WAR ON V8s: V6 FOR THE “C8” CORVETTE?

[Get the latest “Truth With Speedzzter” here]

Autoweek is reporting a “senior GM insider” said the upcoming C7 Corvette “will be the last of the traditional, old-style Corvettes." According to the report, the C8, due in 2016, will feature a turbocharged V6 instead of a V8.

Of course the main driver of the move against V8 power is the EPA/NHTSA carbon regulations set to be announced April 1, 2010. The so-called “Clean Cars” rule “would apply to passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles, covering model years 2012 through 2016. The new rules would require these vehicles to meet an estimated combined average emissions level of 250 grams of carbon dioxide per mile." That dovetails with the 35.5 miles per gallon Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard for 2016.

Downsized engines are a primary means of meeting the carbon standards because they can be made more efficient in part-throttle driving.

While some Ford fans may hope that “Government Motors” fatally tampers with the Corvette franchise, loss of the antediluvian pushrod LS V8 in Corvette will give Ford product planners some cover to dump V8s as well. Already, Ford’s lazy sales job on the EcoBoost V6 puts Ford’s V8 tradition at risk. Instead of developing smaller high-tech V8s, Ford and the other Detroit carmakers appear to be taking the easy way out by merely trimming cylinders to cut displacement. A right-sized V8 with a full array of efficiency technologies can meet the unreasonable and unfounded demands for fewer “greenhouse gas” emissions while preserving the traditional essence of full-throttled V8 motoring.

Although Corvette labored its first couple of sales seasons with the “Blue Flame Six” in the 1950s, a Corvette simply isn’t a Corvette without eight cylinders. No "buzzin' half dozen" will do.