Corvette Z06 details leak out
Last year saw the seventh generation Corvette take its bow at the annual North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Mich. General Motors planned to recreate the excitement with the unveiling of the high performance track-special version, their Z06.
Unfortunately, the Internet happened.
As part of the lead-up to the launch, GM faithfully created a special launch site, and prepared to release the pertinent information to ‘Vette fans everywhere at a later date. Sadly, whoever was in charge of the meta data — the keywords and identifying phrases that Google uses to locate sites — decided to plug in hush-hush details like horsepower and torque figures.
Anyone who searched for “Corvette Stingray Z06” or similar would see the brief blurb under the link, and it basically let the cat out of the bag.
So how much power are we talking about? Oh, a lot. Really a lot.
Unofficially, of course, GM’s new track-special will have a supercharged V-8 engine producing 620 h.p. and a colossal 650 foot-pounds of torque.
With pundits already agog over the latest ‘Vette’s handling and acceleration improvements in the basic version, the new Z06 should be even more giant-killing-ey.
Audis to come equipped with lasers
It sounds like something an eight-year-old came up with, or perhaps a nefarious plan cooked up by Dr. Evil: at this year’s consumer electronics show, Audi took the wraps off a version of their Sport Quattro Concept with laser beams for headlights.
While the immensely heavy Sport Quattro is more mutated sea bass than shark, strapping a laser beam to its forehead has worked wonders for long distance illumination. Essentially, the laser lights work as the high beams, and the signature Audi LEDs function as low beams.
The frickin’ lasers provide greatly improved illumination of the road ahead with a pair of tightly controlled beams. Sadly, flashing your brights at a fast-lane-hogging, slow-moving Corolla doesn’t cause it to explode as if zapped by the Death Star. Pew pew pew. Nope, nothing.
Sounds great, and Audi will be putting their (literally) brilliant technology into both their R18 LeMans endurance racer and eventually into production form. However, whether the new tech passes Canada’s ill-tempered safety standards is another thing entirely.
