I understand that Corvette Racing will need a mid-engine vette to compete in certain Le Mans series, but do...

Question

you think a mid-engine production vette is guaranteed? If so, what's the base price/specs? Does handling improve with the evenly distributed weight?

Answer 1

Ok, so here's what is going on... the P1 class rules for Le Mans (and ALMS) are changing for the 2010 season, moving back to closed top prototypes that are speced to allow cars to resemble showroom models (something we saw more of in past decades).  Chevy has already shown a midengined car designed for such use, but from what I've seen, it's not yet clear if this will actually be developed for racing or is just something to show off at shows.

Given a lack of experience in developing a prototype car, it could be risky given the sheer cost, but their racing team has been very successful with the GT1 class, which is almost as far removed from a production car as the P1 would be, so it could make sense.

However, this does not relate to the road car... just as the current GT1 car is a completely different chasis that just happens to look like the street car, a P1 car would be a completely different car that just sort of resemebled parts of a Corvette.  Since none of the race car would be usable for a street version, GM would still have to justify the cost of designing and building a completely new Corvette chasis... which seems unlikely.  The street car is almost certain to remain in it's current layout, though rumors are also certain to persist in regards to a midengined version (since this has been the case with almost every new version since the C3).

As for the advantages of such a layout... it does improve the car's balance.  A slight rear weight bias can be preferred for some reasons, though completely neutral is good too (and front bias is never optimal).  The more weight in the center, the better the car behaves in transition... and from a design aspect, the more of the large fixed weight that is most center, the more flexibility the engineers have at adusting the overall weight and polar momentum of the car.

While a mid engine design would improve some aspects of the Corvette, it would add alot of cost to a platform that already sells quite well, and matches up well with it's competition... still, maybe one day yet!