2013 Chevrolet Corvette C7 to get twin-turbo 3.0L V8

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By Brett Davis | June 03rd, 2011

General Motors is currently developing the new Chevrolet Corvette C7 which will feature a small capacity, high-revving V8 boosted by turbochargers.

That’s right, the old American adage of ‘there’s no substitute for cubic-inches’ may be about to change. According to international reports in contact with General Motors, the upcoming Chevrolet Corvette C7 will feature a small capacity V8 of around 3.0-litres and use two turbochargers to amp up power.

According to a GM source, the engine could rev as high as 10,000rpm – enough to have most Ferraris running away with their tails between their legs. Although official power figures haven’t been released yet, rumour has it the engine will produce around 300kW.

General Motors has already revealed that the next model will be something “completely different” to the Corvette as we know it. Previous reports also speculated the idea that the new model might offer mid-engine dynamics, putting it in more direct competition to Ferrari as opposed to the current front engine/rear drive layout.

The idea of the old-fashioned ‘big block’ Chevs won’t be completely swept into the bin though. Apparently large engines will still exist in some models at least as an option. The small V8 is likely to make its way into other GM cars such as the Cadillac CTS-V.

The Chevrolet Corvette C7 is expected to debut sometime in 2012. We’ll keep you updated with any official word.

Ben

lmfao. funniest practical joke I have seen in a long time, or is this a serious post?
whatthe..

Geez, 10000rpm is a lot for a pushrod engine!

Ben

Can anyone say ‘Valve Bouncer’? lol

Trump

The US is only 2 letters away from USSR….

mike d

where is the relavence in that ridiculus comment?

Sumpguard

Which one? There are 3 of them!

mike d

it’s an DOHC engine not a pushrod. pushrods arent bad but it’s nice to see they are progressing into this century

delux

whats the source of this information?
JEKYL & HYDE

complete the the cruze 6 speed auto tranny perhaps…
G

This might be the first Corvette in a long time worth getting excited about. The C3 was the last decent one. I can’t believe they were still using balsa wood less than 5 years ago.

G

I wonder if they would use this engine in the HSVs like they have done with previous Corvette engines. I suspect though that the next-gen Corvette would be significantly lighter.

Shak

How much lighter can it get? Its already made of wood and plastic in places. Unless they plan on making it in cotton wool, this car is plenty light.

MattW

The first thing that comes into my mind when I read “Corvette” is the footage of someone (Jeremy Clarkson?) standing behind one and poking his finger at the back fascia and it flexing like an empty ice cream container

mike d

THAT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU YOURSELF DRIVE

Roadtard

I love the Corvette’s lightweight approach. Everything from the OHV engine to the fibreglass body to the lightweight suspension design. She’s an interesting animal. The hottest models are bloody quick too!

Richo

Don’t point out to the haters that an OHV pushrod engine has significant advantages in weight and centre of gravity over a DOHC engine! They hate that…

Squeek

The poor fordys have a bit of an inferiority complex regarding the Chev V8…understandably. The old Falcon finally gets itself a decent V8 and it still doesn’t handle.

Ford Fairlane

Sorry bud but every model of Falcon has had better handling than Commodore.
VE is the only exception.

Handling scoreboard

8-1 to Falcon.

mike d

SURE BUT I THINK A DOHC ENGINE SHOULD BE AN OPTION. LETS GET INTO THE 21 CENTURY

jv

21st century?

Before you shout any louder, do a little more reading about when DOHC first came out.

Overhead cam engines have their advantages, as do pushrods. I’ll let Corvette’s lengthy history of producing performance that other cars compare themselves with, speak for itself. (E.g. “My modified Mustang can handle almost as well as a Corvette!”)

If you know of another vehicle that offers more vehicle for the cost, feel free to share… and it does so with pushrods.

Just some thoughts. The world isnt quite so black and white.

Y

At the end of the day it’s the power/torque vs weight ratio, low C.O.G., low air drag, wide tracks, wide tyres and stiff suspension that wins. The laws of physics really. To the badge fanbois and smallbois, it’s the errr… badge that always win.
http://caradvise.com Schah7

You have No idea “Mr.O.H.V Richo inefficently”
All the advantages D.O.H.C have over O.H.V make your statement totally obsolete.
Ask every other car man. besides G.M. LOL!
Loser.

Richo

The only advantage DOHC has over OHV is 4 valves per cylinder rather then two, and the ability to have VVT, or at least that should be HAD, because the next gen GM OHV V8 will feature, you guessed it, 4 valves per cylinder and VVT, meaning it will have all the advantages of DOHC, whilst retaining the advantage of lighter weight and lower C.O.G.

So while in the past your argument may have been correct, your opinion is the one that is soon to be obsolete.

BoatAnchor

Valve train inertia, compromised port shapes, spark plug position – the list goes on and on – a small price to pay for a few kilograms at most shifted a few centimeters lower. Evey other tech savvy manufacturer dumped the pushrod lame duck decades ago, its only advantage is cost – something GM is good at skimping on when ignorant consumers dont care as long as the badge is shiny and their knuckle dragging mates approve.

Richo

BoatAnchor you obviously don’t know a whole lot about engines, its actually easier to come up with the ideal port shapes and spark plug positioning is much easier with an OHV cylinder head because you don’t have to package in the two camshafts.

And its a lot more then a “few kilograms at most”. A DOHC head can be as much as 15kg heavier then an OHV head, multiply that by two, and you have a BIG difference in weight and the weight is also signficantly higher in the motor. Additionally a DOHC engine is also a lot more bulky, meaning packaging the motor within the engine bay is more difficult. Best example of this is look inside the engine bay of a V6 commodore with DOHC and compare it to the engine bay of a V8 commodore, the V8 sits a LOT lower in the engine bay then the V6.

The advantage of DOHC engines as always been 4 valves rather then 2, and the ability to have VVC, however as said both Chrysler and GM are developing pushrod motors with 4 valves and VVC meaning that the advantages are negated.

Also Mercedes used a pushrod motor in their DTM race car right up till 2002 when the engine regs changed to require DOHC. Mercedes used the pushrod motor for, you guessed it, the reduced mass and better packaging.

BoatAnchor

Umm the ONLY way to compare it is to look under the bonnet of a crummydore – its the only car in Aus backwards enough to still stick to pushrods.

No matter what valvetrain the engine has, you cant sit it any lower than the crank with some space for the sump. Some advantages of DOHC engines are like you say, dual VVT – but you don’t need DOHC to have 4 valves per cylinder. The greatest benefit of OHC engines is reduced valve train inertia. It allows a lighter valve spring and greater ramp angles on the camshaft before valve bounce sets in, higher revs, better breathing, less wear.

Your myth about packaging and center of gravity is splitting whiskers – it doesnt add to anything for a road car – the only benefits of pushrods is price and easy camshaft changes for bogans who want a lumpy idle and no vacuum for their brakes.

If you want to talk tech – look at the BMEP (Brake Mean Effective Pressure) of a Chev V8 against any other OHC V8 Lexus, BMW, Infiniti, Audi even Hyundai Tau – not even in the same ballpark – or century.

mike d

I AGREE BUT THE ls7 IS A CRAZY MOTOR

Richo

No, the bottom of the motor doesn’t sit any lower, but the top of the motor does because the motor isn’t as tall. It’s not a myth that pushrod motors are significantly lighter, its a fact. The fact your not willing to recongnise the basic facts of the matter means its not even worth my while discussing it with you further. Your just a Holden hater, always will be, good for you
jv

To BoatAnchor above:
“If you want to talk tech – look at the BMEP (Brake Mean Effective Pressure) of a Chev V8 against any other OHC V8 Lexus, BMW, Infiniti, Audi even Hyundai Tau – not even in the same ballpark – or century.”

… and yet the Corvette pushrod, antiquated engine outperforms the Lexus and Infiniti on the sales floor and is more reliable than the BMW and Audi on the road.

If I had to drive 200,000 miles in a car I would not want to own the BMW or Audi that have comparable performance to the Corvette. The Lexus and Infiniti models have some nice features but their performance is not on par with the Corvette.

Sambo

Corvettes don’t have big blocks as said in your report. The current motor is actually a small block. I can’t wait for the haters to mark me down….

http://caradvice.com.au Brett Davis

Good point. Edited.
I was thinking of the old Corvettes with the 427 and 454 engines, but you’re quite right, even the current 7.0-litre is based on a small block.

UMWHAT

lets hope it wont look anything like the one in the picture
Shak

Lol, i saw this article two weeks ago, and back then i said it sounded like a wishlist of what a twelve year old would want on their Corvette, and i still stand to that. This engine combo is just too much of a departure from current GM philosophy. Most likely the Corvette will just get a downsized Gen V motor when they come online, and maybe GM will throw on a turbo or two. But not a 3.0 V8 that revs to 10,000 rpm. Thats more than a bloody VTEC engine.

Trouble

Will a gen V keep to future emissions regs? An all-new small capacity V8 would be more plausible for future-proofing in regards to emissions, particularly with the corporate average fuel economy scheme in the US. However 3.0l TT V8 sounds a bit far-fetched at this stage, I’d think a similar capacity V6 TT would be much more workable – and more useful as a truck motor too.

Richo

I don’t see what is so unworkable about a 3.0L V8, Land Rover had 3.5L V8′s in Range Rovers since the early 80′s, surely 30 years on a reduction of 0.5L is possible
Stoney!

I think they want to keep the V8 sound though, and thats a win for me! Once you start force feeding air into engines it makes even small engines sound much meatier, so with 3.0 twin turbo V8 it should still sound as meaty as most large V8′s.
Shak

Sorry I should have specified. GM insiders have quoted that most of the Chevy Small Block range will be downsized by about a litre in each engine, and will HAVE to meet Euro emissions standards otherwise why bother, when these engines will go into everything. The very same people have said that while the downsizing wont be this dramatic, and V6TT wont be going in the high end performance cars, their would be some dabbling with turbos on other cars to meet CAFE regulations.

UMWHAT

GM has a philosophy?

Bob

Looks good!
Charles

I like very very much, MR for the win!
Nobody

If the guys at Chevy manage to pull this off..people who laughed at this article would look like…id@$#*^%
Old Dog

A twin turbo small block is nothing new. But its more like 700kw out of the 7 litre.
OpenMinded

I dont understad why people are against this new Idea. I believe in order to stay on top you need to push the boundries of the norm. Yes GM has always used displacment for its HP yet when Ferrari had it’s blown v8 nobody made a huge deal about it. Besides you still have the option to pick a big displacment V8. I think it’s a great ambition GM has for a new customer base. You stick witht he old and try to gain new. The best of both worlds.
Theo

gay design

Richo

gay post

Theo

look at the design Dicko…opps I meant Richo.
Whats so hot about the skin???? nothing!!!

Richo

I was refering to your post, not your opinion on the design. You didn’t explain why you didn’t like the design, nothing objective, you just said it was “gay”. Could you explain by the way what a “hetero” design would be?

jv

Whether I prefer this design or not, when I see this vehicle I see no homoerotic design elements… so anything gay you see in it must be something you yourself brought to the table.

Holden is American

People are jealous that Chevy is trying to make progress. Piekeys can continue to show off their 6 litre push rod’s V8 engine which is actually American too.
PeterG

Looks great if a little too” Transformers”.No doubt great engine and brakes.
But based upon previous models I bet the build quality has more wobble than Rolf Harris,mate.
Greg

Quick ques for the stupid (me) – what soes a small block v8 mean? What does a big block v8 mean?
Dion

nice I hope its 4WD aswell, and I dont think this engine will be pushrod, it will be more hitech.