MR Corvette C8 - General Discussion

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Z06 launch testing

Sounds very Ferrari F129 / F131

355 and 360 for those who don't want to Google.

That exhaust sound is pretty surprising and I think it's being manipulated through the exhaust design itself. The engine is definitely flat-plane but the mufflers and resonators have surely been massaged to created that smooth sound. Large displacement engines just don't make smooth sounds, especially at low rpm.
 
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The exhaust manifolds are just close to equal length (at least as far as the 360° firing pairs) with a bank merge of some kind, likely an X-pipe.

As far as sound is concerned, the F355's howl comes from an equal length merge between banks (a Y pipe of sorts) with a valve that opened up to bypass the main muffler section, something they'd learned with the wastegates on the 288 GTO and F40. The 360 doesn't have a symmetrical merge, nor does the 430, which itself doesn't even have equal length exhausts. The 458 has the bypass "inverted" so the mufflers can be smaller - this means the howl arises very subtly and incompletely (the pipes from the muffled route don't fully merge, they are just very close together), whilst the bypass is two separate routes (one for each bank), giving the more 4-cylinder sound it has in common with its two predecessors. The 348 had two separate runs entirely.

So the 355 was unique, although the approach is used on most engine configurations these days (just not normally with equal length headers), because merging all the exhaust pulses together usually makes it quieter.


A flat-plane 'Vette is pretty out there, and to see them going for the "exotic" feel rather than good ol' "domestic" - how bold.
 
@Griffith500 -- I admire your in-depth posts on the dynamics and acoustics of engines. 👍 The only other place I've encountered such information is from the "Technical School" section on AutoZine.org. That was where I first picked up on the differences between flat- and cross-plane V8s and engineering advantages/disadvantages between various engine types.
I'm 100% certain I came across those very pages many moons ago, thank you!
 
@Griffith500 -- I admire your in-depth posts on the dynamics and acoustics of engines. 👍 The only other place I've encountered such information is from the "Technical School" section on AutoZine.org. That was where I first picked up on the differences between flat- and cross-plane V8s and engineering advantages/disadvantages between various engine types.

Aaand now I have something other than Borderlands 3 to keep me up at night.

Genuinely thanks for the link, but also Goddammit. :irked:👍
 
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And I believe, at least on some of these upcoming models, the engine will be 5.5L for homologation purposes. Revs, m8.
 
Is it also mid-engined? I mean the new Z06.


Probably a stupid question.
I wonder if that would work, a separate FR Z06. It'll never happen. Just saying if GM had the budget to do a standalone brand. I also had some thoughts about IROC-Z being brought back as a brand: hybrid, EV. Pretty much in the 80s F-body style, the way Hyundai have incorporated the Pony squareness of the Ioniq 5.
 
Dare I say I'm not a fan of this? It looks high off the ground, the wheel fitment is weak, and I really hope those aren't the final wheels because they look flimsy and pedestrian. I also don't like the center exhaust, partly because it was never good for underbody aerodynamics which is something the new Corvette really needs to get right if it's going to compete with supercars. This thing appears to have the same rear undertray thing that the regular C8 does and that's not even remotely adequate.
 
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GM has been sucking with the wheel designs for the C8. Probably the worst part about the car are the wheels for me. Those wheels on the Z06 are terrible. I hope those aren't the final wheels. The Z06 mule photographed last year had way cooler wheels...
100820_10.jpg
 
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Just came across this video. Probably the closest I’ll ever get to driving one of these.
Listen with headphones if you can.
 

Damn, I have to keep saving. I really want electric or PHEV, but I've been a sucker for that F355 sound since I was a little one. If you had to have one last gasoline hurrah...

Maybe in 2025 Vette will be PHEV after all. :D
 
Sounds great, but remarkably un-american.

I do like the V8 sounds you get from both flat-plane and cross-plane cranks though. They just sound very different.
 
Damn, I have to keep saving. I really want electric or PHEV, but I've been a sucker for that F355 sound since I was a little one. If you had to have one last gasoline hurrah...

Maybe in 2025 Vette will be PHEV after all. :D
I'm curious about some companies' desires to make their sports cars EVs at all. PHEV makes the most sense to me, especially considering the low volume of sports cars compared to the millions of lame commuter cars that are sold. I say keep sports cars exciting and let everything else be lame.


Bwooaahhh she's a fire breather!
 
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