While the world awaits the anticipated debut of the 2024 Corvette E-Ray hybrid supercar, General Motors is already onto the next thing, with a recent C8 Corvette Stingray seen testing with various emissions monitoring equipment.
A member of the MidEngineCorvetteForum pointed out that the model was the European-spec C8 Corvette, identifiable by the different headlights and taillights over its US-spec version. As it turns out, from mid-2024, all new vehicles in Europe must equip more assist systems than previous regulations mandated. New additions include mandatory emergency braking, emergency lane assist, and an interface that allows later installation of alcohol level measurement devices.
Image copyright Steven Pham, Muscle Cars & Trucks.
As with adding additional features to a vehicle, weight can sometimes be a contributing factor that negatively impacts performance and fuel economy. It’s likely only a matter of time before those same rules make their way to the USA, which is why a US-spec Stingray was spotted wearing the EPA testing pipes. We’ll be getting the Corvette E-Ray in the near future, which will share the Stingray’s LT2 engine. Based on the E-Ray visualizer leak, we learned the car would be getting Adaptive Cruise Control with the button controlling the settings residing under the Z-Mode (custom driving mode) button on the steering wheel.
Adaptive Cruise Control is a precursor to Automatic Emergency Braking, which will be a mandatory feature for Europe in 2024. The forum member also mentioned Emergency Lane Assist (or lane departure), which actively counter-steers the car when the driver consciously or unconsciously begins changing lanes. That’s a fair bit of nanny tech for a car that’s supposed to represent the pinnacle of the human driving experience.
Further, the C8 Corvette could be getting a power upgrade for its base model, the Stingray. Rumors point to the Corvette Stingray cresting the 500 horsepower mark (the current model with the Z51 package and active exhaust comes in at 495 hp from its 6.2L LT2 V8 engine). However, we’ll stop short of claiming it will happen for the 2024 model year, or even that the LT2 will stay nestled behind the cockpit of America’s Sports Car. There’s an awful lot of engineering going on at General Motors right now, and one of those things happens to be the development of a next-generation of engines for a next-generation of vehicles.
