Well, I really feel that I am being realistic. Chevrolet and GM realized a long time ago that they made something special. They are improving it more then they would if it was some other mark in the line at GM. I am sure that Corvette is special to GM. That is why we are really getting our bang for the buck. If you think that GM or Chevrolet would come up with something that was worth $20,000 more to the buyer, but the pricing structure for the Corvette would only permit a $5000 increase from year-to-year we would see the end product? I doubt it because the higher ups would say too much of an increase in price for the average Corvette buyer.
I still say that we are getting a great car for the money. Maybe we are getting a "gift" for the money that we are paying for this car. I think that my C6 is just great. May be I have a special one that came off the line and was gifted to me by the higher ups. I have a great world class car. I could not buy this car under any other mark for what I paid. That has to be a very satisfying feeling as it is for me.
I am just being realistic with what I said. No offense intended. I cannot see Gm paying anymore for interior improvements than what they are spending now. If they beat the supplier to death and receive more for the money spent than that is what we will receive. Not from GM but from the supplier indirectly.
I do appreciate that you were kind with your words to me, "Rash" is not an unkind word, and I am not a nose in the air guy. I am just being what I feel is realistic in real life today at GM and Chevrolet. Why do you think the Corvette Division has the margins they do today? It has to be the most profitable Division in the company. It is because they are giving us "value" for what we are receiving. The Corvette must be the greatest "PR" that GM has. They are trying to continue to give us that value indirectly for the "PR" value they receive in selling us such a great car for the money. They are just constrained by what they can actually do. There is a trade off in what they can do without offending the other car divisions Why do you think so many options are now standard on US made cars that cost extra years ago? It is because the foreign manufacturers said, "hell this only costs $2.00 and that only costs us $4.00. The US makers were charging us $35 and $40 for the same thing. So the US guys had to give in and give us more for our money.
When you think of value in US cars, I suggest you think of what you would be receiving if it were not for the foreign competition. Why do you think "labor" received the increases in the past that they did? It was because the US makers could afford it.
The Corvette has always been special . It has always been a profitable car for Chevrolet and GM. They may have fallen into a good one, but today the corporate constraints are dictating what Chevrolet can spend each year in improvements for the buyer and what they have to give to the buyer to keep him or her happy. That is just life.
Guys, we are still getting a great car for the money, and a think I got a special one when I got mine.
Also, after taking directly to suppliers to the auto industry, the auto industry expects automatically that the their cost go down each year for the life of the parts run. If that is being "locked in" I sure wish I was in that situation as the US makers are. I know one supplier here in the US that was never called in on a new project. The specs. were sent directly to China. When the part in production failed, the manufacturer called the US counter part maker in and "told" them to fix the problem. The US manufacturer told them to go to hell. The guy who told me this said they had to sleep at night. Such orders and BS are just not worth it. If you think US makers are at the will of the supplier, than you are not being realistic with life today.
Concerning, HP and torque expectations, this has already been discussed from a pure mathematics standpoint, and we know more or less what to expect. I for one, can't use the 400/400 now on the street and I really try.
The PR value of the Corvette more than off sets the use of the Bowling Green production plant vs building trucks or space craft there. The bean counters may constrain overall improvements each year, but they can not kill this car. Other places build trucks and space craft. Only Bowling Green builds the Corvette, and the people in that community are the reason for the quality of the Corvette that we are receiving.
NorthernPlus
Man are you harsh.
First we don't even know for certain what the HP & Tq is going to be for the LS3 or what the new interior will look like or how improved the new shifter is.
Second, how many new base engines did the C5 get in it's 8 year run? As I recall the LS1 got a 5 HP bump in it's midlife crisis, new wheels, but no interior changes. These changes are coming at the beginning of year 4 for the C6 and there is no question that they will be more substantial than those small C5 changes.
Third, subtantial Year to Year changes for a 33,000 unit per year sports car will never happen in at GM, Toyota, Honda, or even Porsche. If you want to pay Ferrari sized prices, yeah we could get year to year substantive changes ... and pay about $5,000 for each tuneup. Substantive changes do not happen at "little or no cost". GM engineers must directed off other projects to come up with these substantive changes. This means higher overhead costs for Corvette. Supplier prices are locked in at Economic Order Quanties EOQ. This means GM commits to buy xxx parts for z years in order to keep the costs at a level that makes the Corvette ...
Bottom line: If GM were truely run by bean counters, Bowling green would making trucks or suburbans and we wouldn't have the oportunity to discuss this stuff.
