From Autoweek:


Corvette Chat: C6 chief Dave Hill shares what he can with us at Le Mans


By MATT DAVIS


Corvette chief engineer Dave Hill says GM's recent Le Mans campaigns in the C5-R Corvette have aided in the development of the upcoming C6.
Look for the next-generation Corvette, the C6 due in fall 2004, to benefit mightily from General Motors’ campaigns with the C5-R at Le Mans in the past few years. Dave Hill, Corvette chief engineer and the man behind the C5, C6 and coming C6-R, says aerodynamics, technology and the use of lightweight materials have carried over from the C5-R racing program to the 2005 model C6.

“Engine power,” says Hill, during an interview in the pits at Le Mans. “Just getting more and more out of the small-block V8. A broader power range, more of it, and more power per liter. We’re doing it through breathing and camshaft changes, drive dynamics and lighter-weight valvetrains.”

For the first time, C5-Rs at Le Mans this year ran clutchless five-speed sequential Hewland transmissions with steering wheel controls, but Hill isn’t sure if the same setup will find its way into the C6.

“We don’t really have the Hewland sequential shifter strategy worked out so far as an application for the C6,” says Hill. “Everyone’s got one form or another of gimmicky transmission controls. We’d rather be technically correct than just doing things because of popularity. Our customers are kind of divided into the camps of, ‘I wanna shift every shift’ and, ‘Just a straight automatic.’

Our cars, given the amount of torque, do just great with a standard auto. But we’ll see. If we can do a really good sequential in the future, we will, but it’s still a work in progress.

The dual-clutch is a real breakthrough, though I have not driven the Audis [with Direct Shift Gearbox]. I personally don’t find the Cambiocorsa [of Ferrari] to be ideal. The shift operation is kind of slow for me.”

Hill says all these engineering finer points will be decided one way or the other by Thanksgiving, to allow for the public christening of the new Vette at the 2004 Detroit auto show in January and the subsequent start of production.

At least one thing has been resolved for the Z06 C6: It will wear run-flat tires.

“The technology has come a ways and the tires now weigh a lot less,” says Hill. “This will let us eliminate the spare tire and add cargo space. You can run 200 miles on a punctured run-flat now and we have commitments from manufacturers that getting a replacement will be as easy as finding a normal tire nationwide.”

Corvette fans waiting for the C6 can use the time productively by picking up one of only 2000 Le Mans Commemorative Editions of the outgoing C5 Corvette available in North America (Europe gets 150). The car is fundamentally an LS1 with all the Z06 performance bits and a lightweight carbon composite hood created by MacLean Quality Composites in Utah. The dominant blue on the fiberglass body is called—by permission of the Automobile Club d’Ouest (the governing body of the 24 Hours of Le Mans)—Le Mans Blue.

“It’s the first time that such a Class-A carbon fiber hood panel has been used on a production series car,” Hill says. “The stripe of raw carbon fiber mesh in the center of the panel is actually a decal, not the weave of fibers in the hood—the technique used is stacked sheets of carbon mono-filament. You can get the car without any of the stripes if you like.”

So what’s Hill planning for next year’s C6-R? GM has budgeted two more years for the Corvette Racing program—and given that Ferrari won the GTS class at Le Mans this year and spoiled the Corvette three-peat, you can bet Chevy’s 2004 effort will be a major one. Lips are sealed on all sides, but we do hear that the high-strength steel chassis of the C5-R will change to tubular aluminum in the C6-R. Should make for a fairly different personality accelerating out of Tertre Rouge and the two chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight.

 

My favorite part.

 

I've liked everything I've read and seen about C6 so far... except maybe two things, and they are both in the looks department so far:

1) From those spy shots of those Beta cars, assuming they are not a misrepresentation of the actual C6, it looks like Corvette will have the exact same looking door handle 'notches' as XLR... at the price levels of Corvette and XLR, there should be no obvious visual links between the two.

2) Again, assuming the rampant exposed headlamp rumor is true.... . . . . I just can't swallow that pill. To me concealed headlamps are as much a part of Corvette design and style as quad taillamps are.

 

Sequential manumatics do nothing for me.

I wanna row my own.

Then again, I don't care if you put a Powerglide in it as long as it is hellaciously fast.




You know... I just realized I might not be the typical buyer for cars... hmmm....

 

Its time to let the flip-up headlights go. They are heavy, have many quatily issues, wind resistance when on and that leads to decreased fuel economy, more wind noise, and decreased stability at freeway speeds.

While true the flip up headlights have been a Corvette trademark since 1963 its time to move on.
In the effort to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of porformance the C6 will benefit from the fixed headlights.

Hard to get used too, sure but unliveable not really.

 

Throw my vote with the row it yourself crowd.

More C6 info from today's the car connection:

C6 ‘Vette Schedule Revealed

One of the most important of those launches – from a prestige, rather than volume standpoint – will be the next-generation Corvette, known internally as the C6. There have been countless rumors in recent months, along with a few spy shots, and not all that hitting the media is close to accurate, General Motors officials insisted during a series of interviews at the Vette’s 50th anniversary bash in Nashville last weekend.

Those involved in the project were relatively tight-lipped, though some details did emerge, including the C6 roll-out schedule, which will start with a media preview at the Detroit Auto Show next January. The next-generation coupe will appear in showrooms at the start of the ’05 model year, and before 2006 is out, there will be a new convertible and an updated Z06. The original plan was to have the coupe out in fall 2003 as an ’04, but spending cutbacks following 9/11 put things on hold. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, according to Gary Cowger, president of GM’s North American operations, who says it let them “put some significant tweaks into the car.”

Expect “more of everything,” adds GM “car czar,” Bob Lutz, including a good bit more horsepower. A base 400-plus horsepower appears a certainty, and with 500 hp being the new industry benchmark, that’s expected to be the Z06 starting point. “The bar has been raised” at all levels, Chief Engineer Dave Hill underscores, so even the C6 interior will have to be world-class.

Design, stresses recently retired designer Jerry Palmer, will be evolutionary, rather than revolutionary. Lutz let slip that the C6’s wheels will be moved a bit closer to the corners, the goal of every sports car development team. The bottom line, says Palmer, is that the next Vette will have to be a truly global competitor, “but we always try to retain the Corvette signature inside and out.” —Paul A. Eisenstein

 

Perhaps it is time to move on from "pop up" headlamps, but there are other ways to "conceal" headlamps...

Maybe a "shutter" that could slide or roll over a fixed headlamp... or something like that. The lamp would be concealed, and not be an aerodynamic hinderance... though I question any fool who is doing 140 MPH in the dark when headlamps are needed anyway.


The weight issue is true, but sometimes a comprimise should be made if it is important to the car, which, I feel hidden headlamps are...

Just my two pennies....

 

Corvette fans waiting for the C6 can use the time productively by picking up one of only 2000 Le Mans Commemorative Editions of the outgoing C5 Corvette available in North America (Europe gets 150). The car is fundamentally an LS1 with all the Z06 performance bits and a lightweight carbon composite hood created by MacLean Quality Composites in Utah. The dominant blue on the fiberglass body is called—by permission of the Automobile Club d’Ouest (the governing body of the 24 Hours of Le Mans)—Le Mans Blue.

“It’s the first time that such a Class-A carbon fiber hood panel has been used on a production series car,” Hill says. “The stripe of raw carbon fiber mesh in the center of the panel is actually a decal, not the weave of fibers in the hood—the technique used is stacked sheets of carbon mono-filament. You can get the car without any of the stripes if you like.”

I got a chance to see one of these Le Mans Commemorative C5s this past weekend at the ALMS event at Road Atlanta. I have to say that the blue looks alot better in person than in some of the pictures I've seen, but it also looked like the same color blue that was on the Jeff Gordon edition Monte that was parked next to it. Also on display was the Fellows, O'Connell, Freon C5R from Le Mans so I got to comparing the two C5s which got me to thinking. Instead of getting a 5K dollar carbon fiber version of the stock hood, why not put on a hood that looks like the C5R hood with the air inlets and vents over the wheels? They must be available somewhere because I saw a Millenium yellow C5 with a hood like that as I was leaving the track. As a matter of fact, it also had the same fixed headlight setup that the C5R was sporting as well. Just my .02 worth.