun being chased by a Corvette Z06. The PD’s new police interceptor was recently seized in a drug bust and being the vigilant purveyor’s of the law that they are, the police decided to turn the Corvette Z06 into its very own chase car.
According to Gary Buchanan, a Raleigh resident who owns a 2007 Corvette, he told The News & Observer that he recently saw Wake County officers last week cruising in the unmarked Z06 on I-40 in Cary. "It had blue lights in the back and blue lights in the front," he said. "It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. Something like that is so extreme. I mean, if my wife was out driving and this thing came up behind her and the light’s started going off, man, she’d be scared to death."
The Italian car crafters from the SV Motor Company have just finished working on a new speed machine based on the latest generation Chevrolet Corvette called the SV 9 Competizione. The reshaped C6 uses the Corvette’s hydro-formed chassis, but features a totally new design and bodywork that transforms America’s favorite sports car into a creation somewhere between an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione and a Chevrolet Corvette C6.
The SV 9 Competizione’s upgraded body panels are made entirely out of carbon fiber and the interior has been completely redone using the finest materials available. Under the hood, the Vette’s 6.2 Liter V8 has also received a little attention in the form of a new intake and exhaust bringing the LS3’s output up to 450 HP, up 14 HP from the standard package. Overall the SV 9 is a high tech, upscale transformation from the performance bargain Corvette that we have all come to love.
With the extra power and light weight body, the SV 9’s straight line performance has been improved allowing the car to go from 0 to 60 MPH in just four seconds and complete the standing quarter mile in only 12 seconds. Braking distances have also come down, going from 60 MPH to a stop in 107 feet and handling improved to the tune of 1.03 G of lateral grip. SV Motor will make the car available in 25 different exterior colors, five interior trims and four distinct wheel options. There will only be 1000 units, each priced at $99,995.
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