Don't forget that it also must get 50 MPG and have the cargo space of an Expedition.

 

I think what 77 doesn't get is that you can't simply drop a smallblock in a Solstice and sell it to the public. Every last bit of the drive train - from the flywheel to the diff cover will need to be replaced/ redone. Cooling will need to be beefed up. Revisions in the engine cradle will be required. All sorts of suspension changes. Etc., etc., etc......... the list goes on and on........


In the end, it won't cost $22K. It'll cost MUCH more. When you're done, you'll have a 7/8ths scale Corvette at 8/8ths the cost and 5/8ths the performance.


My advice. Get the hose-out Silverado.

 

Wasn't a big powerful V8 in a light two seat roadster that was not designed for it the recipe that made the Shelby Cobra so great. I am not saying GM should do it, but it would be neat to see a company do it in a more attainable manner than Mallet.

 

That is the Corvette. It is the best bang for the buck in performance. A V8 Solstice will not handle as well as a base Corvette because it won't be balanced.

 

I think you're glossing over a few things there bub.

First, the Solstice's curb weight complete with 4 cylinder is just under 2900 pounds. A Z06 is 3130, but it's loaded with expensive titanium, alumunum, and carbon fiber. A regular Corvette runs about 3250, again with widespread use of more expensive alumunum, components like sandwiched balsa wood floors.

A good rule of thumb in figuring how much weight a V8 adds over a 4 cylinder is perhaps the only car that had both, the later years Fox Mustang. A 4 cylinder hatchback ran about 2800 pounds. An LX ran over 3300 pounds. An LS1 engine alone with accessories weighs about 425-450 pounds, I'm guessing roughly 175 pounds +/- over an Ecotec.

Unfortunately, you simply cant bolt an engine with 340 lbs/ft of torque to a tranny & drivetrain engineered to handle 166 lbs/ft or even 260 plus the margin GM mandates without the added weight of beefier components. The Mustang gained 500 pounds by adding the small block V8. It's probally fair to say that a V8 Solstice would gain a minimum of 400 pounds, putting it at an easy 3300 pounds, actually making it heavier than a Corvette.

Put in an LS2 or LS7, and as mentioned, you're talking even more weight. Hardly the lightweight car.


The turbo GXP weighing a near even 3000 pounds with 260 horses & equal number in torque is likely going to be much quicker than the 4.8 V8, and at least as quick if not perhaps quicker than the 5.3 you propose (and perhaps even better fuel mileage to boot) due to the weight difference vs the difference in horses and torque.

As I said before, a V8 and more power isn't the answer to everything. Charlie nailed the other part of the equasion. Price. Take the cost of developing and certifying parts for a V8 Solstice, spread the cost over the minute number of models you'd sell, along with enough profit to make the whole thing worthwile, and you're easily talking $30 grand...... and I'd venture to say that's a lowball guess.

Cheap LS1 base level Camaros didn't sell. Cheap base level Mustang GTS didn't sell. GM researched and found a cheap base level high performance Corvette would flop (what the Z06 was initially supposed to be), and as Charlie put it, a 7/8 scale Corvette selling at 8/8 the price with 7/8s the performance is going to rot on the lots..... ESPECIALLY when that buyer can get the REAL THING (a few year old Corvette still under warranty!!) for the same price.



On the 2nd issue about being surprized about us "oldtimers" reaction, in the 60s more powered=more displacement. Back then, if you wanted high horsepower that meant V8s & more displacement. You didn't have fuel concerns, 100,000 mile warranties, and you especially didn't have high tech, high revving, lightweight, small turbocharged fours in small fun to drive sport cars that could run with V8s. No one wants a "straight line" one trick pony anymore.

I can only speak for myself when I say that the performance world isn't any more made out of only V8s than they are only made out of 192" long, 75" wide, 3550 pound doorstops. I've owned a series of supercharged V6s, and although I also have owned an even longer list of high powered V8s, I think the blown 6s fit the cars they were in. I'd also love a turbo 4 in a small, lightweight, tossable car if it were RWD, sporty, well built, and easy to mod.


Older guys, younger guys, it's all irrelevent. A V8 Solstice would ruin what the car is all about. Like has been said already, leave the V8 to the tuners.

 

Yes.
It can be done.
It will be done(low 13s). And someone will kick themselves for not doing it.

Well, I'm confused because that car is all about markups.

 

And you guys thought the v-8 in the Camaros was a tight fit...I could only imagine how fun it would be to work on this: