How Prepared is GM (Corvette)?

[Keagan-Z06]

Seeing that the mid engine car has been in talks and even produce as concepts, how prepared and how strong will GM come out with their first car? Ferrari, Mclaren, Lambo, etc all have been in the game and for sure have tried and true cars today. With that said, GM has also had what? 35+ years with the ME on the table? For sure they had to learn a thing or two even if it was on table, I'm not sure where they would be able to actually test a platform like the ME prior to the upcoming generation without us knowing. Will it be a matter of the last iteration of the C8 (ala Z trims) or would C9 be the car where they say ok, we got the ball rolling, we are pointed in the right direction. Hope this makes sense.

[John]

You are so right, that going to a ME is going to be a major change. At the same time, GM is acutely aware that the car must be excellent out of the box. We are only seeing perhaps 1/10 of 1% of the testing that GM is doing, and has been doing on the ME for the last year, two, maybe three. At Milford Proving Grounds, they have 140 miles of track, so many large buildings where inside testing can go on without our knowing about it. Similarly, there is the 40 miles of track at Yuma, AZ’s GM test facility which, as it is located within an Army facility, which as a no-fly zone, they can/do drive fleets of ME’s,day after day. without our even know about it.

GM has the most rigorous parts testing failure analysis program of the OEM’s. As one tiny example, they subject the dash material to a 100,000 hour simulated Arizona summer heat color fade resistant program (and rejected the first batch of the Tension Blue color because it started to show the tiniest amount of fade at the 90,000 hour mark).

GM will not release the ME to its first customer until they are totally satisfied it will be ready to go.

For those still concerned, there is always the option of waiting until year two or three or longer before getting their ME. However, the results of our current poll show right now that 50% are not waiting, instead want their ME asap. [And now way of our knowing how many did not select one of the two “first year” categories for other reasons, e.g., budget, new job coming up, or other.]

https://www.midenginecorvetteforum.c...2POLL%3A%22%7D

I respect all who are still concerned, and who are planning to take a “wait and see” approach.

[Keagan-Z06]

You are so right, that going to a ME is going to be a major change. At the same time, GM is acutely aware that the car must be excellent out of the box. We are only seeing perhaps 1/10 of 1% of the testing that GM is doing, and has been doing on the ME for the last year, two, maybe three. At Milford Proving Grounds, they have 140 miles of track, so many large buildings where inside testing can go on without our knowing about it. Similarly, there is the 40 miles of track at Yuma, AZ’s GM test facility which, as it is located within an Army facility, which as a no-fly zone, they can/do drive fleets of ME’s,day after day. without our even know about it.

GM has the most rigorous parts testing failure analysis program of the OEM’s. As one tiny example, they subject the dash material to a 100,000 hour simulated Arizona summer heat color fade resistant program (and rejected the first batch of the Tension Blue color because it started to show the tiniest amount of fade at the 90,000 hour mark).

GM will not release the ME to its first customer until they are totally satisfied it will be ready to go.

For those still concerned, there is always the option of waiting until year two or three or longer before getting their ME. However, the results of our current poll show right now that 50% are not waiting, instead want their ME asap. [And now way of our knowing how many did not select one of the two “first year” categories for other reasons, e.g., budget, new job coming up, or other.]

https://www.midenginecorvetteforum.c...2POLL%3A%22%7D

I respect all who are still concerned, and who are planning to take a “wait and see” approach.

I did not know that, thanks for mentioning it. Just thinking about it out loud, for example the 720s is quite alien like, today's exotics, supercars needs quite a lot of oomph to keep up with that thing. So do you as GM come out swinging in a market not familiar to you or do you play the cat and mouse game. Surely you do not want to play that game seeing the very stiff competition the ZR1 has had. Performante, GT2RS, 720S. The manufacturers for those cars seem to be in no mood for playing tag.

[John]

That is a good question, and perhaps history is not our guide, but practicality is as far as GM is concerned. History, as well as know, would say that GM brings out only the entry version in year one, then the middle one (Z06), then later a full blown version. But I do not think that is the overriding reason why GM will follow that same playbook this time. I believe that the overriding reason for the same playbook with the ME, is that due to the minuscule number of Corvette engineering staff, they are not going to be able to finish developing all that they need to also bring out the Z06-equivalent version next year.

There could be a third reason that also and always hold sway, in that no matter how long your test and how well you design your testing, it is millions of real world miles that finish that process (and why throughout Corvette history the best of a Corvette generation has always been the last year of one. So whether it be powertrain stresses caused by real-road potholes, climatic conditions that customers experience that GM did not in their testing program, and similar millions of miles of customer collective experiences, candidly the more power your car has, the more it is going to show up any of the ME’s weaknesses, e.g., so starting out to get millions of customer miles with 500 HP, instead of 650 HP will be my guess.

Lastly, it is the nature of buyers, that overall that those who are the $200,000+ exotic brand conquests coming over from other exotics, are going to be far less forgiving of even very minor issues than those of us who have loved our less than perfect Corvettes for many decades, who have often put up with our Corvettes minor/moderate issues (e.g. squeaks and rattles, fit/finish of adjoining interior and exterior body panels and other “Corvette things.” Hence, another year of fine tuning the ME during the 2020 model year, then making the jump to 650 HP (or whatever) and in year two hoping to entire more-upscale brand conquests, would not be a bad thing, but a good thing IMO.

[Boomer]

So do you as GM come out swinging in a market not familiar to you or do you play the cat and mouse game. Surely you do not want to play that game seeing the very stiff competition the ZR1 has had. Performante, GT2RS, 720S. The manufacturers for those cars seem to be in no mood for playing tag.

Sounds like a challenge but too many metaphors to tell. How about a daily driver for half the price and fares good on the track?

[Frenzy36]

My opinion is that the majority sold are obviously the Base 1LT Model . I feel John is correct that the first year will only be entry level, however they may surprise us all and offer an additional upgraded engine with more HP as well. If the Base (Entry) model goes over well with great reviews there will surely be a massive demand for higher HP and handling configurations. I'm Impatiently waiting for the Official Announcement as to the Reveal Date.
I just hope the Convertible is offered the first year, if not I will not be waiting another year and my $$ will be spent elsewhere.

[John]

Not to worry, for you will not need to wait another year. GM will be happily receiving your money during the 2020 model year and you will happily be enjoying your 2020 HT convertible mid engine Corvette.

[Keagan-Z06]

That is a good question, and perhaps history is not our guide, but practicality is as far as GM is concerned. History, as well as know, would say that GM brings out only the entry version in year one, then the middle one (Z06), then later a full blown version. But I do not think that is the overriding reason why GM will follow that same playbook this time. I believe that the overriding reason for the same playbook with the ME, is that due to the minuscule number of Corvette engineering staff, they are not going to be able to finish developing all that they need to also bring out the Z06-equivalent version next year.

There could be a third reason that also and always hold sway, in that no matter how long your test and how well you design your testing, it is millions of real world miles that finish that process (and why throughout Corvette history the best of a Corvette generation has always been the last year of one. So whether it be powertrain stresses caused by real-road potholes, climatic conditions that customers experience that GM did not in their testing program, and similar millions of miles of customer collective experiences, candidly the more power your car has, the more it is going to show up any of the ME’s weaknesses, e.g., so starting out to get millions of customer miles with 500 HP, instead of 650 HP will be my guess.

Lastly, it is the nature of buyers, that overall that those who are the $200,000+ exotic brand conquests coming over from other exotics, are going to be far less forgiving of even very minor issues than those of us who have loved our less than perfect Corvettes for many decades, who have often put up with our Corvettes minor/moderate issues (e.g. squeaks and rattles, fit/finish of adjoining interior and exterior body panels and other “Corvette things.” Hence, another year of fine tuning the ME during the 2020 model year, then making the jump to 650 HP (or whatever) and in year two hoping to entire more-upscale brand conquests, would not be a bad thing, but a good thing IMO.

Great points, I've never owned a vette but sometime in this lifetime I will. I know all too well about Chevy's with their fit and finish and can agree that guys coming from the likes of Benz, Ferrari, Mclaren will not be as tolerable as us who have lived with it for years and just turn up the volume. I don't doubt that GM will make a great car but I was looking at it from the point if Coca Cola started making swiss cheese or Apple making cars. Those are probably bad examples but that all I got. lol