Blue Devil Corvette a GO??

[Braves299]

Well according to a source that works at GM, the Corvette Blue Devil is set to go into production. If you havent heard about this beast....
Take a Z06 C6 Vette. Build the body out of carbon fiber, supercharge the engine (600hp range) and put a 100,000$ price tag on it.

"That off/on super-Corvette is definitely on, according to General Motors performance cars chief Tom Wallace<<<which replaced Dave Hill.
Wallace says... the biggest challenge facing the so-called Blue Devil Corvette is figuring out how to get 600 hp to the ground in such a way that it can be handled by a driver with the money to buy the car.
Wallace said GM is considering requiring that Blue Devil and even Z06 buyers attend a driver school as part of the price of admission, which initially it can be a handful."

http://car-reviews.automobile.com/images/cars/ArtImages/44111/01.jpg

I got this off another forum. I don't know how accurate it is, but I thought I'd share.

[AMRAAM4]

Talk about GM finding a cake way to rip people off.

How much cost is involved in adding the SC? None really, a little R&D which with the intelligent engineers they have and past aftermarket platform is nil. Cost for them of SC is probably $2500. Not bad for a $20,000 price increase over the Z06.

Carbon fiber body? Not hard either, the fenders and hood on teh Z06 are CF, so they just make a few more pieces, that they already have composite molds for anyhow.

Me..I'd buy a damn Z06 and SC it, save $15k..and with aftermarket tuning probably still be faster.

[coupe]

Bob has a good point

[notsoaveragej0e]

Yeah I have to agree... while the name is what will really sell this, true enthusiasts I think would be more apt to spend that money on a twin turbo or equivalent, and the remaining on whatever other mods (Tranny, appearance, etc). That would put the driver well over 850hp... 600hp just seems too low for a $100k Vette.

[harvester45]

I'm pretty sure that there's a little more to it than just carbon fiber and a supercharger. I believe that there are going to be brake improvements, suspension changes, and Tx improvements. Granted, this may not be enough to justify the 100k price tag, but it would still cost a lot to go aftermarket and add these parts to a Z06. At least all of this on the Blue Devil would be upgraded while still under warrenty. Overall, I think it'll be a great supercar, and that's what GM is shooting for. I'd rather see it twin turbo'ed for that price, but that's just me.

[notsoaveragej0e]

I'm pretty sure that there's a little more to it than just carbon fiber and a supercharger. I believe that there are going to be brake improvements, suspension changes, and Tx improvements. Granted, this may not be enough to justify the 100k price tag, but it would still cost a lot to go aftermarket and add these parts to a Z06. At least all of this on the Blue Devil would be upgraded while still under warrenty. Overall, I think it'll be a great supercar, and that's what GM is shooting for. I'd rather see it twin turbo'ed for that price, but that's just me.

Yeah that is a good point- the suspension will have to be changed to lay down that power (as stated in the article), and I am sure it will have a plush interior and much larger brake upgrades. There probably are many more things being beefed up, especially since GM has to be able to warranty it for 3yrs/36kmiles. I'll see what info I can squeeze from my dad regarding this tonight...

[2003SCT]

If anyone hasn't noticed....the pic above and almost every other "Blue Devil" picture out there is and has been of the new(current) Z06...albeit with black coated wheels. I have quit wondering about the blue devil simply because of two reasons....first because I swear I have been hearing about for 3 years now and second because I think there is a price level that the Corvette should NOT exceed...the Z is more car than most can handle..if GM wants to do something bigger and better it should be with a different car. It would be like Ford having a $70,000 Mustang...its better to double the price and make it a Ford GT.


CHRIS

[Pontiac Ninja]

I'll wait on making too harsh a judgement on price until I hear ALL the final upgrades. too much is unclear right now. twin turbo'd would have been FTW though! but then that would be lingenfelter out of business, haha.

[kingsofcrunk]

So a supercharged current day LS7 would only put out 100 more horesepower than what it does stock?? I'm confused...

[2003SCT]

So a supercharged current day LS7 would only put out 100 more horesepower than what it does stock?? I'm confused...


Well, if they did this, I would assume that they would lower the compression ratio with different pistons and so you would lose power with that. To make up for the lower compression ratio and the drag from the blower, yes a 100hp gain would be practical.



CHRIS

[AMRAAM4]

Well, if they did this, I would assume that they would lower the compression ratio with different pistons and so you would lose power with that. To make up for the lower compression ratio and the drag from the blower, yes a 100hp gain would be practical.



CHRIS
....And completely idiotic and pointless for $35,000 more (actually $20,000 since Z06's are being dealer raped, but then again the Blue Devil will be dealer raped too). If I can pull 425whp out of a 1.3L rotary, then you can pull a helluva lot more than 100 CRANK HP out of a 7.0L V8 when adding a SC.

[bigbenSC]

second because I think there is a price level that the Corvette should NOT exceed...the Z is more car than most can handle..if GM wants to do something bigger and better it should be with a different car. It would be like Ford having a $70,000 Mustang...its better to double the price and make it a Ford GT.


CHRIS
If Porsche can get away selling the base 911, Turbo, and GT3 models with a huge gap between prices, there is no reason Chevy can't either. Personally I think time should be spent making their mainstream cars a little more interesting, but I'm not going to complain when an American car outguns the F430, SLR, and Gallardo for les than half the price. I expect a much improved interior to go along with the price increase though.

[Ajaxus]

we also don't know how many are being produced, and the fewer the numbers...the higher the price tag.

[pyro]

also, the higher the pricetag, the fewer the numbers.

[2003SCT]

....And completely idiotic and pointless for $35,000 more (actually $20,000 since Z06's are being dealer raped, but then again the Blue Devil will be dealer raped too). If I can pull 425whp out of a 1.3L rotary, then you can pull a helluva lot more than 100 CRANK HP out of a 7.0L V8 when adding a SC.


It's never about capability though...very few cars, when factory supercharged are anywhere near their capability. One look at the uber-low ratings of the LSJ 2.0 Ecotec or the 5.4 in the Ford GT show what can be done on stock internals...400+whp and 1000+whp respectively (with turbocharging) But the high price thing isn't the bargain playing card that the Corvette usually uses....I mean I still think that its crazy that people part with $125,000 or more for a 700 crank hp Lingenfelter Corvette...but these same people I guess would buy the "Blue Devil". Its for people who want to be exclusive and where money is less of an object...its also a corporate rep builder.
I think the C6 Z06 is a great car in its current state...compared to pretty much every supercar under half a million dollars, it darn near equals or beats alot of their stats. And if its not sufficient enough for you, one of my customers LG Motorsports will get you set up with a newly finished Stage 3 Cam, heads and a set of his LG Headers..along with a tune soon...making more than an extra 100whp.

CHRIS

[digitalballz]

From what ive read if they did this it wouldnt be the LS7 that they use. I thought I read it would be a slightly smaller motor cubic inch wise, but with the SC.

[nascarnate326]

Who is Gm trying to market this car aginst? Do we need to put all this money into making a few ultra fast ultra rare corvetts, when that money could be used on the small problem they have with the cars on the bottom of the chain. Maby im a grandpa or something, but the new GTO was plenty fast enough for me. Now there is z06 and this is gettin a go ahead? GM, quit screwing people. Please.

[Ajaxus]

us rich people like 'em fast expensive cars tyvm

[harvester45]

I think that a lot of reason behind this project is to stimulate brand recoginization and publicity. It's obviously working. lol

[notsoaveragej0e]

I was on vacation for a while so I didnt get to posting, but I talked to my dad and he confirmed that GM is working on a "Blue Devil" production Z06, but it would be an "SS" version, not a "Blue Devil". It would be supercharged and mostly carbon fiber, with beefier suspension and many other things. The production numbers with be very low, as someone mentioned. A driving school would most likely be included/required as the article mentioned.