Dateline: 9.24.11
After a LONG dry spell, some C7 news that’s really “news.”
We haven’t had much to say about the C7 Corvette because there hasn’t been much to say about the new C7 Corvette. Oh, there have been a few burps of “news” but it was more like a rehash or rehashed material, spiced up with lots of wild speculation. Eventually, we’ll all know everything there is to know about the C7. But thanks to the immediacy of the internet, there’s been a feeding frenzy over the C7 question for at least the last two years! But finally, there’s something tangible to talk about.
This isn’t a huge piece of juicy red meat, but it’s better than nothing. According to InsideLine.com the 2014 C7 Corvette will receive a 7-speed transmission! Calm down, calm down, this has not been “officially” confirmed by Chevrolet, yet.
While a 7-speed tranny won’t do much for “performance” (in the terms WE like to think of) the additional top gear would allow the engine to run even slower at cruising speed. Imagine tooling down the road at 70-mph with the engine IDLING. The extra gear would also allow engineers to close up the spacing of the first four gears to allow the engine to stay in its power band – for those that enjoy the powerband.
No mention was made of the ZR1’s dual clutch becoming standard, but in terms of the Corvette’s traditional “evolutionary” approach to introducing race-proven hardware, no dual clutch would be a real let down. We’ll see. – Scott
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