To help introduce the 2015 Corvette Z06 Convertible, Chevrolet gave three New York-based college students the rare opportunity to shoot an all-new vehicle before its reveal. The students – none of whom had ever photographed a vehicle – had one day to create four dramatic images of the supercar.

Starting today, the public can vote for the student who best captured the Corvette Z06 convertible on the Corvette Facebook page. The photographer whose gallery gets the most votes will receive $5,000.

“The students had a challenging assignment because the work I see being done on a daily basis by our Design team is so good,” said Ed Welburn, vice president for GM Global Design. “So for the students to go into this area was obviously going to be tough by comparison – but they came through. Even more, in some cases the students came up with lighting techniques and angles we have not seen before.”

Only one of three exceptional galleries can win.

Mike Finkelstein, 23, Pratt Institute

Finkelstein is graduating this spring from Pratt Institute with a degree in fine art photography. For the Z06 shoot, Finkelstein chose traditional techniques to bring an innovative, new look to the car.

“Mike took a risk in shooting on film in today’s world of digital photography, but it paid off. The result is a unique set of shots that have history to them, just like the Corvette itself. Mike’s shots are highly emotional images where the vehicle looks alive,” said Stephen Gray, creative manager, GM North America Design.

Nico Sforza, 22, School of Visual Arts

Sforza is attending the School of Visual Arts in New York, studying still-life photography. His concept for this shoot was to portray the birth of a new car, driving out of a ray of light.

“Nico creatively used negative space and shadows to dramatically lead the viewer’s eye in his images. His choice to light the opposite side of the hood is unexpected, but it works well and gives the car character. All of his shots really portray the Z06 as a supercar,” said Gray.

Dan Wang, 22, Rochester Institute of Technology

Wang is a senior at the Rochester Institute of Technology studying advertising photography. Wang’s goal with his Z06 photos was to portray how the vehicle would look on the road by creating images that were aesthetically lifelike.

“Dan adds drama to his photos by using strong angles and playing up features such as the aggressive side vents. Background elements, like his use of the smoke machine, help create a full scene – the car looks like it is sitting in my garage, ready to go,” said Gray.

Voting will be open through Tuesday, April 23, 2014, and the winner will be announced on Wednesday, April 24. All of the student galleries will be on display at the New York Auto Show April 18-27.

Hasselblad H3DII-39

The latest in a recent series of General Motors recalls involves all fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaros and a small number of 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray models.

The expansive Camaro recall is due to an ignition-switch issue similar to the one in the high-profile Chevy Cobalt and Saturn Ion recall, although General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] has said that the switch used in the Camaro is different from the one that triggered the previous recall of 2.6 million cars.

In the affected Camaros, a driver's knee can knock the key out of the "run" position, cutting power. GM said it knows of three crashes, resulting in minor injuries, that may have been caused by the defect. Airbags reportedly didn't deploy in any of those crashes, but no other details have been released.

GM reportedly became aware of the problem during internal testing in the wake of the Cobalt controversy. It will modify the Camaro key design so the key and fob are separate pieces.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) hasn't posted a recall notice, but Camaro owners will receive letters telling them how to set up appointments to have their keys replaced, free of charge.

The recall affects all 2010 through 2014 Camaro models, meaning every car of the current generation. That includes 464,712 cars in the U.S. and 46,816 sold in Canada, Mexico, and other markets.

Meanwhile, GM is also recalling 33 examples of the 2014 Corvette Stingray built between April 23 and April 25, 2014, because of the potential for a short circuit in the cars' Sensing and Diagnostic Module (SDM). This could deactivate the airbags and seatbelt pretensioners, meaning they won't deploy in a crash.

GM will replace the SDM free of charge, although it hasn't said when owners will be able to have the work done. Owners can contact GM at 1-800-222-1020; the number for the recall is 14219.

A recall notice can be found on the NHTSA's Safercar.gov website, under ID number 14V299000.

The next Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 will be mid-engined. That’s right, kids! Multiple sources have told us that the next version of the Corvette ZR1 will be mid-engined. One of these sources even stated that the next-generation Corvette -- the C8 -- will ship with its engine mounted in the middle. The rendering above, by Tom Matsumoto, shows what the mid-engined Corvette could look like.

Yes, yes -- we know -- another story about a mid-engine Corvette. Will this madness never end? This particular fantasy tale, as some of you know, seems to have been continuously reported on since 1963 when the CERV II was built. The father of the Corvette -- Zora Arkus-Duntov -- seriously wanted to build a mid-engine ’Vette. Only GM’s cement-shoed board stopped him. Chevrolet tried again in 1964 with the (admittedly rear-engined) XP-819 and then again with the XP-882 in 1969. Next came the XP-895 in 1972, the two-rotor (and Porsche 914-based!) XP-897GT in 1973 (odd side note: the XP-897GT eventually got a Mazda 13B mated to a front-drive Cadillac transmission installed by its private owner in 1997), the Aerovette in 1976 and finally the CERV III in 1986.

Point is that a mid-engine Corvette has been in the collective Chevrolet consciousness for decades. The story of the (almost) mid-engine car has become part of the Corvette’s lore, of its mystique. Grok this: Pre-bankruptcy, Chevrolet was working on a mid-engine C7, but it got shelved when Bob Lutz left GM and former Corvette chief engineer Tom Wallace retired. In other words, mid-engine work has already been done on this generation of Corvette.

Further supporting the mid-engine Corvette hypothesis is the fact that on June 2, Chevrolet trademarked the name Zora for the intended use of “motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles.” That suggests a future Corvette may be named Zora. What better way to honor the man who made the Corvette the performance icon it is today than by finally building the car he always dreamed of? Remember that way back in 1959, Arkus-Duntov built the CERV I (CERV stands for Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle). It was of course mid-engined, as Zora firmly believed that a low polar-moment of inertia was the key to a world-class sports car. Emphasis on “world.”

Here’s another reason to suspect that the mid-engine Corvette rumors are true: The next Camaro will be based on GM's Alpha platform, which underpins the Cadillac ATS. A 2013 ATS with the 2.0-liter turbo-four and a six-speed manual we tested weighed in at 3433 pounds. Presumably, a 2.0-liter Camaro (to fight the 2015 EcoBoosted Mustang) with a shortened wheelbase would weigh even less than the lightweight Caddy. The new C7 Corvette Stingray coupe with a seven-speed manual? Around 3450 pounds. The last Camaro SS we weighed came in at 3893 pounds (the track-focused 1LE). Furthermore, we suspect the C7 Z06 with its supercharger and aero aids will weigh more than the base ’Vette, probably around 3500 pounds, about 100 pounds lighter than a Porsche 911 Turbo. In terms of power to weight, the 2016 Camaro is going to be stepping on the Corvette’s toes, hard. Especially if you can imagine that the next-generation Z/28 is suddenly up to 600 pounds lighter than the current monster. If Chevrolet makes not just the C7 ZR1, but the entire C8 Corvette lineup mid-engine, the move would make sense from a sales and marketing as well as model-differentiation point of view.

If insanity is defined as repeating the same action over and over again and expecting different results, are we insane for always asking if the "next Corvette" will be mid-engined?
As recently as May of last year, news reports surfaced claiming a mid-engine layout "is a strong possibility" for the upcoming C7 'Vette. The reasoning, as usual, is that this setup would make the Corvette more competitive with Ferrari and other supercars.

July 2012

Weight is typically the enemy of the performance car, so the news that the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is heavier than its predecessor isn't exactly fantastic. And given that the Corvette has a new aluminum structure beneath its body panels, it's surprising news too.
According to the 2015 Corvette's Order Guide (via Corvette Blogger), the 2015 Z06's curb weight is 3,524 lbs and the convertible version a full 3,582 lbs. Compared to the previous generation Z06 that's quite a significant increase, up from 3,175 lbs. That's 349 lbs in one generation. It's even quite a jump over the last Corvette's ultimate performance model, the ZR1—a car which weighed in at 3,333 lbs.

It isn't so hard to see where the extra mass might originate from, though. For one, the 2015 Corvette's new interior is more substantial than the old model and filled with more equipment. That equipment also extends to options like Magnetic Selective Ride Control and Performance Traction Management—the kind of features which demand more electronics packed away within the car. A more significant change is the engine: More powerful yet equally more economical it may be, but its advancements come at a weight penalty. The new LT4 in the 2015 Z06 has direct injection, cylinder deactivation, variable valve timing and more, and both manual and automatic transmissions add extra ratios over their predecessors.

Then there's the Z06's new supercharger, previously only the preserve of the ZR1. The Eaton 'charger and its associated ancillaries will certainly contribute to the increase in curb weight. Whether it will concern drivers though is a different matter. With 650 horses and 650 lb-ft of torque to call upon, the Z06 may be heavier than before but it's hardly short of punch. Due in showrooms in early 2015, the new Z06 shows that weight is only part of the story when it comes to high-performance sports cars.

Chevrolet has released some new details about the eight-speed automatic transmission in the 2015 Corvette Stingray.

Set to replace the previous six-speed unit, the new gearbox enables the Corvette to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds and run the quarter-mile in 11.9 seconds - improvements 0.1 seconds.

Besides being faster, the Corvette is more fuel efficient as models equipped with the eight-speed automatic transmission will carry an EPA rating of 16 mpg city / 29 mpg highway / 20 mpg combined (US).

As a refresher, the eight-speed automatic transmission has a more aggressive first gear ratio which helps to improve off-the-line performance. The gearbox also has "world-class shift times that rival the best dual-clutch design."