Why does the next Corvette have to be mid-engined??

So I keep seeing articles popping up on my Facebook feed saying that the C8 Corvette will be Mid-Engined. Yes, I know we've been hearing it for years and there has been numerous concept cars and prototypes, but supposedly rumors are that it's going to happen for the C8. (Honestly I'll believe it when I see it)

So my question is why? What is wrong with what they have now? I keep hearing that the C7 is the best handling Corvette ever and the upcoming ZL1 is just bonkers.

Is the RWD platform just that bad for making a sports car? Is it yesterday's news and mid-engined is the only way to compete?

WHY GOD, WHY???

Gm has been saying that they will make the next vette rear engined for what 30 years? Just keep sending hate mail and death threats to the ceo and they wont do anything drastic. Same thing when they said they would make the vette a rotary.

The 60s were thirty years ago? (does math, checks birth date) ...Yeah that sounds about right!

If you believe the FD RX-7 fanboys brainwashed by Mazda marketing, the Corvettes are already mid engined and therefore the perfectest awesomething ever to be made in metal. Er, plastic.

If GM is smart, when they do go mid-engined, it will be transverse. Lower polar moment of inertia and a heckuvalot easier to work on.

chiodos wrote: Gm has been saying that they will make the next vette rear engined for what 30 years?

They made show cars of mid engine Corvettes for many years, gong back the CERV series of cars, but not too many test mules undergoing chassis testing. Until now:

And of course, now that they have been racing mid engine Corvettes in prototype sports car racing, they have a track-to-street precedent that they never had for any of the other show cars...

The notion that whatever mid-engine car GM is developing will actually replace the front-engine Corvette, rather than an addition to, appears to be little more than speculation. Logically, it seems especially unlikely to me...Of course, I've been wrong a lot lately too.

Because GM... they will do that.

How about GM mulling building a Wrangler competitor...

http://wot.motortrend.com/1501_gm_mulling_jeep_wrangler_competitor_for_gmc.html

I can get any vehicle maker throwing stuff out there for industry/ consumer feedback, I doubt GM will do either.

Edit: in other news, Bruce Jenner is transitioning into a female. So there.

Anything I've seen seems to be suggesting that GM will build two Corvettes, the front engine will be the bulk of production and the mid-engine will be a special, high end version. I haven't been left with the impression that the rear engined version is replacing the front engine car. That may be me just daydreaming it all,too.

If GM keeps leaking the news that the next model is going to be a mid-engine, they can reap the benefits of all the free publicity from the rabid fans who insist it has to be front engine.

There have been more than a few suggestions that the mid engine version will be a Cadillac halo car.

Because the engine is in the middle of a Ferrari and that's a sports car that's more betterer than a Corvette. Thusly to be competitive with a Ferrari the Corvette has to has a mid engine otherwise it's just a plastic piece of crap like Top Gear says it is. QED

Simple really. So we can have a street version of this. I REALLY REALLY like the look of this car!!!

Hasn't the Corvette had enough engine setback to qualify as mid engined since the C4?

If the new Ford GT does well, then you can bet your ass GM will build a mid-engine Corvette, although I tend agree with DeadSkunk and it'll be in addition to the higher volume forward engine version.

Transverse mid motor and a single seater.

In reply to Kenny_McCormic: YES!! It's technically a front-mid engine layout, so people can call it a mid-engine sports car. The layout is better because of easier maintenance, larger trunk or hatch space, and it's still technically mid-engine. I think the rumors are always there because of the pressure to chase the 911. Last time I checked, the M3/M4 is a good sports car/coupe and it doesn't need to be mid-engined, along with a few others.

it also only has one cam operating a mere 2 valves in each cylinder via obsolete pushrods..

and yet it somehow manages to not only keep up with- but in some cases dominate- cars that have upwards of 4X as many cams operating 2X as many valves in each cylinder and cost two to three times as much..

I hope they continue the front engined car. Porsche has had no problem continually updating their end of the market, GM should continue to do the same. I'd be okay with an additional car. Call it Corvette Grand Sport. Or Zora. Or Duntov. Regardless I'm keeping my 75.

Let's talk about the real issue with Chevy....why are their new car's so insanely priced?

Back on topic. Can I just buy that test mule? Looks like a bitching car I shall call "El Camino"

in reply to DirtyBird222:

Insane? The C7 starts at $54k, for performance equivalent to a lot of last gen supercars. The $78k Z06 is a supercar. Insanely low maybe.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Hasn't the Corvette had enough engine setback to qualify as mid engined since the C4?

Mid engine, by definition, means the engine is behind the passenger compartment (but ahead of the rear wheels).

So, that is only true if you strap a seatbelt to one of those rotate-up headlights

Mid engine literally means the middle of the car. That's how cars can be designated front-mid engine. But yes, in practical terms it's the engine behind the passenger compartment.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: Mid engine literally means the middle of the car. That's how cars can be designated front-mid engine. But yes, in practical terms it's the engine behind the passenger compartment.

"Front-mid engine" is not a designation, it is a marketing term created by the same people who have two hundred different names for "red". You may as well call it utopian turtletop.

so what is so bad about a mid-engine vette?

If it means the availability of affordable transaxles improves I'm all for it. However, my $.02 is they'll make the mid-engine care something OTHER than a Corvette.

In reply to Knurled:

I'll see your point and raise you that "mid engine" to begin with is a marketing term. I've never seen a production car with the engine actually dead in the middle of the car. Is a Toyota Previa mid engine? You sit on the engine in that one.