C8 Corvette Z06, ZR1, and ZORA engines and hp leaked!

GM recently announced that the high performing C8 Corvette models that have been highly anticipated are going to be delayed because of the ongoing pandemic. As a result, some GM insiders saw fit to leak some details about the upcoming (and highly anticipated) big gun C8 Corvette models. According to a report by Hagerty, the usual Grand Sport, Z06, and ZR1 are planned as has been rumoured, in addition to a top of the line hyper-car level model named Zora, also as rumoured. And now, we get a sneak peak into what they may be packing.

Z06: 600 hp - 470 lb-ft

The Z06 will supposedly get the highly anticipated 5.5 litre flat-plane crank DOHC V8 that debuted in the C8.R race car. You can hear it rev here where it certainly sounds a lot more exotic, if less baritone than the traditional Corvette noise. The new engine will be code named LT6 and Hagerty's estimates put the power output around 600 hp. If it follows a similar specific power to the 5.2 litre Voodoo V8 in the Shelby GT350, it will have just over 550 hp. I suspect GM will be going for “bragging rights” and getting 600 hp from a naturally aspirated 5.5 litre sounds like a really nice round number. Keeping it naturally aspirated will also mean “return to form” for the Z06 following the C5 and C6 (and the original and extremely rare nearly race-ready C2 Z06). After the supercharged C7 Z06, a lot of people have been asking for the Z06 to be simpler, more raw, and much more focused on track and it sounds like this might happen.

Grand Sport: 600 hp - 500 lb-ft

For the last two generations, the Grand Sport has been a Z06 “light”, using the same powertrain as the entry level Corvette but the wide body and a lot of suspension and brake bits from the Z06. It seems like that will change for the C8. While the engine itself is the same small block LT2 6.2 litre V8, it appears to be getting hybrid assist bumping power to an estimated 600 hp. No information is given about the hybrid system, but I suspect it will be what is typically called “mild hybrid” where you may get a larger alternator that can act as an alternator or generator to capture regen, perhaps combined with a 48V battery with enough capacity to capture and store some regen energy and then power the alternator/generator for bursts of power to supplement the gas engine. 600 hp estimate seems on the high side to me for total power, I suspect it will be around 550 hp. I think 600 hp might step on the Z06 toes a bit.

ZR1: 850 hp - 825 lb-ft

The ZR1 is going to use a version of the same flat-plane 5.5 litre V8 used in the Z06, but this one will have a couple of turbos strapped to it like the Blackwing V8 found in the shortly lived Cadillac CT6-V. I seem to remember GM saying that it's not the same engine, although it could share some parts. It sounds like no one will be missing the Cadillac version, though, since this one is anticipated to produce a whopping 850 hp. It's code named LT7 and it means the ZR1 will play in the same sandbox as cars like the Lamborghini Aventador, Ferrari 812 Superfast, and the McLaren 720S while being able to claim the highest hp. One other trick up its sleeve may be active aero. This could come on the Z06 as well, but it would be even more useful here with that much power. That's one piece of tech that was anticipated on the C8 Corvette based on patent filings before it debuted, which showed very capable active aero systems, but we have yet to see any applications.

Zora: 1,000 hp - 975 lb-ft

The top of the line hyper-car-beating model will be the Zora, named after Zora ‘the father of the Corvette’. The Zora will essentially build on the ZR1 drivetrain, using a version of the LT7 twin-turbo 5.5 litre V8 and supplementing it with a hybrid system. I suspect this one will have no chance of being a mild hybrid, however, but details are scarce. Multiple rumours suggest this one will be AWD and that makes a lot of sense for simplicity.

Putting an electric motor up front to power the front wheels will easily allow electric only driving mode (albeit, as a FWD... but the Porsche 918 and Acura NSX can do the same). It will also keep the engine and transaxle fairly "simple" without the need to add an electric motor or sandwich one between the engine and the transmission. Finally, it also means the car will be AWD without the need for a second driveshaft or takeoff from the transaxle to send power up front. If all stands to be true, that will make the Zora a hybrid, twin-turbo V8, mid-engine AWD Corvette, a combination of developments and changes I never expected to see happen all within one generation of Corvette. The car will likely be an absolute monster and should be one of the fastest accelerating and highest performing production cars available. Total output of the engine and electric motor are estimated at around 1,000 hp.

On-Sale Date?

According to the leaked info, the Z06 was slated to be a 2022 model years, meaning it likely would have gone into production and went on sale some time in the next year. The Grand Sport, ZR1, and Zora would then be release one by one, each one year apart (i.e. 2023, 2024, and 2025). With plans on hold, it’s unknown when they may go back into production, or (and this is a very bleak scenario) if they will go into production at all if no case could be made for them after normalcy is resumed. Only time will tell. As was the case for production, no cost estimates are provided, but I suspect the Z06 will be very close to $100k, the ZR1 will be close to $150k, and the Zora may approach $200k.


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Rams Eye New Track Car & Daily Reveal

New track car? You bet! Just picked it up a few weeks ago for a long term test to serve as a dual purpose daily and track car. It's a bit obscure and forgotten about but packs a lot of special features and one of the best AWD systems you can buy. Watch to find out what it is, why it's forgotten, and what I like the most about it (plus how much I paid for it!).

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Koenigsegg Gamera: 4 Seats, 4WD, 3 Cylinders, and 1700 hp

Meet the Koenigsegg Gamera. This car brings so many firsts, not just to Koenigsegg, but also to the entire automotive industry. For Koenigsegg, it is the first car to have 4 seats, the first to have 3 cylinders and the first to have all wheel drive. Koenigsegg calls it the world's first mega-GT (gran touring) car, and I think they're right. For the world, it brings the first four seater, mid-engine, hyper car. Koenigsegg says it wants to bring the "exciting performance traits of a mid-engine two-seater megacar with the practicalities of a four-seater car with more luggage space" so the experience can be shared with "family and friends." Clearly, I need better friends...

With 1,700 hp on tap, you are sure to impress those lucky enough to be your family and friends if you own one of those. Of course, a three cylinder engine with 1,700 hp is likely to have all the driveability and flexibility of a farm tractor so Koenigsegg doesn't rely on it for all the oomph. Still, the 2.0 litre 3-cylinder engine makes an astonishing 600 hp at 7,500 rpm with a redline of 8,500 rpm and 443 lb-ft from as low as 2,000 rpm to 7,000 rpm. Appropriately named Tiny Friendly Giant (TFG), everything about the engine is astonishing.

It weighs a measly 154 lb. which is unheard of for that much power among production cars. For reference, one of the most compacts and power dense engine out there is is Chevy's small block V8, thanks to a single cam-in-block design (i.e. overhead valves or pushrod engine). It weighs around 430 lb. Ford's tiny 1.0 litre 3-cylinder EcoBoost weighs 200 lb. How does Koenigsegg manage to make the engine so light? Well, it doesn't specify if this is dry or wet weight so it might be a little more, but the engine is actually a dry sump design so it wet weight should not add a whole lot. The most likely reason is what Koenigsegg calls Freevalve technology.

Co-developed by Koenigsegg and sister company Freevalve, it is a cam-less design, meaning the engine doesn't have any camshafts controlling intake and exhaust valve. Instead, there are individual actuators for each valve. In essence, valve lift and duration are completely uncoupled from engine rotation, inherently also uncoupling all valves from each other. That means range of operation is much wider, allowing engines to switch combustion cycles and fuels seamlessly. And the amount of optimization possible based on engine load and rpms is massive. Think about what variable valve timing technology did to engines 10-15 years ago, only about a thousand times more flexible. You can watch Christian von Koenigsegg himself explain the tech and its benefits below:

Koenigsegg then throws in its own Engine Control Module combined with in-cylinder pressure sensors instead of relying on traditional knock-sensors, which means that the engine module should determine with much better accuracy if there is any detonation and therefore (likely) run leaner, hotter, with more timing to make more power if required without engine damage.

And as already mentioned, it also means seamless fuel switching. As a result, Koenigsegg says the engine can switch between gas (petrol) and ethanol (up to E100!) with no tuning required. Koenigsegg also says it can run on methanol, presumably meth/water injection capability without tuning but it doesn't specify. They also says it can run on "sun fuel". Not sure what that is. Likely the hopes and dreams of other car manufacturers out there.

What about the rest of 1,700 hp? The rest comes from three electric motors. The way the entire drivetrain comes together is very unique and some details are not explicitly clear from reading Koenigsegg's official info, but you can tell after watching the video a couple of times (below). Essentially, the 2.0 litre engine (TFG) has a 400 hp electric motor connected to the crank. A torque tube connects that electric motor to the front axle and powers the front wheels. In the back, there are two 500 hp, 738 lb-ft electric motors outback, one powering each rear wheel independently.

There is no mechanical connection between the engine and the rear wheels, meaning that the two electric motors in the back are the only way to power the rear wheels. The two electric motors each have an independent gearbox which have reverse gears. The front wheels are connected using similar tech to the Regera hybrid, or direct-drive in Koenigsegg speak. You can read about the technology in more detail here, but in essence, it uses a hydraulic coupling and a set of clutch packs in place of a traditional gearbox just before the front differential. The front differential is a traditional open diff but it uses a set of electronically controlled clutch packs - one on each front half shaft - to independently lock each side.

The front differential and clutch packs essentially work the same way as the rear differential on a Focus RS to provide torque vectoring but with one major exception; there is a mechanical differential in between. Where the Focus RS needs to constantly modulate clutch packs to mimic a mechanical differential (hence the heating issue some people run into on track), the Gamera has a mechanical differential just like any traditional car, and the clutch packs only provide the ability to vary how much torque it sends to each wheel by modulating the clutch packs. Combined with the independent rear electric motors, this gives the Gamera four wheel drive combined with four wheel torque vectoring.

You can read more on the official Koenigsegg Gamera page and watch Koenigsegg's rendering below of the entire drivetrain and battery pack which is very impressive.

The results? 0-100 kph (62 mph) in a scant 1.9 seconds. Top speed of 250 mph (400 kph) and Koenigsegg claims that it reaches that speed in record time, faster than any other production car can. All while offering 50 km electric only range thanks to a 15 kWh 800 V battery pack. But to do that, it does have to decouple the rear wheels... that's right, in range mode, the Koenigsegg Gamera becomes FWD. With that said, the battery pack can discharge electricity at a whopping rate of 900 kW or 1,206 hp so that it can keep up with the combined max power output of the three electric motors.

Wrapping all of this together is a carbon-fibre intensive design. There is a carbon fibre tub with aluminum front and rear subframes attaching the suspension. Body panels are also carbon fibre and the wheels could be made out of carbon fibre if you want. Even the seats are made out of carbon fibre buckets with exposed weaves and they appear to be fixed back, but Koenigsegg is touting comfort thanks to memory foam. The interior is very minimalist with a large centre screen that looks to contain all functions and all air vents appear to be concealed. There are also no side view mirrors. Instead, there are side cameras connected to two side screens and a third screen replacing the dash and gauges. Rear view mirror is likewise replaced with a screen and a rear view camera.

And being Koenigsegg, it's a complete package, not just an exercise in mad power or headline specs. If four wheel drive and four wheel steering is not enough, Koenigsegg also fitted the Gamera with real wheel steering, meaning the Gamera also has four wheel steering. The suspension is double-wishbone front and back. The dampers are, of course, adjustable and the Gamera goes one step further with hydraulic ride height adjustment range of 1.4" (35 mm). Wheels measure 21" x 10.5" up front and 22" x 11.5" in the back. Standard tires are 295/30/21 in the front and 315/30/22 and they are Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. Option tires are the same size, but are sticky Michelin Cup R3's. Standard brakes are 16.3" up front with 6-piston calipers and 15.4" in the back with 4-piston calipers, all carbon ceramics.

And since Koenigsegg is no boutique automaker, you get ABS, traction control with 3 settings (wet, normal, and track), and stability control, in addition to driver assists and a host of luxury features. If you're a regular reader, you probably have noticed that I don't typically comment on all the little features and focus on the mechanical details, but I'm just impressed by how complete the package is. There is a whole host of luxury features, including three zone climate control, heated and cooled cup holders, heated seats, the lot. Despite all of that, Koenigsegg is quoting a curb weight (including fluids) of approx. 4,079 lb (1,850 kg). It's certainly not light, but when you think of cars offering anything this complex (i.e. AWD, four seater, hybrid tech with a battery pack large enough for EV range, over 1,000 hp), it is actually a featherweight.

Koenigsegg hasn't announced pricing yet, but they did say production will be limited to 300. Think you'll be able to afford it? Better let Koenigsegg know you're interested.

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Understeer vs Oversteer: Which is Quicker?

There are no shortage of automotive journalists praising neutral handling balance, sliding a car half way around a track, and condemning understeer as the enemy of speed. It's not just journalists, either. Forums for all sorts of cars are filled with people who hate understeer and try their best at exorcising every last understeering demon out of their cars. But is understeer actually that bad?


Drifting vs Hot Laps

Everyone seems to categorize the three distinct traits at the limit - "understeer", "neutral", and "oversteer" - this way: Understeer is bad. Neutral is good. Oversteer is slow but fun. And since most people don't get to drive a multitude of different cars, let alone push them to their limits, most opinions are formed based on professional reviews. That's fine in general, but there is a distinction between "fun" and "fast". Drifting is a lot of fun, yet everyone knows that drifting is not the fastest way around a track. Of course, terminal understeer is not the fastest way either, nor is it any fun (unlike drifting). But whenever someone thinks of any understeer, they think of something like this (fast forward to 2:35):

Limit understeer isn't a true or false deal, however. It isn't either present or absent. It's a range. You can make almost any car understeer or oversteer by provoking it. An F1 car couldn't go through a chicane at 200 mph. It will understeer. Turn the wheel at that speed for a sharp turn, and it will plow straight. Strictly speaking, a car is neutral if it goes into a four wheel slide as you start to exceed its limits without provoking either under- or oversteer. Otherwise, if the front end starts to go wide, the car understeers at the limit. If the rear end starts to slide, the car oversteers at the limit.


Myth Busting

E46 BMW M3 at Atlantic Motorsport Park - Graham MacNeil ©

People usually associate road-going good RWD cars with oversteer (or at least neutral handling) such an MX-5, but that actually understeers at the limit. BMW M cars also understeer at the limit, a little more so than Miata's. In fact, the vast (vast) majority of mainstream production cars understeer at the limit, even the ones typically described as "neutral". Almost everyone will blame lawyers and bean counters, saying manufacturers consider understeer to be "safer", but it's not the only reason. It's also because you can go faster with a little bit of understeer...

It's true and I'm sorry, but most people who think they have to get rid of all understeer to go faster either drive low-power, momentum cars, or just haven't approached the limit of their cars in corner exit. As long as we're talking about RWD cars on track and there is enough power for the car to get out of its own way, that is generally true.


Grip Balance

C7 Corvette (Stingray) Grand Sport at Atlantic Motorsport Park - Graham MacNeil ©

Any RWD car with a decent amount of power could easily be provoked into oversteer using a little more power than grip allows. That means that if you put your foot down in a RWD car going around a turn, the car will naturally want to oversteer once you exceed grip in the back because it's the rear tires losing grip (holding/maintaining or controlling that slide is much more dependent on proper suspension tuning, but initiating a slide is straight forward in any RWD car with good power).

If the car is set up to be neutral, you won't be able to put much power down before you go into a drift because suspension tuning put just as much grip up front as there is in the back (i.e. front and rear axles lose grip at roughly the same speed, hence the four wheel drift once you exceed the limit). That means if you are right up to the limit coming out of the turn, you have to be patient before you start to put a lot of power down. But if it is set up to have a little understeer dialed in at the limit, it is much easier to balance and control under power.

You can think of the grip balance as a sliding scale, not just singular isolated points. Zero - or neutral - is in the middle and understeer and oversteer are on either side. You'll find some people who say they can't stand understeer, the car needs to be tail happy. Then there are those who say they don't want the back end to ever come out. Both are fine if you are just out there to have fun and/or never push beyond your comfort zone. But what you want for speed is somewhere very close to zero (neutral) but towards the understeer side. How much exactly depends on the car (how much power it has, how forgiving it is, and how progressive it is at the limit) and the driver (comfort level/preference).


Perception of Grip Balance

S550 Mustang GT at Atlantic Motorsport Park - Kevin Doubleday ©

Most people who drive truly neutral RWD cars actually describe them as tail happy. Most people who drive RWD cars that have a slight amount of understeer dialed in describe them as neutral. The reason being is simple. Cars that are truly neutral at the limit are much easier to provoke into a slide once you go to the throttle. Cars that have a bit of understeer dialed in allow you to put more power down.

That little bit of understeer makes the cars approachable and stable, resulting in you being much more comfortable putting your foot down. Moreover, it makes it much easier to be consistent. I have no doubt there are people who will argue that and say they can hold a slide every corner of every lap, but chances are you can't do it perfectly.

This isn't about holding a slide or avoiding a crash after the back end has started to come around. Many seasoned drivers are good at that and a few are excellent. It is about keeping the car right at the edge of grip all the time OR bringing it back after it crossed the edge while losing the least amount of time. It is much easier to do that in a car with a bit of understeer dialed in than oversteer. You don't have to just take my word for it.

Boris Said once told SAFEisFAST in an interview that "a car that has a little bit of understeer in it is a lot more consistent to drive than a car that has oversteer in it." He can claim three (3) 24-hours of Daytona wins, one 12 hours of Sebring, and even one 24 Hours Nurburgring, all in addition to countless poles and wins in NASCAR and IMSA races.

What About Maximizing Corner Speed?

Scion FR-S (Toyota 86) at ASCC autocross - Kevin Doubleday ©

So maximizing corner speed is useless? Everything we do to carry more speed into a turn are wrong? No, absolutely not. Everything is a balance, of course. The reality is that most cars come from the factory with too much understeer dialed in and you try to do things to make it turn better (square tire setups, suspension tuning, trail braking, etc.). That's why I said you want a little bit of understeer, not a car that plows into every corner screeching its front tires. Unfortunately, all else being equal (i.e. tires, weight, aerodynamics, suspension setup, etc.) max possible corner speed will be lower in a car with a little understeer dialed in vs one that is truly neutral at the limit because your front tires will have less grip which means you can't turn as well. But the thing to remember is that corner exit matters more than corner entry when it comes to lap times.

F1 royalty Sir Jackie Stewart puts an emphasis on the importance of corner exit. When Captain Slow was sent to him to cut 20 seconds off his lap time (Top Gear Season 8 - Episode 5), Sir Jackie told him: "the exit of the corner is FAR more important than the entry of the corner, with regards to smoothness."

If you think of the total time the car spends in the entry of a corner on a track, it's a fraction of the overall lap. It's less than a third, for instance, in my car on our local track which is a very bad example because it has a lot of corners in a short distance (11 in 1.6 miles). You stand to gain a whole lot more by maximizing the other two thirds of the lap. Moreover, focusing on the exit - meaning a little more stable/understeer to be able to put power down - pays huge dividends in speed by the time you get to the next corner.

You are not just looking at sacrificing, say, 1-2 mph in corner entry/mid corner to gain 1-2 mph over the rest of the lap, which would be a gain in itself since it's a gain over a longer portion of the lap. There's more to be had than that. A small sacrifice of 1-2 mph you lose in entry to optimize the exit generally translates to a much higher speed gain at the corner entry of the next turn or at the end of a straight following that corner. And that gain is a lot more consistent for most drivers turn after turn and lap after lap, as we've established that most drivers including professional ones with multiple titles are more consistent in a car that has a bit of understeer dialed in


Rules Are Meant to Be Broken...

Mazda MX-5 (NA Miata) at Atlantic Motorsport Park - Kevin Doubleday ©

Now, there are exceptions to the above. Like I said, this mainly applies to RWD cars on track. I will discuss other drivetrain layouts (FWD and 4WD/AWD) in future posts, but the main thing to remember is that, even for RWD, as the course/circuit gets smaller and tighter, the benefit of maximizing speeds between corners and on the straights diminishes so the balance point will change (i.e. you generally will want less understeer on smaller technical tracks and a little more on high speed tracks). That's because there just isn't enough room to build speed and you have to try as much as possible to maintain it.

The same is true for momentum cars, regardless of course length or size. Momentum cars just don't have enough power to build a lot of speed. Fast laps are done by minimizing braking and maximizing corner speed, meaning understeer will slow you down. But the majority of modern sports cars don't fall under that category. They're big, heavy, tall, and have plenty of power. They stand to gain a lot more by maximizing use of available power.

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How would a Mustang 3.5L EcoBoost compare to the 5.0L V8?

Ever wonder how a 3.5 litre EcoBoost might fair against the 5.0 litre V8 in the Mustang? Of course you have. Every since Ford dropped it in the F150 (and perhaps well before), everyone has been wondering how it would perform. There are basically two camps; those who think it would be awesome because of tuneability and power potential and those who think it means the death of the V8 in the Mustang. If you are in the latter group, we seem to be good so far with continuous upgrades to the 5.0 litre Coyote and the brand new Shelby GT500 which still uses a supercharged V8 as it has been for over a decade and multiple iterations. But what if...

Well, it seems we are closer than ever to finding out the answer to that question. AmericanMuscle recently got together two crew cab, short box, 4x4 F150's but one has the 5.0 litre V8 and the other has the 3.5 litre EcoBoost V6. There has been a few comparisons between 5.0 litre and 3.5 litre EB F150's, but this seems to be the most direct side-by-side comparisons including 1/4 mile and dyno runs, stock vs stock and tuned vs tuned. Now, the F150 version of the Coyote 5.0 litre V8 is a little different.

It is a little better suited to truck duty thanks to more low end torque and an earlier torque peak. The Mustang 5.0 litre has different cams and intakke manifold to allow better breathing at higher rpms for much higher peak hp (460 hp vs 395 hp in the F150) but that comes at the expense of a little less low end torque. That should also make it a little more tuneable, allowing it to pick up more power with a tune. There are other changes too in the F150 that have minimal effects on performance, but with all of that said, this may be the best way to find out how a 3.5L EcoBoost might compare to the 5.0L in a Mustang. Watch below to find out.

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The Truth behind Owning a Modified Ferrari 458 Italia

After driving and reviewing this modified 620 hp Ferrari 458 Italia, I talk to the owner to find out the truth behind owning and living with a modern Ferrari. This isn't a garage queen Ferrari either, it serves double duty as an every day car and track car. Watch to find out ownership costs, reliability, and experience. Interested in joining Scott at the track? Check out MHPDC.

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Diagnosing a Cylinder that isn't firing right

Diagnosing a Cylinder that isn't firing right

Here is one way to find a problem on your V8

Tool needed: Laser thermometer

Your problem Cylinder is the one with the lowest temperature. 

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