| You might think that 6 liters was enough to | | | | In fact, titanium used to be an |
| make the Corvette two-seater fast enough, but | | | | aerospace-only material because it was so |
| not for the competition department lurking | | | | expensive, but it is now bein gused more in |
| inside GM. They wanted to be able to compete | | | | exotic cars and the heads of golf clubs, |
| head-to-head with the European supercars in | | | | helping the lesser pros feel not so |
| the international endurance races for sports | | | | outclassed by Tiger Woods as they might with |
| cars. | | | | ordinary drivers. |
| | | | |
| To do so, they took a leaf out of Ford's | | | | You will see that the Corvette 7 liter is |
| book. In the 1960s, when Ford found it could | | | | intended for the race track by the fact that |
| not compete with the smaller Ferraris at Le | | | | the engine has a dry sump lube system. A dry |
| Mans with the 4.2 (ex-Indy) or 4.7 liter | | | | sump system prevents the oil in the oil pan |
| engines, they brought out their 7-liter mill. | | | | from slopping away from the pick-up on fast |
| And it was so much bigger than the | | | | cornering - the sort you can do only on a |
| competition that they won. So the guys behind | | | | track - and thus damaging the main bearings. |
| the Corvette decided to produce a 7-liter | | | | |
| version of America's favorite and most famous | | | | Instead of staying in the oil pan, the oil is |
| sports car. | | | | pumped out to a tank, and then pressure fed |
| | | | from there directly to the engine bearings |
| By the way, the 7 liter Corvette more than | | | | and other critical areas. Definitely a system |
| competes with the Dodge Viper SRT-10, which | | | | for top supercars. |
| could give the standard Corvette a bit of a | | | | |
| run for its money. Of course, this is not | | | | The underpinnings of the car have also been |
| just any old engine. This is a very special | | | | beefed up with a new aluminum perimeter frame |
| version of its GEN IV 7.0 liter V-8. | | | | which reduces weight. Further weight |
| | | | reduction comes with a new magnesium engine |
| This 2006 Corvette is challenging for muscle | | | | sub-frame. To ensure the car is stiff enough, |
| car of the year with no less than 500 bhp on | | | | it will be available only as a hardtop. The |
| tap at 6,200 rpm. Maximum torque from this | | | | front fenders and wheelarches are now carbon |
| mammoth engine is 475 lb ft at 4,800 rpm. | | | | fiber composite panels, which also reduce |
| This is bound to be a stunner with a top | | | | weight. |
| speed of about 185 mph and 0-60 in under 4.0 | | | | |
| seconds. GM expects the quarter-mile be under | | | | But there's more... |
| 12 seconds. | | | | |
| | | | To get all that power onto the road, and to |
| To give durability, the engine has been | | | | get it to stop, bigger wheels, tires and |
| beefed up in a number of ways. First, the | | | | brakes have been fitted. The front brake |
| connecting rods and inlet valves are now made | | | | discs are now 13.9 inch diameter, and |
| of titanium - these weigh about half as much | | | | 19×12 inch wide rims are used at the |
| as steel ones and are used in quite a number | | | | back; front wheels are 18×9.5 inches. |
| of high-performance engines. Because of the | | | | Such massive rear tires for a car with 50:50 |
| low weight, the titanium parts put less load | | | | weight distribution suggest that the car will |
| on other critical parts of the engine – | | | | have a tendency to oversteer - smoky drifts |
| the crankshaft, bearings and in this case the | | | | could be the order of the day! |
| valve gear as well. The titanium valves also | | | | |
| allow the engine to rev faster safely. | | | | All-in-all, this is a really special car, |
| | | | developed to compete with the best. |