Re: Next Corvette To Go Mid-Engine. Next Cobra...?

dwight wrote:
<NoOption5L@xxxxxxx> wrote in message news:1188044433.783170.79470@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Seeing that the Mustang is Ford's [only?] recent success story, the
fact there's a slew of competition -- from the new Camaro, Challenger
and a RWD Hyundai -- about to make their market debut, and an upcoming
generation of new buyers who like cutting-edge technology, I think it
would be wise for them to keep all their "options on the table" if
they want to hold onto their market share.

Patrick

I'm confused.

All of these horsepower advances are great, and I really hope that Ford beats our horse to death.

But aren't we at cross-purposes here?

The surge to Go Green is approaching critical mass. Aside from the whole global warming thing (whether you believe it to be fact or not), the political climate alone dictates that we pursue other energy sources. Every year, there will be stronger forces trying to wean us off of oil-based internal combustion engines. The clock is ticking.

How is it that developmental engineers have been given the go-ahead to spend untold millions of budgetary dollars to create ever-more-powerful versions of a transportation device that may soon go the way of the dinosaurs? Isn't anyone looking forward, or is this a purposely shortsighted project to make immediate profit, while delaying the inevitable?

Are the Japanese chasing gas-blown horsepower, or is the bulk of their creative energies and financial resources being spent on future tech? And is this yet another indication of the Big Three being so far behind the curve?

The only thing that will move us off our dependency of oil is economics. All this global warming, go green babble is a money grab by Algore and a bunch of scientists from both sides. The price of oil is going to remain high indefinitely due to the explosive growth of several underdeveloped countries like China, India, Indonesia etc. China alone is going to be gobbling up crude oil at a rate even we here in the USA can't match. The oil producers can't suck oil out of the ground fast enough to feed two 800 lb. energy gorillas.

If oil prices go as high as I think it will in the next 10-15 years the consumer will create the demand for alternatives which, IMO, will first be hybrids and then full electrics with a small gas engine to charge and/or feed the batteries in a pinch. Once they get batteries that can recharge to more than 80% of capacity in less than five minutes the majority of the cars driven in the country will be all electric.

The great thing is that this doesn't mean the death of performance cars at all. In fact, I think it will usher in an era of performance the likes of which we can't imagine. We will have all wheel drive torque monsters that will have super low centers of gravity that will scare the hell out of us as we mash the throttle to the floor and enter curves at insane speeds and we live to tell about it.

BTW, the Japanese (i.e. Toyota) are embracing hybrids because they are the test beds for the all electric cars they know are coming. They just don't know when the price of gas is going to push the consumer over the edge to go for all electric vehicles. The fact we are accepting hybrids is the indication to them that the change will eventually occur but they know they have to move slow for now. Toyota is the smartest of the bunch because they are putting serious development resources into hybrid technology. Their next round of hybrids are going to be designed from the ground up as hybrids and not a retrofit of a gasoline only based vehicle. If the other automakers don't do the same Toyota will own the hybrid market for a long time to come.
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