The story of the 2014 Corvette Stingray has only started to unravel with the world premieres of the Coupe at the Detroit Motor Show in January and the Convertible at the Geneva Auto Salon just last week, as in the coming months and years, the C7 family will grow to welcome an array of new models, engines and editions.
Naturally, the most anticipated model is the successor to the C6 ZR-1 with its supercharged LS9 V-8 engine.
Why are we saying all this? Because a member of the Corvette7 forums had some personal time in and out (but no driving, we’re told) in a pre-production Corvette Stingray and he took some photos, including one of the C7’s part-digital instrument panel where he spotted something very interesting.
On the left and right side of the tachometer in the Stingray’s programmable thin-film transistor (TFT) display are two boost gauges. The current ZR1 features the same gauges, but in analogue form.
Besides the CorvetteC7 forum, U.S. publication Car&Driver also spotted the digital boost gauges on a 2014 Stingray Convertible (before it was revealed in Geneva) on a separate occasion.
Now, we know that the base versions of the C7 are fitted with GM’s new naturally-aspirated 6.2-liter V8 LT1 small block with direct-injection and an output of 450-horses, so what gives with the supercharger boost gauges on the two models?
Is there a possibility that these pre-production models are hiding a supercharged V8 under their hood or did GM simply include the booster gauge in the programmable TFT display and didn’t turn it off because these are test cars? What do you think?
Photo Credits: Corvette7
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