Filed under: Supercars, Chevrolet, GM
2009 Corvette SS / Blue Devil in final stage of tuning
By golly, when Bob Lutz wants to make you feel good, he sure knows how to say all the right things. After hitting the pause button on GM's RWD cars -- a gut punch to GM fans waiting for some high horsepower goodies -- Lutz acknowledged the existence of the Blue Devil Corvette for the first time, and told Car and Driver that along with the Camaro, the Blue Devil has escaped the Reaper and is "in the final stages of tuning."
While saying that the development of the car has been challenging, he delivered a number of heartwarming quotables like "This thing has so much power that we have to explore a dynamic envelope that we've never explored before. . . . We're really into a speed and power realm that General Motors has never been in before. We're way up there with Porsche Carrera GTs and Ferraris."
What does that mean? It means more displacement than the Z06's 7.0L V8, but Lutz wouldn't say how much. It means "comfortably in excess of" 600 hp, but not quite 700, which GM's Head of Powertrain, Tom Stephens, says pehaps might come "in the second year." It means 0-to-60 in less than 3.4 seconds. And it means so much torque, Lutz says, that "we're obviously going to have to restrict it because otherwise you get nothing but wheelspin."
Lutz also wouldn't be cornered on an arrival date or the official name of the car, but rumors are 2009 and SS, Z07, or Stingray, along with a $100,000 price tag. Leave it to Bob to deliver that kind of good news on Friday the 13th.
[Source: Car and Driver]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Stealth E34 8:23PM (4/13/2007)
The ultimate American dream car. SWEET!!
Good for GM. Who cares about the CAFE emissions crap, produce this thing, and rub it in their hippy faces. Then build the RWD Impala and everything else.
Better yet, run them over with it at 60mph in a staggering 3.4 seconds.
Man I want one...
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Toy Yoda 8:31PM (4/13/2007)
No mention of a supercharger. Is this thing gonna be supercharged or normally aspirated?
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Chet 8:32PM (4/13/2007)
I love the idea of an uber-Vette...
...but I'd rather see GM build RWD sedans.
Sorry, Bob, this doesn't get you a pass for your BS "pause all RWD development" stunt.
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thetruck454 8:32PM (4/13/2007)
Its going to be a 6.2L OHV supercharged V8
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why not the LS2LS7? 8:54PM (4/13/2007)
It would be only natural that the Blue Devil would make 666HP.
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pd 9:19PM (4/13/2007)
Vette guys are quoting 680h.p. & 217m.p.h. and about 3000lbs. ROCKET SLED!!!
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Master Jedi Dan 9:27PM (4/13/2007)
Porsche is going to have a new contender on their hands. This thing will look to compete with the likes of the Turbo and the GT3.
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noah 9:51PM (4/13/2007)
I wants one!
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Ben 9:54PM (4/13/2007)
I'd like to see a head to head with the Ford GT. I'd bet the Vette would win in the comfort category.
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biturbo 10:25PM (4/13/2007)
Master Jedi Dan,
The current Corvette Z06 is already faster than Porsche Turbo and GT3. There are many tests done by car magazines and TV shows where Z06 won!
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Nick 10:27PM (4/13/2007)
"Its going to be a 6.2L OHV supercharged V8"
That's been the common belief, but in this article it says 'more displacement than the LS7', which would point to naturally aspirated.
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chris 10:52PM (4/13/2007)
biturbo, the Z06 and 911 Turbo are pretty even in terms of performance, neither car is comfortably faster than the other. This car looks far more likely to do battle with the 911 GT2 when they come out probably around the same time, a battle that'll probably be just as close as Z06/Turbo. I haven't seen any real comparisons between the Z06 and GT3 as it's insane to compare the cars when there's close enough to a 100hp difference and probably even more of a torque difference.
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bobdobbs 11:25PM (4/13/2007)
Just what GM needs to sustain its profitability: A low-volume, no-margin vehicle.
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zetha 11:37PM (4/13/2007)
did you miss the under the hood pic that was posted last month that clearly showed a supercharger
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Jay 12:25AM (4/14/2007)
Bobodobbs
You apparently haven't been paying attention! Do the terms "G8" "New Malibu" "Saturn Aura" "Saturn Astra" or hell even "Chevy Beat/Trax/Groove" ring any bells?
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Nick 3:46AM (4/14/2007)
"did you miss the under the hood pic that was posted last month that clearly showed a supercharger"
That was the red car right? As far as I know, the black mule is the only one that can legitimately be seen as the SS, and in fact, many are speculating that the red one wasn't an SS mule, merely a testbed for other things.
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bobby d 3:59AM (4/14/2007)
Jay, thank you for examples of cars GM hasn't made a dime selling. You can throw this new vette on that heap.
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Proud Japanese 5:29AM (4/14/2007)
The 997 Turbo is faster than the Z06 on the ring.
7:40 --- 161.217 km/h -- Porsche 997 Turbo, 480 PS/ ??? kg, Michelin Cup Sport tyres (Motortrend)
7:42.9 - 160.207 km/h -- Corvette Z06, 500 PS/1319 kg, Jan Magnusen, (Sporbilen, jun,26 05)
Pretty good result considering that the Z06 lap was by the factory test driver in a closed ring. Even he said that it was a lucky lap and he was doubtful he would get anywhere near it again.
Car and Driver also has done a direct comparo between the Z06 and GT3.
Z06 - 2:01:00
GT3 - 2:01:50
The Z06 beat the GT3 but not by much. Also notice the peak speed at the end of the start/finish straight is almost the same which is a surprise.
The cheaper Atom demolishes everything near it by miles.
Now that GM has resorted to forcefeeding the Vette, it makes me wonder how they are going to keep on top of the game. Viper is still NA and producing just as much as the SC vette. Stick a blower on Viper, how will the vette be able to compete.
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Nick 5:41AM (4/14/2007)
"Now that GM has resorted to forcefeeding the Vette, it makes me wonder how they are going to keep on top of the game. Viper is still NA and producing just as much as the SC vette. Stick a blower on Viper, how will the vette be able to compete."
The Viper is running 2 more cylinders with an extra 1.3L over the Z06... And if you even bothered to read the article, you'd notice that nowhere was it mentioned that the car would be supercharged, but rather that it would have more displacement than the 7.0L Z06, which would indicate a normally aspirated engine, rather than the smaller displacement supercharged engine that was widely believed to be in store for the Blue Devil.
As far as your comment about the Atom, that's entirely moot. Strip the body panels off, and interior out, and I'm sure the Z06 would perform a hell of a lot better too.
And the GT3? It's a stripped out and caged club-spec racer, so again, comparing it is kind of silly. And the 997 Turbo 'Ring lap? The tires it was on are pretty much as close as you can get to street-legal racing tires, compared to the Z06's Goodyear run-flats. And tires will make a -hell- of a difference on that track.
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Proud Japanese 5:55AM (4/14/2007)
"As far as your comment about the Atom, that's entirely moot. Strip the body panels off, and interior out, and I'm sure the Z06 would perform a hell of a lot better too."
Then, why hasn't anyone done it? Your comment is tantamount to watching some impressive feat and saying "oh, i could have done that".
About the vette being SC or NA, all the spy shots have shown that it's going to be SCed. Right now there is no valid reason to doubt otherwise. If it is indeed NA then good for them. At least they are getting more than 500hp from the massive 7L.
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