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2014 Corvette Stingray Adds 90 Pounds Over C6

2014-Corvette-C7-8 [1]Every automaker, big or small, is putting an emphasis on “adding lightness” as Lotus founder Colin Chapman was fond of saying. Lighter cars aren’t just more fuel efficient, they are faster and nimbler as well. GM spilled a lot of ink (pixels? ones and zeros?) in its efforts to lighten the 2014 Corvette Stingray, including a new lightweight frame and use of carbon fiber.

heat-vent [2]But at the end of the day, all those efforts still resulted in a car that is 90 pounds heavier than the outgoing C6, reports GM Authority [3]. This little tidbit was revealed ahead of the Corvette Museum bash taking place this weekend.

All told, the official curb weight for the 2014 Corvette Stingray without the Z51 performance package is 3,298 pounds, exactly 90 pounds more than the 3,208 pound 2013 Corvette C6. So despite dropping 99 pounds from the frame, 37 pounds from lightened body panels, and a few pounds here and there including the clever use of heat-activated “smart” materials [4], GM still came in slightly heavier than the C6.

Then again, the 2014 Corvette is a more powerful, more luxurious, and all-around more capable sports car, one that will cost just $1,500 more than the outgoing model [5]. So much respect is still due for GM’s hard-working engineers, who managed to put together a better car in every regard, save it is slightly heavier and a little more expensive. Now all that is left is to see how it performs compared to the outgoing model.

Do you think 90 pounds will make any difference when all is said and done?