Chevrolet Corvette C7 Stingray Revealed

There's new Chevrolet in town, and it is not the new Cruze or Orlando. It is the legendary Corvette, the seventh iteration of the iconic American sportscar. Styled to impress the newer generation of performance car buyer who has been spoilt by the edgy design paired to explosive performance, C7 Corvette wears a well-cut suit.

The front end of the the new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray wears an familar traditional face, but has been made crisper with a strong characterline. The bodyline continues to rise towards the back, where the traditional wrap-around rear glass has been ditched, and in comes a normal C-pillar that also housed the rear quarter glass, previously unfound on any Corvette except the earliest coupe model. The rear end too is controversially new, where the quad-rounded rear light has been replaced with a squarer, recessed unit. Quad tail pipes complete the dramatic rear end styling.

The new Corvette retain the familiar chassis architecture of removable targa roof, but it is also packed with innovative construction. The hood and the removable roof are made of carbon fibre, while the fender, doors, rear quarter panel and some underbody panel are manufactured from composites. The body structure is aluminium and the weight distribution has been optimized for perfect 50:50 balance front to rear. 

The chassis main frame is composed of five aluminium segments including and extrusion panel at each end and centre main rail jointed by cast nodes at suspension interface points. Each segment thickness is tuned to meet their respective strength requirement, thus thickness vary from 2mm to 11mm. These results in 45kg weight saving, plus it is also 57% stiffer. More photos and details after the jump.

7th Chevrolet Corvette - revealed in CAD

Chevrolet Corvette is an American sportscar, spawned six generation since 1953 and has been powered by the oh so American "small block" engine. The seventh generation, the C7 is due to be introduced on January 13th of 2013. Thanks to Jalopnik, we've got to see how the 7th generation will look like.

The 2013 car is set to ditch some of its forebear design cues, for example the wrap-around rear screen for a more modern layout. Overall, the new car is edgier than its predecessor with prominent body surfacing that is crisper at the intersection and at each edge. The rear end too has taken some leaf out from the Camaro front-engined car, with squared-off quad rear light setup.

Chevrolet Corvette C7 will be powered by the enhanced version of todays LT1 6.2L V8 engine, although there is a talk of offering an entry level version 3.6L V6 to satisfy the demand for emission and consumption legislation imposed by CAFE law in the US. The more powerful ZR1 will be introduced a bit later as a 2014 model so the enthusiastic for scorching Corvette needs to wait a little longer. Some more photos after the jump.

Chevrolet Sonic launched in Malaysia - RM76,888

There is a new kid on the block, ready to mix with the class stalwart Toyota Vios, and will mess with the rest of the B Segment entries in Malaysian market namely Honda City and the recently launched Nissan Almera. This is the latest Chevrolet foray in the crowded but lucrative B Segment, and they have just launched a two-pronged attact with both sedan and hatchback bodystyles.

Compared to the mundane styling of its Japanese rivals, Sonic is best described as unconventional and definitely not the "pakcik" type. The front end is snout-like, with upright blunt grille flanks by the similarly upright, swept back headlight with its protruding lenses. While the side profile in unadventurous, the 5 door hatchback does get an Alfa-styled hidden rear door outside handle. The rear fascia is adorned by the intricately-styled rear light too.

In terms of size, Chevrolet Sonic sits on a class competitive 2,525mm wheelbase. The sedan measures 4,399mm in length right in the smack of City/Vios but dwarfed by the gigantic Almera, while the hatchback is shorter at 4,039mm. Width and height are1,735mm and 1,517mm respectively, identical for both variant. Though the interior space is identical, the sedan version can swallow 466L worth of luggage, while the hatchback measures 253L.

As for the interior design, Chevrolet Sonic dashboard carries the same theme as the one on the Cruze, albeit with the fabric insert removed. The centre cluster houses the integrated audio system with nice high-black screen while the manual aircon is operated via three rotary dials mounted on the lower, silvered panel. The motorcycle-inspired meter binnacle is also youthful in appearance.

Mechanically, there's only single engine variant, namely the 1,398cc ECOTEC engine, producing a reasonable 99hp@6,000rpm and 130Nm@4,000rpm of power and torque respectively. While its peers is marching ahead with their 4 speed automatic transmission (or 5 speed in case of Honda City), Sonic gets 6, good for on-paper marketing USP. Chassis setting is a class norm, consists of McPhersons strut and Torsion Beam setup. Tyre and rim sizes are 205/55 R16. Fuel tank capacity is 46L, while the official mixed cycle fuel consumption is 8.12L/100km. Performance-wise, Chevrolet Sonic can reach 100km/h in 12.9s, and will run out of puff at 175km/h.

Chevrolet Sonic is indeed very well-priced especially considering that it is CBU unit. Price starts at RM76,888 for the sedan while the hatchback is RM2,000 more. Another trump card that it can hold against its rival is the service internal, which is set at 15,000km or 9 month interval. Combined with the warranty period of 5 years or 200,000km, the ownership prospect looks very assuring indeed.

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Chevrolet Spin budget MPV revealed

Chevrolet has released the information about its new budget MPV, the Spin, which is slated to be on sale in South America and Asia from July onwards. Conceived by GM Brazil R&D team, Chevrolet Spin is manufactured in Sao Paulo, and will be assembled here in Asia too in West Java.

Spin is build on Chevrolet Cobalt sedan platform, with the wheelbase of 2,620mm long. Overall length is 4,360mm, 1,763mm wide and 1,660mm tall. It comes in two version, LT that seats five, and LTZ with 7 seats and all bell and whistles. Comparatively, Spin is vastly bigger than Asia budget MPV stalwart, the Avanza which measures 2,665mm, 4,140mm, 1,660mm and 1,695mm in wheelbase, length, width and height. Closer in terms of size and apparent technology is the Maruti Ertiga which measures 4,265mm in length, 1,695mm wide and 1,685mm tall and rides on longer 2,745mm of wheelbase. Anyway, with 7 people on board, Chevrolet Spin can still accommodates162L of cargo, and increased to 710L and 1,668L when the third and second row folded respectively.

 In terms of powertrain department, Chevrolet Spin is set to trump the opposition with latest state-of-the-art package. The MPV is powered by 1.8L EconoFlex lump that can chew ethanol. It produces 108bhp. Mated to the class leading 6 speed automatic transmission or 5 speed manual, it is more advanced compared to the Toyota Avanza which channelled the drive via the 4 speed automatic gearbox from the last millenium.

The interior bring a greatly refreshed design concept compared to all its potential Asian rivals. With the design that can only comes from Chevrolet, the Spin comes with chunky looking dashboard that shares Cobalt partial digital instrument binnacles. The interior also certainly looks plusher compared to more spartan looking Avanza and Ertiga, particularly in seats fabric and contour.

The exterior outlook too is distinctive in its own right. Unlike the weedy Asian-born rivals, Spin is adorned with American big-car cues, particularly its massive radiator grille. However, overall, it still looks like a budget MPV, with some awkward angles.

Stay tune for more news, especially when the Indonesian plant starts to produce this MPV. More photos of the Chevrolet Spin after the jump.

Chevrolet Captiva facelift - RM155,185

Chevrolet today has launched the updated Captiva SUV. The model is basically an enhanced version of Captiva that they sold some years back. The facelift consists of new totally new front end design, LED indicator on side mirror and new wheel design. The rears are untouched. The Thai-sourced car is priced at RM155,185 without insurance.

New bumper, headlight, grille, hood - the entire front is new

Absolutely identical to old one

Vital statistics:

Dimension: 4690mm x 1850mm x 1790mm (L x W x H)

Wheelbase: 2710mm

Kerb Weight: 1830kg

Engine: 2.4 litre DOHC inline-4 gasoline

Power: 165bhp@5600 rpm

Torque: 230Nm@4600 rpm

Transmission : 6 speed auto

Drivetrain: 4WD

In case you are wondering, yes the diesel model has been dropped for now. According to Naza Quest, this variant is coming in last quarter of this year. We are already in 3rd quarter now, why not launch in one go Naza?

More photos and detail after the jump.