2020 C8 Stingray Cousin Coming?

[John]

This rumor keeps coming around again, like another verse on a guitar. What do you think of the possibility fo a 2021 Cadiallac mid engine sports car made at BGA?



Picture thanks to TheDrive.

Will There Be A Cadillac Based Off Of The Mid-Engine 2020 Corvette?

Just hear me out.

There’s evidence that General Motors plans to recoup some of the cost of developing the mid-engine 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8by launching a Cadillac version of the supercar.

It wouldn’t be the first time. Remember the Cadillac XLR and XLR-V from 2004-2009?

The new 2020 Chevy Corvette C8 will be unveiled Thursday, and there have been a few leaks leading up to the reveal, including an image of what is surely the car’s key.

We’ve seen a picture of the same key floating around inside GM with a Cadillac logo on it.

When asked at the reveal of the 2020 Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V in June whether there will be a Cadillac version of the mid-engine Corvette, General Motors President Mark Reuss told Muscle Cars & Trucks, “we’ll see.”

However, last week Reuss told Muscle Cars & Trucks that no one has stuffed Cadillac’s 4.2-liter twin-turbo Blackwing V-8 into the new mid-engine Corvette.

That seemingly threw cold water on the idea of a Cadillac ‘Vette but did it?

As Gary Gastelu of Fox News pointed out, engineers wouldn’t necessarily need to physically drop an engine into a C8 Corvette to know if it fits. It could be done digitally.

The 4.2-liter twin-turbo V-8, known as Blackwing, is built at the Corvette’s plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Reuss has been clear that the engine is only for Cadillacs. To date, it’s been stuffed in the CT6-V, which will only see a few hundred built, and nothing else.

It’s possible the Blackwing will be used in a high-performance CT5-V that is coming, but beyond that, GM seems to have developed a new engine for very limited use and it is building it in the Corvette’s house? That doesn’t make sense.

These hints lead us to believe there just might be a Cadillac version of the mid-engine 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8.

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/...vette-stingray

[ltomn]

I'm inclined to believe that GM has been holding a lot more things close to the chest then we think! And, rightly so! With what a lot of people like to call a dwindling market of 2 seater sports cars, I'd be quiet about developments too. A luxury Cadillac based on a ME chassis, might be a money maker for the Corporation. If 500 here and 500 there is the new M.O. these days for Cadillac, so be it! They can become the boutique luxury division of GM.

[Mobius]

I'd like to see a mid-engine Caddy, with it's own unique styling and features.

Of course, it would likely cost more that the Corvette as well as having lower performance (HP).

Even when engines are shared across platforms, the Vette historically always gets the higher output version (e.g., the CTS-V’s LT4 640 hp versus the 650 HP Z06 LT4).

[John]

There certainly is room within BGA to build the car. However, they learned their lesson last time, how financially inefficient two separate lines within the Plant were. So this time with one combined line, but with some separate sub assembly areas (such as the instrument panel), they could also knock the price point for a Cadillac ME out of the park. Was this part of their thinking for adding a second shift?

A great place to reveal that car would be at the June 6, 2020 NAIAS auto show in Detroit, then start making them next fall. Right now they of course will say nothing as to diminish the excitement of the C8’s 66 years in the making, reveal.

Do I know anything or just wildly conjecturing here? Solely the latter.

[John]

Good points Mobius, though the Cadillac could have a Bvlgari dash clock.

[electroVette]

I don't believe the hot V Blackwing will ever make it into a mid-engine car. Since the shape of a ME engine bay permits mounting the turbos on the lower sides of a V8 there is no advantage to a hot V, yet many disadvantages, such as:
-A higher center of gravity.
-Concentrated heat in the engine valley which thermally stresses components and results in potential reliability issues (gaskets, valve seals, hoses, etc.).
-Less room for the larger turbos needed for high horsepower figures.

It would be a simple engineering change to flip the heads around, hang different turbos off the exhaust manifolds, and bolt on a couple big honkin' liquid-air intercoolers.

Thus it is my belief that if there is a Cadillac edition of the C8, it will share a DOHC V8TT engine architecture with the C8. Maybe the same engine, or perhaps a 4.2TT DOHC V8 for the Cadillac and a 5.5TT DOHC V8 for the Corvette Z models.

Still...I'm not sold on the existence of a Cadillac version of the C8, at least not like outline above. If there is one, I believe it will be an EV coupe based on the C8's platform but with an EV powertrain.

[JustOneMore]

This fob, which other than the emblem, is identical to the Vette fob released by R&T shows a power top button which IMO indicates a convertible from the start. Unless the targa coupe is retractable rather than lift off.

[John]

I don't believe the hot V Blackwing will ever make it into a mid-engine car. Since the shape of a ME engine bay permits mounting the turbos on the lower sides of a V8 there is no advantage to a hot V, yet many disadvantages, such as:
-A higher center of gravity.
-Concentrated heat in the engine valley which thermally stresses components and results in potential reliability issues (gaskets, valve seals, hoses, etc.).
-Less room for the larger turbos needed for high horsepower figures.

It would be a simple engineering change to flip the heads around, hang different turbos off the exhaust manifolds, and bolt on a couple big honkin' liquid-air intercoolers.

Thus it is my belief that if there is a Cadillac edition of the C8, it will share a DOHC V8TT engine architecture with the C8. Maybe the same engine, or perhaps a 4.2TT DOHC V8 for the Cadillac and a 5.5TT DOHC V8 for the Corvette Z models.

Still...I'm not sold on the existence of a Cadillac version of the C8, at least not like outline above. If there is one, I believe it will be an EV coupe based on the C8's platform but with an EV powertrain.

Good analysis/reasoning electroVette. Per your reasons, a hot V works well in a FE configuration, but a regular configuration works better for an ME.

[JB]

Would be cool if bowling green productivity would be improved with the addition of a rebodied cadillac c8 chassis and a cadillac powerplant was used
.
throw in a A10 torque convertor transmission...tied to a turbo v6 and turbo v8 ...that would be a smart play.

id never buy the cadillac version over the corvette but maybe some people would. Id imagine it would be a nice Cadillac showroom traffic builder.

i used to be a happy cadillac owner but when JDN picked up the reigns his ideology on cadillac pricing and Cadillac ownership ****ed me off.. he was like lets follow the audi model and raise the orices per model 7 or 8 grand and people will pay extra for that exclusivity...

i was like forget about this numbnuts...i want to get bent over Ill walk into a german car showroom and just buy an audi..

JDN s pricing strategy proved wrong and the brand has been walked away from quite a few cadillac faithfuls...

cool prodict will bring back many to at least look at the brand again...pricing needs to go back before JdN took the brand on a rollercoaster ride of European decent.(JDN s pricing strategy was insulting to cadillac faithful. I remember showing the product and explaining the cadillac pricing strategy and my wife a cadillac faithful owner walked away saying forget cadillac....and off to lexus and alfa romeo we went) that pricing strategy may have sounded good in the boardrooms but in the real world consumers were just realizing they were being ripped off!

i hope the new cadillac rear mid engine sports car comes out. I hope its a great luxury sports car with an opulent interior and beautiful sheet metal or composite body panels..i wouldnt touch one as its slant will ne luxury and then sports as a cadillac should be.

i hope it succeeds although rumor is the project went dead and the corvette team picked up the luxury appointments for a grand touring corvette c8...which will sell like crazy.,,

if cadillac rocks the c8 platform.....use it but dont bend over the potential customer base...

nobody is stupid especially those with the funding to buy a rear mid engine cadillac Audi R8 competitor,

thats what fca did with the last iteration of the viper....and thats exactly why it failed in the showroom..

consumers even loyal customers hate getting ripped off like stooges.

[ZORA 69]

Anytime Cadillac gets into the Sports Car world, they lose. Don't get me wrong I had a 93 Allante and a 2007 XLR. Though nice cars, Why buy one?? I wouldn't today. Especially if you can buy a Corvette with more performance at less money. There was always a limited market for Cadillac two seat sports cars and there always will be. Where would it be priced ?? at The ZR1 range?? The Zr1s are slow sellers with 2,500 on the ground and supposedly another 500 coming?? Can't tool up to make 3,000 cars.a year.unless they are in Ferrari price range territory. GM needs to pu their performance effort into the Corvette. They lose money on their performance efforts on the Cadillac.

[John]

Playing devils Advocate, what if the Cadillac came with super sound deadening, a 5LT interior, a nice Cadillac-brand front and rear fascia, and what you wanted it for was to go to the country club for dinner and similar, then they would easily sell 1,000-2,000 units per year and increase BGA utilization. IMO, nothing to lose but something to gain by GM doing this starting the 2021 model year.

[Mobius]

Good points Mobius, though the Cadillac could have a Bvlgari dash clock.

If that weren't enough, I've also hear a rumor that each buyer of a 2021(?) ME Caddy will receive a complimentary jar of Grey Poupon.

[Frenzy36]

[Frenzy36]

[meyerweb]

A couple of thoughts: With the market for cars (vs. trucks and SUVs/CUVs) dwindling, and the market for two-seaters nearly collapsing, I have a hard time believing GM is going to introduce two cars in that niche. OTOH, adding a Caddy that is differentiated enough from the Corvette to not steal C8 sales might keep the second shift rolling after initial demand for the C8 tapers off.

Differentiation would be critical, though. I think any Caddy based on the C8 would need to be much more luxurious, and much more expensive. And it would HAVE TO hold two full golf bags with wheels! Something that goes up against the Mercedes SL 500, maybe (starting price about $115K). Or the BMW I8 ($163k). Anything cheaper, and it's going to siphon sales from the Corvette, and GM learned its lesson about competing with itself.

But those are real niche markets, and I'm not sure GM wants to compete in such a low volume arena. And didn't Cadillac basically say it was going to change it's focus to become GM's premier electric vehicle division, and eliminate most of its sedans to focus on SUVs? I don't see an expensive two seater with a V8 fitting into that strategy.