One of the greatest feats of Mechanical Engineering is the
automobile. Automobiles have only been
around for a little more than 100 years, but they have been improved upon and
redesigned more than any other product.
They exemplify exactly how Mechanical Engineers continually strive to
improve and expand upon already developed ideas. In this day and age, cars are consistently
getting faster and more powerful as Mechanical Engineers think of new designs
and better layouts. The engineers at
Chevrolet have shown their dedication to improvement with the new 2015 Corvette
Z06. Executives from Chevy are saying
that the Z06 will be the highest performing version of Corvette ever made, but
how does it actually stand? This evaluation can be conducted by looking
at the technical specs of the car, comparing it to other cars in the industry,
and comparing it to previous Corvette models.
The new supercharged 6.2 liter V8 engine was developed from
their racing program. This new engine
will output 650 horsepower, and it will produce 650 foot-pounds of torque. These specs may sound like just a bunch of
numbers, but they truly are impressive.
In comparing these specs to the new 2015 Ford Mustang it is easy to see
just how impressive they really are. The
new Ford Mustang has 310 horsepower and 320 foot-pounds of torque. This is less than half of what the new
Corvette Z06 has, and it shows how the Z06 truly is a super-car.
The highest performing version of the previous model of
Corvette was the ZR1. This model was
able to accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.8 seconds, but the
engineers at Corvette say that the preproduction Z06 is already faster than the
ZR1 on the test track. As the below
video demonstrates, the Corvette Z06 is surely the fastest production Corvette.
The new model will have a seven-speed manual transmission that comes standard, but it will also offer an eight-speed automatic option. The new model will also offer a variety of different aerodynamic frames for improved airflow. There are new carbon-fiber components to reduce the weight while still allowing for the strength and rigidity to stay the same. Along with all of these changes, they are also adding a wider wheel base to improve traction.
There are very few downsides to this super-car besides the price. It truly is built for those who want the best of the best, and it assumes that the buyers will have a large amount of cash to spare. The actual price isn’t fully released yet, but executives have suggested that its cost will be comparable to the outgoing Z06, which started at $76,595. The price will most likely be higher than this, and added improvements to the stock model will increase the cost even more.
The 2015 Corvette Z06 is set to release early in 2015, and it is heavily anticipated by both fans of Corvette and fans of super-cars in general. When it will be released, it will certainly set a new standard for high-performance cars that other manufacturers are sure to follow. It is not a car for the common man, but that does not mean that it can’t be appreciated by vehicle lovers. It demonstrates exactly how Mechanical Engineering as a field continues to improve and grow over time as technology advances. Mechanical Engineers are always striving to produce better and better products, and the new Corvette Z06 shows this perfectly.
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