Next-generation Vette on schedule to debut at Detroit show next year
03-03-2003, 02:01 PM
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Next-generation Vette on schedule to debut at Detroit show next year
By WES RAYNAL
Dave Hill, vehicle line executive for GM Performance Cars and Corvette chief engineer, insists doing the C6 and Cadillac XLR together will not make Corvette too big and too soft.
DOES THE ITALDESIGN-Giugiaro Corvette Moray give U.S. sports car fans any hints to what the coming Corvette might be like? Not really. Dave Hill, vehicle line executive for GM Performance Cars and Corvette chief engineer, did see the Moray proposals, but long after his team was set on a path to the next-generation Corvette, dubbed C6, and its first-ever platform-mate, Cadillac’s XLR two-seater.
Hill, 60, wouldn’t discuss C6 specifics, but did say the main task is to “understand what Corvette owners like about the current car and retain that, while addressing and fixing what lets them down.”
It’s not news that the C6 and XLR are being developed together, and will share parts but are not identical (the XLR’s 105.7-inch wheelbase is about an inch longer than the C5’s, for example). There’s been some weeping and gnashing of teeth among the Corvette faithful that their favorite two-seater is being created with a Cadillac sister car. But Hill says when the history books are written we’ll see the Cadillac was good for the Corvette and the Corvette was good for the Cadillac.
How so? To make the platform work for the Corvette faithful but also appeal to the Cadillac-Jaguar-Mercedes-Lexus owner set, Hill said GM engineers worked hard on quietness and isolation without “losing the lightness value. We have made a fantastic change in the personality of the Cadillac, and that is going to benefit the Corvette, too.”
Does it mean doing the C6 and Cadillac together will make Corvette too big and too soft? No, Hill insists. He has said before that his team will work harder to achieve a balance between performance and luxury. If GM can make the next-generation Corvette more comfortable, quiet and pleasant to drive, but have it still be fast as hell, then Hill figures that’s the right thing to do.
GM will concentrate on balance—doing many things well and offering value, and not worry about pure horsepower and/or performance numbers. So C6 won’t be a Viper killer?
“Obviously,” Hill says, “our customers would like to have more performance, and we are going to get it for them. This is GM’s pride and joy, and we need to remember that.” In other words: Don’t worry, a Z06 version of the C6 will be available, eventually.
The C6 remains on schedule, and Hill says the first batch of beta prototype cars are finished (he says he’s seen the beta cars but not yet driven one). It will make its world debut at the 2004 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next January.
Dave Hill, vehicle line executive for GM Performance Cars and Corvette chief engineer, insists doing the C6 and Cadillac XLR together will not make Corvette too big and too soft.
DOES THE ITALDESIGN-Giugiaro Corvette Moray give U.S. sports car fans any hints to what the coming Corvette might be like? Not really. Dave Hill, vehicle line executive for GM Performance Cars and Corvette chief engineer, did see the Moray proposals, but long after his team was set on a path to the next-generation Corvette, dubbed C6, and its first-ever platform-mate, Cadillac’s XLR two-seater.
Hill, 60, wouldn’t discuss C6 specifics, but did say the main task is to “understand what Corvette owners like about the current car and retain that, while addressing and fixing what lets them down.”
It’s not news that the C6 and XLR are being developed together, and will share parts but are not identical (the XLR’s 105.7-inch wheelbase is about an inch longer than the C5’s, for example). There’s been some weeping and gnashing of teeth among the Corvette faithful that their favorite two-seater is being created with a Cadillac sister car. But Hill says when the history books are written we’ll see the Cadillac was good for the Corvette and the Corvette was good for the Cadillac.
How so? To make the platform work for the Corvette faithful but also appeal to the Cadillac-Jaguar-Mercedes-Lexus owner set, Hill said GM engineers worked hard on quietness and isolation without “losing the lightness value. We have made a fantastic change in the personality of the Cadillac, and that is going to benefit the Corvette, too.”
Does it mean doing the C6 and Cadillac together will make Corvette too big and too soft? No, Hill insists. He has said before that his team will work harder to achieve a balance between performance and luxury. If GM can make the next-generation Corvette more comfortable, quiet and pleasant to drive, but have it still be fast as hell, then Hill figures that’s the right thing to do.
GM will concentrate on balance—doing many things well and offering value, and not worry about pure horsepower and/or performance numbers. So C6 won’t be a Viper killer?
“Obviously,” Hill says, “our customers would like to have more performance, and we are going to get it for them. This is GM’s pride and joy, and we need to remember that.” In other words: Don’t worry, a Z06 version of the C6 will be available, eventually.
The C6 remains on schedule, and Hill says the first batch of beta prototype cars are finished (he says he’s seen the beta cars but not yet driven one). It will make its world debut at the 2004 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next January.
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