NEW SPY SHOTS of the Upcoming SS Corvette: Pictures, Specs and Production Timetables

Over the last several months,everyone has been talking about the SSCorvette that is supposedly in development.Photos of possible engines havebeen leaked, spy photos have surfaced,and speculation continues to fuel the fireof anticipation for this killer car. As I havestated in CF before, when it comes to thenew SS Corvette, I have resisted justregurgitating info that has already beenposted or printed elsewhere, hoping thatmy own contacts inside GM would throwme a bone or two. Guess what? Theyfinally did.

It is obvious that mule cars now exist,and I have obtained several shots of thesecars traversing the streets. It is obviousthis is not what the new SS will look like,and one thing is for sure, the new SS willNOT have a pop-riveted hoodscoop asoriginal equipment. Surprise, surprise.Due to the giant tires scheduled for thisnew supercar, there will have to be bodymodifications (at the very least) to fit thismassive rubber under the car. Also, newparts continue to be added to the GMmanufacturing pipeline that have beendesigned for the significant increase inhorsepower above the current Z06 horsepowerthreshold, now verified in thespecs at the 650hp range. As I statedbefore, GM doesn't start building parts inlarge quantities for a vehicle they are still"thinking" about producing.

Have I got your attention yet? Good!What has been verified is this: The officialdesignation for the car is the SS on allGM documentation to date. The enginedesignated to be used in the SS for the'08-'09 model year will be the 6.2L LS9,and it will be supercharged. The engine will be rated at 650 hp with 650 lb-ft oftorque. GM contacts close to the LS9engine design say the 650hp figure isunderrated. The car will only be availablewith a six-speed MTX transmission withthe following gearset:

FIRST GEAR RATIO . . . . . . . . . . 2.29
SECOND GEAR RATIO . . . . . . . . 1.63
THIRD GEAR RATIO . . . . . . . . . . 1.21
FOURTH GEAR RATIO . . . . . . . . 1.00
FIFTH GEAR RATIO . . . . . . . . . . 0.81
SIXTH GEAR RATIO . . . . . . . . . . 0.67
REVERSE GEAR RATIO. . . . . . . . 3.15
FINAL DRIVE RATIO (REAR) . . . . 3.42

Currently the specs show the car usinggigantic P335/25R20 tires at the frontand rear. While this is obviously out ofthe norm, that is what the specs show atthe present time. My guess is this willchange prior to production. The car willcarry an electronic limited-slip differential;unnamed sources at GM state this trendwill be the wave of the future for manyGM platforms. The car will also use anext-generation brake and engine interventiontraction control system that ispurported to make the current tractiontechnology look antiquated at best.That is all we know at this point. Staytuned for further developments.

NEW SS TIMETABLE

The following is the current timetable the new SS is using leading up to production: 06*20*05
VPI (Vehicle Program Initiation)

02*27*06
MRD-Architecture Running Mule-GA
(Material Required Date)
(General Assembly)
Actually building a vehicle

04*21*06
100-percent SVER "P" Release
(Structural Vehicle Engineering ReleaseProduction Release)

08*11*06
MRD IVER-GA
(Material Required Date)
(Initial Vehicle Engineering Release)
(General Assembly)

09*04*06
Start Build IVER-GA
(Initial Vehicle Engineering Release)(General Assembly)

10*15*07
100-percent PPAP Submit
(Production Part Approval Process)

10*12*07
MRD MVB NS-GA
(Material Required Date)
(Manufacturing Validation Build)
(Non-Saleable)
(General Assembly)

10*15*07
Validation Testing Complete

12*31*07
MRD MVB S-GA
(Material Required Date)
(Manufacturing Validation Build)
(Saleable)
(General Assembly)

03*08*08
SOP (PMY Build Out)
(Start of Production)
(Previous Model Year Build Out)