Automotive News / Industry / Future Vehicle Discussion Automotive news and discussion about upcoming vehicles

Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Old May 23, 2006 | 12:13 PM
  #16  
Z28x's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 10,285
From: Albany, NY
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Lutz has already said the C7 will be hear sooner since the C6 is LH drive only and GMs goal is the sell more Vettes over seas. If the C6 steering wheel could be on either side, that generation would be around a few years longer IMO.

C7 = 2010?
Old May 23, 2006 | 12:23 PM
  #17  
Darth Xed's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 8,504
From: Ohio
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

If the interview I posted a little while ago with Mr. Wallace tolds true.... it sounds like C7's target date was MY 2011... I'd imagine that is a pretty "floating" target at this point, though.

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=448092
Old May 23, 2006 | 03:10 PM
  #18  
CLEAN's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,574
From: Arlington, Texas
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Originally Posted by Darth Xed
If the interview I posted a little while ago with Mr. Wallace tolds true.... it sounds like C7's target date was MY 2011... I'd imagine that is a pretty "floating" target at this point, though.

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=448092
This may have been where I read it, but I had thought the C7 could be here as early as 2010 as a MY2011.

Congrats on the 10,000 posts! Now put the keyboard down and go get a life!
Old May 23, 2006 | 03:14 PM
  #19  
Darth Xed's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 8,504
From: Ohio
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Originally Posted by CLEAN

Congrats on the 10,000 posts! Now put the keyboard down and go get a life!




Old May 23, 2006 | 03:40 PM
  #20  
Eric Bryant's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,400
From: Michigan's left coast
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Originally Posted by 91_z28_4me
Umm I don't know what you are smoking but it takes money to go from scratch to production and it takes mountains of more money to do it faster.
There's this stuff called "technology" that is really changing the world, including the way we design cars. I'd recommend checking into it.

One of the biggest advantages I see to shortened model cycles is that it allows a platform to steadily evolve, as opposed to coming out with an entirely new vehicle that leapfrogs everything on the market, languishes for a decade, and eventually falls so far behind that there's no choice but to re-invent everything at once. If we look at the big picture, I'm positive that shorter model cycles allow an automaker to make more money, if properly managed.

All that being said, it would seem a bit premature to start holding one's breath in anticipation of the C7.
Old May 23, 2006 | 04:11 PM
  #21  
Bert02SS
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

While lurking on the corvetteforum board, it seems there will be very few changes in the '07--a new atomic orange paint, steering wheel radio controls, two-tone optional seats, and the like. It was rumored that the '08 will have a 425 HP LS2, though.
Old May 23, 2006 | 04:40 PM
  #22  
JakeRobb's Avatar
Super Moderator
 
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 9,507
From: Okemos, MI
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

C1: 1953-1962: 10 years
C2: 1963-1967: 5 years
C3: 1968-1982: 15 years
C4: 1983-1996: 14 years
C5: 1997-2004: 8 years

To me, that doesn't look consistent enough to draw any kind of conclusion about the lifecycle tendencies.
Old May 23, 2006 | 04:59 PM
  #23  
Threxx's Avatar
Thread Starter
Registered User
 
Joined: Sep 1998
Posts: 4,320
From: Memphis
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Originally Posted by JakeRobb
C1: 1953-1962: 10 years
C2: 1963-1967: 5 years
C3: 1968-1982: 15 years
C4: 1983-1996: 14 years
C5: 1997-2004: 8 years

To me, that doesn't look consistent enough to draw any kind of conclusion about the lifecycle tendencies.
The C2 was never really considered a 100% redesign anyway from the C1. It was what, today, would be more likely considered a "mid cycle refresh". It was done because the market for the Vette had become very clear. What was in the beginning just a fun family roadster, GM wanted to transform into a class-leading beast of a muscle car. C2 was the stop-gap measure for that.

So if you think about it in that sense it'd be more like 15, 15, 14, 8. I'll put money on 6 or 7 years this time around.
Old May 23, 2006 | 05:10 PM
  #24  
CLEAN's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,574
From: Arlington, Texas
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Originally Posted by Threxx
The C2 was never really considered a 100% redesign anyway from the C1. It was what, today, would be more likely considered a "mid cycle refresh". It was done because the market for the Vette had become very clear. What was in the beginning just a fun family roadster, GM wanted to transform into a class-leading beast of a muscle car. C2 was the stop-gap measure for that.

So if you think about it in that sense it'd be more like 15, 15, 14, 8. I'll put money on 6 or 7 years this time around.
??? C2 was a COMPLETELY new car. New frame, body, interior....C3 used the C2 chassis, maybe you meant C3?
Old May 23, 2006 | 07:00 PM
  #25  
HAZ-Matt's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,000
From: TX Med Ctr
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Originally Posted by CLEAN
??? C2 was a COMPLETELY new car. New frame, body, interior....C3 used the C2 chassis, maybe you meant C3?
Yep.
Old May 23, 2006 | 07:22 PM
  #26  
Threxx's Avatar
Thread Starter
Registered User
 
Joined: Sep 1998
Posts: 4,320
From: Memphis
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Originally Posted by CLEAN
??? C2 was a COMPLETELY new car. New frame, body, interior....C3 used the C2 chassis, maybe you meant C3?

I've heard time and time again that C2 was more of a 'refresh'. Maybe I heard wrong or remember what I heard wrong.

Was it the C1 that shared its chassis with an already existing vehicle, thus the C2 was the first unique Vette.
Old May 23, 2006 | 07:49 PM
  #27  
centric's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,022
From: Newhall, CA USA
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Originally Posted by Threxx

I've heard time and time again that C2 was more of a 'refresh'. Maybe I heard wrong or remember what I heard wrong.

Was it the C1 that shared its chassis with an already existing vehicle, thus the C2 was the first unique Vette.
The C2 was the first clean-sheet design . . . the chassis was carried on essentially unchanged in the C3, with the exception of how the rear frame rails were configured.
Old May 23, 2006 | 07:55 PM
  #28  
unvc92camarors's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,769
From: cinci
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Originally Posted by Threxx
Hybrid systems seem like they have the ability to add quite a punch to low end torque... like the lower the RPM the better. I wonder if somebody might use that to their advantage but instead of trying to gather any fuel economy from it and saddle the car down with heavy high storage battery packs, they'd just use a couple of small batteries, or heck, maybe just capacitors for that matter, so that every time you hit the brakes you recharged the car's capacitors and got some extra juice off the line?
The Z06 has 475 ft/lb TQ. Do we need any more low end punch?
Old May 23, 2006 | 08:32 PM
  #29  
CLEAN's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,574
From: Arlington, Texas
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Originally Posted by Threxx

I've heard time and time again that C2 was more of a 'refresh'. Maybe I heard wrong or remember what I heard wrong.

Was it the C1 that shared its chassis with an already existing vehicle, thus the C2 was the first unique Vette.
C1 was kind of a 50's version of what the Solstice did. It used a unique chassis, but lots of off the shelf parts for the cars systems. The C2 was completely new. Had what was at the time a very sophisticated chassis, the first IRS in the Corvette, first 4 wheel disc brakes (in 1965) and the first coupe, all previous Corvettes were verts. C3 used the C2 chassis and suspension w/ a few minor tweaks, and carryover powertrains, save for the automatic transmission. C3 had a new body and interior. C4 and C5 were radicaly new. C6, in terms of new content, is pretty radically changed from C5 too, but instead of something revolutionary like the birdcage C4, and the backbone C5, the C6 took the basic C5 concept and refined it, using mostly new parts.
Old May 24, 2006 | 07:08 AM
  #30  
WERM's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 1,873
From: South Jersey
Re: Has the life cycle of the Corvette been shortened?

Originally Posted by Threxx
Hybrid systems seem like they have the ability to add quite a punch to low end torque... like the lower the RPM the better. I wonder if somebody might use that to their advantage but instead of trying to gather any fuel economy from it and saddle the car down with heavy high storage battery packs, they'd just use a couple of small batteries, or heck, maybe just capacitors for that matter, so that every time you hit the brakes you recharged the car's capacitors and got some extra juice off the line?
Peak torque of an electric motor occurs at 0 rpm.

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:34 AM.