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Chevrolet Crashes Mid-Engine C8 Corvette At VIR

Virginia International Raceway is popular with U.S. automakers for development, fine-tuning the chassis as much as possible before giving the green light for production. Chevrolet does it too, and crashes happen every now and then given the work-in-progress nature of these test mules.
Crashed C8 Corvette body panel 13 photos
Photo: Tool Hoarder on the Corvette Forum
2020 Chevrolet Corvette order guide2020 Chevrolet Corvette order guide2020 Chevrolet Corvette order guide2020 Chevrolet Corvette order guide2020 Chevrolet Corvette order guideMid-Engine Corvette key fobMid-Engine Corvette key fobMid-Engine Corvette key fobMid-Engined Corvette in trafficMid-Engined Corvette in trafficMid-Engined Corvette in trafficMid-Engined Corvette in traffic
Codenamed 1YC07, the mid-engine dream of Zora-Artus Duntov will come to fruition this summer. Production in Bowling Green, Kentucky is scheduled to start towards the end of 2019, and the eighth generation will be offered with the LT2 as the entry-level engine.

An evolution of the LT1 in the C7, the 6.2-liter V8 in the C8 is expected with 500 horsepower. A dual-clutch transmission will have to suffice, but Chevrolet has more engine options in the pipeline. The mid-range Corvette will feature a twin-turbo V8, and one such prototype was crashed a few days ago at the Virginia International Raceway.

“Thursday an e-mail was sent delaying any entry into the paddock until 7:30 PM at the earliest which is a good bit later than normal,” wrote Tool Hoarder on the Corvette Forum. “Event organizers apologized explaining that their hands were tied with a private, high-security track rental.”

After the crash, “someone at the track found a piece of the car General Motors missed.” It comes hard for us to identify what that panel is, but being covered in camouflage, there’s no denying it came from the development prototype of the C8 Corvette.

It’s easy to put the blame on the driver for the crash, but remember that Chevrolet switched from front- to mid-engined for the eighth generation. Their development drivers aren’t accustomed to the handling of such cars, let alone a ‘Vette with a twin-turbo V8 derived from the Blackwing that Cadillac utilizes in the CT6 V-Sport CT6-V.

Further down the road, Chevrolet is understood to electrify the C8. In combination with the twin-turbo V8, chances are the Corvette will nudge 1,000 horsepower. To put that into perspective, the C7 ZR1 develops 755 horsepower and 715 pound-feet of torque.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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