Insider Claims C8 Corvette To Be Called ‘Manta Ray’, Be Available In 3 Versions

Another day, another ‘insider’ (with or without quotation marks) claiming to have exclusive information on the upcoming C8 Corvette pops up. This time a user on the Corvette Forum says that the new Corvette will be called the ‘Manta Ray’, and that GM has a plan to revolutionize the model’s lineup.

Granted, we take this with a healthy grain of salt, yet forum member ‘unlimitedPower’ says that GM is going to add two distinct high-end variations next to the base C8 Corvette: the Grand Tour and the Grand Sport.

The Grand Tour version will be a more luxurious derivative, designed with the help of Cadillac. The plush version of the C8 Corvette will feature things like acoustic glass, heavy sound deadening and special wheels and tires in order to make the new Corvette a “true cross-country tourer”.

The GT version of the C8 Corvette will allegedly be powered by Cadillac’s latest 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8 unit, which will have its turbos moved to the sides of the engine block. The same source added that GM benchmarked the Corvette GT against German luxury GTs from Mercedes and BMW and that the engine itself is said to be the quietest V8 ever offered by GM.

As for the Grand Sport, it will play the role of the performance flagship in the range and will be offered with different optional packages, depending on how track-oriented you want your C8 Corvette to be.

The C8 Corvette Grand Sport will be powered by a “beastly” twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8 (which other reports suggest it will produce 800hp) that has already delivered promising results in private track sessions. The insider says that the car has dominated both “the Germans and Italians” on track, referring to the first-year Grand Sport and not to the future track-focused versions.

Base versions of the C8 Corvette will be powered by an updated LT1 V8 with around 520hp and 485lb-ft of torque. A new dual-clutch automatic transmission will be the only powertrain option across the whole range.

Whether these claims are true or not, we can’t tell. Some details do seem plausible, but we’ll probably have to wait until GM decides to reveal the 2020 C8 Corvette, which is expected sometime next year.

Renderings Copyright Carscoops / Josh Byrnes