2008 Corvette Sting Ray

GM is reportedly creating a new Kappa platform sports car under the Chevrolet Sting Ray name – the 2008 Corvette Sting Ray. Kappa is a compact rear-wheel drive automobile platform created by General Motors. It was firs used for the 2006 Pontiac Solstice and the 2007 Saturn Sky. It will also be used for the 2007 Opel GT and the 2008 Deawoo GX2, and has been included in three concept cars –Vauxhall VX Lightning, Saturn Curve and Chevrolet Nomad. The Kappa platform was developed to be ideal for two-seat, rear-wheel drive convertibles. If GM decides to use Kappa for the 2008 Corvette Sting Ray, it means that the 2008 Corvette will have a short-long arm type independent suspension in the rear as well as in the front. The Kappa platform has hydroformed rails and a tunnel structure, which is actually quite similar to solutions already used for Corvettes. With the Kappa platform, the transmission will most likely be longitudinal-mounted and the engine will be placed front-mid.

Even though the 2008 Corvette Sting Ray may be built on the same platform as the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky, it will still be in a much higher price range. The 2008 Corvette Sting Ray is expected to be offered with a broad selection of engines, and Corvette enthusiasts all over the world eagerly listen to rumors telling them that one of these engines will be a new V6. It is assumed that the new 2008 Corvette Sting Ray is an effort from GM to seriously compete with Porsche Cayman and BMW Z4.

There have been a lot of speculations regarding the name of the 2008 model. Many Corvette aficionados who love the mid-year Corvettes hope that the name 2008 Corvette Sting Ray or 2008 Corvette Stingray will stick. Other feel that 2008 Corvette SS (Super Sports) or something involving the Z is more appropriate. A third group likes the tradition of naming Corvettes after marine life, but suggest that the Sting Ray should be allowed to retire in favor of 2008 Corvette Mako Shark, 2008 Corvette Blue Devil or some other though and attention-grabbing sea dweller.

Numerous rumors have been surrounding the 2008 Corvette Sting Ray, under that and many other names. During late 2006, photographs allegedly showing a the Corvette Blue Devil during a test drive was published by The Car Connection, Autoweek and Motor Trend, and they pictures quickly spread all over the world and made their ways to an abundance of Internet sites. They had allegedly been shot in Milford by a student named Yonni G. who had happened to see the car one day when he was carrying his fathers’ camera. The photos eventually turned out to be fake, a prank created by online car magazine Winding Road. The car in the pictures was not a 2008 Corvette Sting Ray or a “Blue Devil”; it was a Corvette Z06 that had been disguised with the help of a cardboard hood scoop, fake fender flares and some tape. The fake 2008 Corvette Sting Ray / Blue Devil had been driven around Metro Detroit by the folks at Winding Road. Some people viewed this as an innocent joke, while others felt betrayed and voiced concerned over the future trustworthiness of articles and pictures published by Winding Road.