"Blue Devil" Corvette spotted at Nurburgring
The concept here is simple. Start with the already stunning Corvette Z06. Add a supercharger to its 7-liter V8, yielding something north of 600 HP. Use enough carbon fiber to bring the weight down to 2900 lbs or so (about the weight of a Cobalt SS). Call it the Blue Devil, charge approximately $100,000, and let the debate begin. Will it be the fastest vehicle for the money? Almost certainly. Will it be "exclusive" enough to justify the price; that is, does it look too much like its more pedestrian siblings? Frankly, I don't care. It could look like a minivan, and I'd still want one. Rumor from a year or so ago had it that GM was having difficulty getting the lower end to survive at those power levels (keep in mind just how stringent WOT testing is at the OEM level), but it's reasonable to think that they've figured out how to fix those problems by now. Look for this in the 2007 model year.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
hugh 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
This car is definitely for real. I hear it is putting out about 650 HP with the current tuning. A guy I know who drove it told me it was "insane". This is the same guy who told me the new Z06 is "much more than most people could handle".
Bring it on!
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Sid Ghosh 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
DROOOOLLLLLLLLL.
Go GM!!!
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Dustin Tarditi 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
High performer... but still a Corvette.
The Vette is a hold-out musclecar with Exotic-envy.
The performance stats are impressive - certainly supercar caliber, but it lacks the refined design and 'je ne se qua' that make exotics so darned exotic. Perhaps it's simple the roots that hold it back... perhaps more celebs need to have them to be more coveted and revered.
The z06 is certainly doing well in the race circuits, but it's a long way from having the class and "oooh" factor of Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Maserati.
Maybe Corvette just needs to stand on it's own as the king of the musclecar hill (handily dispatching vipers, mustangs, chargers, and the like) and quite trying to compete with the "higher bred" cars. People will still buy 'Vette merchandise and calendars and stuff like that.
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Adam 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
WOW!!!
So, Enzo has 660 hp, weighs 3009 lbs., and costs ~ $650,000.
Blue Devil Corvette has 600-650 hp, weighs 2900lbs., and costs ~ $100,000.
I can't wait for the Motor Trend "6 for 1" Comparo!
Say whatever you want about the rest of GMs line, but damn these boys know how to build an exciting sports car.
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Ryan Hunt 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
Uhm.yeah. Well, while the P-car, Ferarri, and Lambo owners pass the Grey Poupon, enjoying the legacy of their refinement, Ill rest assured that I can still afford my own. No need to pass the Poupon this way.
Oh, and I could probably get from 0 to the grocery store faster than those exotics too (at least many of the ones under 350K).
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hugh 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
Dustin, don't be hatin'. Certainly, this is "still" a Corvette - but that is a good thing. It means that it will be a reliable, daily driver with low maintenance costs and decent fuel economy. I mean, the current Z06 holds it's own against some of the best in the world already. The new Z06 should outperform all but the very highest of performance supercars. The new SS (Blue Devil) will be nearly unparalleled regardless of price.
I think most would agree that it is easier to make a $300,000+ supercar than a $100,000 supercar. Comparing it to Mustangs and Chargers is a joke, right?
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Shawn 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
Dustin, ummm....why would you think a Vette is a muscle car?
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Chris Jezewski 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
Dustin,
The main thing that keeps the Corvette out of the league of the exotics is cost, and a history of being relatively low-cost. For celebs and the ultra-rich, the Corvette, even this one, is too cheap, therefore it doesn't have the exclusivity factor. It doesn't say, "Look how rich I am!" I already have a beautiful wife-to-be and I don't need to impress anyone else. With my money, I for one would rather look at those expensive exotics in my rear view mirror...
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ronbo 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
Part of the je ne sais quoi is the haut prix and the interior refinement that comes with it. A Porsche really does look special, even if it's numbers are no better than the Vette's. At $50k, no one cares if a Vette looks like a Malibu on the inside. At $100k, folks will care a little more. Corvette's traditional value proposition will not be as relevant at the higher price point.
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Dustin Tarditi 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
Good points - of course the vette isn't a musclecar, but the vette provided the yardstick to which they were measured.
The biggest problem production US sports cars have suffered, IMHO, is their inability to do anything shy of go fast in a straight line... the vette has finally ironed out some of these dynamic design issues compared with production costs, go on a diet, add some comfort, etc.
I will give it props in those regards - I'm sticking to my guns that it's a great performer, but it's common roots will hold it back in certain circles.
The blue devil will be collectable, any expensive, limited production car almost certainly attracts collectors. The price isn't so expensive that it'll be unobtainable by regular people (not just celebs and the uber rich), but there will be a contingent (mea culpa) that would rather have a european performance car than a souped-up vette for the same money.
That said, I concede (I actually never agrued against it) that the Z06 is a great sports car - the best performing production car all-around (there's a subjective qualifier!) that the US has made... as the vette gets more and more expensive, though, it's forced to compete with markets it's not accostomed to... I think GM can't effectively work in those eschelons, personally.
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Phunk 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
I'm sorry, but I think the 'vette is blas? Sure it's got great handling, and it's even got decent horsepower, but I just don't like the package or the demographic.
Personally I would pull a Leno and just rip off the body and put like an old Chevy on it, say '53 or '54.
Anyone can buy one of these vanilla cars, but to actually have something that no one else is driving on the road, priceless.
So, keep your vettes. I don't want one; I don't want a Harley either. I'll take the road less traveled.
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Adam 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
Hey Dustin,
you wrote:
"but there will be a contingent (mea culpa) that would rather have a european performance car than a souped-up vette for the same money."
That I think is the whole point. There is no "for the same price". In order to get this kind of performance, you have to spend at least $450,000 for the Carrera GT, and I'm not even sure that car will stand up to a Blue Devil Vette. The new Z06 is already going to go toe to toe with the Lambo Murci, and gets pretty damn close to the F430 in all around performance. Add 100-150 hp, lose 100 lbs., and put even larger rubber all around, and the only kid on the block that'll run with it is going to be the Enzo. At 6.5x the price. This car has the ability to not only be the best American Sports car ever made, but maybe one of the top 3 best sports cars ever made, period.
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Tom W 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
That front end looks badass. Unfortunately, the speed bumps on Chicago side streets would tear it apart.
It would be cool to have some way to raise the ground clearance temporarily with a switch on the dash.
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Dustin Tarditi 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
In that range?
I would personally rather have a 997-GT3.
As I stated before - I'm actually quite impressed that we can finally make a production sports car that can go fast *and* handle a turn like the Z06.
I love the USA and am hugely patriotic, just very dissappointed that the US has had such a hard time making "desirable" cars as readily as Europe (and now, Asia).
Anyway - we're all getting ahead of ourselves - lets look at how many of these bad boys Lutz makes (if any, but it looks probable)... and where the pricing falls. Maybe it's just a homologation trick... or worse - a tease just to stir up interest.
I would also be curious to see if these things are only happy on the track - you can make a car fast (that's the easier part), you can make it handle on track surfaces (more difficult) - can you make it drivable for the non-pro pilot?
I can see it now - a sun visor sticker "warning this car is wicked fast... failure to respect it will cause you to die in a manner resembling a bug on a windshield"
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Paul 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
How long will the stress of a supercharger allow this bucket of bolts to stay together. As they are corvettes lay down a trail of parts behind them. The blue devil just may be the fastest car to the service department.
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Robert 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
Im very disappointed by the snobbery here. If anyone questions the Corvettes pedigree all that needs to be said is Le Mans. End of argument, have a good day.
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djteqneek 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
adam,
if you ever watch top gear on bbc, they test cars against one another all the time. about your lambo murci comment, the show pitted an evo fq400 against the lambo, was able to perform just as well. the evo only has a 2 liter 400 hp engine, but was able to stay with the lambo which has 3 times the cylinders and cubic capacity. cornering is what makes a car.
and the best american sports car ever made was the saleen s7, nuff said :)
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hitbyastick 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
Sorry but I think that car is awesome! American made cars are lacking in cachet, but I do know some Europeans drool over our cars just like we drool over theirs.
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Adam 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
djteqneek,
I don't get BBC here stateside, but I am sure that I would watch said show if I was across the pond. Yes, cornering is what makes the car, and the reason that your fq400 cornered so much better than the Lambo was because it weighs 400 lbs less. The new Z06 is about 50 lbs. lighter than the fq400, and even though it doesn't have AWD, I imagine that it will hang with the super mitsu around a track. If the Vette was all about straight line speed, you wouldn't see such gargantuan FRONT tires (tyres) on the new Z06, nor the massive disc brakes. That car was made for the twisties, but I'll hold off on final judgment until we actually see some tests.
As for this rumored Blue Devil, if it were to gain 100-150 hp and lose another 250 lbs. off of the Z06, I imagine it's be showing the fq400 its tail lights on pretty much any track that wasn't made of dirt.
As for the Saleen S7 (which I mistakenly overlooked when comparing Blue Devil to near performers), its a nice car, but with an extra 100 hp and only 150 lbs more weight, I'd think the S7 would have a good challenge from the ($300,000 cheaper) Blue Devil. Again, we'll have to see when it comes out (hopefully). Either way, this can be nothing but good news to those of us that lust over the many cars we'll never be able to afford.
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Dude 10:25PM (12/18/2005)
I wonder what its lap times were (granted, it's a test car).
I know that until recently the Porsche Carrera GT held the unofficial lap record at the Nurburgring. I think that if the success of the Vettes in international racing are any indicator, then this "Blue Monster" vette could be right up there with the absolutely fastest cars in the world.
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