My Arts Editor directs my attention to the new Corvette:
Corvette’s supercharged small block V8 engine had always been positioned up in the front, giving the 66-year-old classic American sports car its signature “wedge shape.” Even as Corvette engineers tweaked the engine’s acceleration and horsepower, competitors that have offered mid-engine cars for years were setting new performance records and powering ahead of Chevrolet in sales.
“To be truly world class, you have to be mid-engine,” Jonny Lieberman, Motor Trend’s senior features editor, told ABC News. He broke the story in 2014 that a mid-engine Corvette was in production.
Motor Trend editors keep a database of sports car and supercar lap times they record at various race tracks around the world. Over the years, the only cars to beat the 755 horsepower ZR1, the fastest and most powerful Corvette ever built, were its mid-engine rivals. [ABC News]
Which is all more or less fascinating, except that this isn’t really so good for the climate, now is it? Granted, it’s a low production run, but it really seems to me General Motors has missed a bet on becoming a leading car manufacturer by doing something truly innovative with their car engine – making it climate friendly.
And we might have even bit on this idea. A much classier presentation than this new hulk of a car.
