Only 17 days are left until the official unveiling of the all-new 2020 Corvette in Tustin, California.
Until then, the mid-engine Corvette’s testing schedule continues with a return to the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Our spy photographers spotted several Corvette C8 prototypes on the “Green Hell” and the safest guess is the team is there for the final round of testing before launch.
However, one must not rule out the fact that GM could set some fast laps on the Nürburgring, although there’s no proof that is actually the goal. Who knows, maybe we’ll learn more about the 2020 Corvette’s potential or actual Nürburgring lap times at the launch.
Until then, it’s worth noting that the prototypes wear the least amount of camouflage we’ve seen on the C8 Corvette so far. This allows us to spot new details such as the production headlights and taillights (or at least parts of them), the aggressive front bumper with a sharp splitter, the rear bumper dominated by a sizable diffuser flanked by quad exhausts, and the rear wing.
Other details that are easy to spot include the double-bubble roof and the sophisticated design of the engine cover (which may or may not double as a rear window) flanked by air vents on each side and a rearview camera on top. There are no photos of the interior but we already brought you the first look inside the Corvette early this year.
The 2020 Corvette is expected to debut in “Stingray” guise with a new version of GM’s 6.2-liter LT1 naturally aspirated V8 producing around 500 hp. Power will be sent to the rear wheels via an automatic transmission, likely of a dual-clutch type. At the moment, it is not clear if a manual gearbox will be on offer.
Later on, more powerful versions are expected to arrive — rumor has it Chevrolet is working on a 5.5-liter twin-turbo overhead-cam V8 for the C8, possibly with a flat-plane crankshaft. This engine could deliver around 800 hp but there are also rumors of a hybrid version taking the Corvette into hypercar territory with 1,000 horsepower.