Mid-engined 2020 Corvette Hailed by Car and Driver as ”An Engineering Moonshot”

It's undeniable that all of us here at Chuck Hutton Chevy of Memphis have been waiting for the C8 Corvette's official arrival even more intently than a golden retriever watching for their beloved owner by the window! The seasoned car specialists on duty at Car and Driver provided an in-depth look at the C8 on their blog this past week and wondered aloud if the job of playing with this new toy will exceed the 60 or so years of anticipated excitement surrounding its release.

Since it's mid-engined, it bears resemblance to amazing and eye-popping autos such as a Ferrari F8 Tributo or a McLaren 720S, with some sweeping visual lines that put it in a completely separate category right off the bat from the outgoing C7. There's no manual transmission this time around, which we know some purists won't greatly appreciate. Believe it or not, the very first 'Vette back in 1953 only offered an automatic, and the current model sports an 8-speed dual clutch made by industry masters Tremec. Leaf springs are finally completely a thing of the past, and all four corners are on coil springs between control arms.

While situated in an entirely new location in the frame, the V-8 itself is a pretty familiar staple: dubbed the LT2, most internal grave details and fundamental structure remains the same as the LT1's. The engine now breathes from the rear, courtesy of stainless steel exhaust manifolds, and every model has a dry-sump lubrication system. The ante is upped aggressively to 495 horsepower for total output, with 470 lb-ft of torque. The word on the street and deep in the pits is that the Z51 Performance Package allows the C8 to complete the zero to 60 spring in less than 3.0 seconds, which easily makes it one of the fastest Corvettes ever built.

The center tunnel of the C8 is aluminum and does away with the rails in favor of an advanced backbone structure. The rear bumper beam and underbody close-out panel are the two carbon fiber pieces that made it to production, and minus the top, the C8 is 19 percent torsionally stiffer than the C7, while also having about 100 extra pounds of weight. The FE1 is the base trim, built to be an aggressive everyday driver for those who “don't need a hero engineered into their shock absorbers or summer-only tires”. One step up from that is the FE3, which provides the Z51 Performance package, electronic limited-slip differential, larger brake discs, while still holding on to conventional shocks.

The top trim is the FE4, which takes the FE3 kit and adds the modern engineering feat of magnetorheological adaptive dampers. The front fenders still finish to that characteristic peak, and the hind end swells out before tucking almost indignantly in. The face has a bit of new unique flavor with the engine-coolant heat exchangers on the C8 mounted on each side of the nose. We have really appreciated the raw enthusiasm that has been so evident in regards to this release, and Car and Driver's wrap on the feature was the sentiment stemming from individuals who have just been gifted something profound as they claim that “it's time to rip this thing open and play hard. Very, Very hard.”