With a 29-mpg highway rating, the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is a fairly efficient machine relative to its considerable underhood might. However, upcoming government fuel economy regulations may force General Motors to go back and find new ways to eke out even more mpgs from the 455-horsepower sports car.
The addition of a stop-start system could become an unavoidable necessity down the road, much to the chagrin of the C7 development team, which initially rejected the technology as unsuitable for new Corvette.
“It is more mass and more cost,” Tadge Juechter, Corvette chief engineer, told Edmunds. “It is very disconcerting to have your lively, great-sounding engine stall every time you come to a stop. The real customer value, the real environmental value is zero. So you are hauling around all that stuff to get a better label value (for mpg on the window sticker). It wasn’t worth it.”
Juechter said that stop-start technology – which cuts the engine when at idle to reduce fuel consumption – would likely increase city mileage by around 2 mpg, although it would be defeatable for drivers who prefer a V8 soundtrack to silence at a stoplight.
If adopted, stop-start technology would join the Corvette’s already-considerable arsenal of fuel-saving systems, including cylinder deactivation, direct injection and a seven-speed manual transmission.
The addition of a stop-start system could become an unavoidable necessity down the road, much to the chagrin of the C7 development team, which initially rejected the technology as unsuitable for new Corvette.
“It is more mass and more cost,” Tadge Juechter, Corvette chief engineer, told Edmunds. “It is very disconcerting to have your lively, great-sounding engine stall every time you come to a stop. The real customer value, the real environmental value is zero. So you are hauling around all that stuff to get a better label value (for mpg on the window sticker). It wasn’t worth it.”
Juechter said that stop-start technology – which cuts the engine when at idle to reduce fuel consumption – would likely increase city mileage by around 2 mpg, although it would be defeatable for drivers who prefer a V8 soundtrack to silence at a stoplight.
If adopted, stop-start technology would join the Corvette’s already-considerable arsenal of fuel-saving systems, including cylinder deactivation, direct injection and a seven-speed manual transmission.
Photos by Andrew Ganz.
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