Dug this up here
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/01/13/2014-chevrolet-corvette-detroit-show-miracle/1823951/ "The new Corvette's body continues to be made from exotic composite materials, including lighter-weight carbon fiber, same as in race cars. The frame switches from steel to lighter aluminum.
C5 and C6 Corvettes have floors made of balsa wood sandwiched between rigid layers — a controversial approach to weight-saving when it was introduced. The C7 will use foam sandwiched between rigid layers, which Corvette engineers say is lighter and stiffer than the balsa sandwich.
One example of weight saving: The plastic roof panel of a C6 weighs about 20 pounds. A C7's carbon fiber panel, about 13 lbs.
The car will be no featherweight, though, because additional standard features and hardware to meet new regulations added back some of the weight that was trimmed.
In fact, the weight of the base car "will be slightly up," Juechter says.
Because the on-sale date still is months away, GM won't discuss pricing, says Juechter, "The business case is based on, 'If you can afford today's Corvette, you'll be able to afford this one.' "
The 2012 Vette ranges from about $60,000 for the base coupe to more than twice that for a loaded ZR1.
Juechter won't give precise sales forecasts but says "we expect to get back to normal volumes of 30,000" annually. That'll be a big jump. Last year, Corvette sales were just 14,132, up 7.4% from 2011's 13,164, according to Autodata.
As dream-inducing as the fast, agile two-seater has been, quality and reliability have been inconsistent and Schorr doesn't see that changing immediately: "There will be problems at first; it's a fact of life."
He also forecasts huge dealer markups likely to turn off eager buyers.
2014 C7 base model/2013 C6 base modelLength 177 in./174.6 in.
Width 73.9 in./72.6 in.
Height 48.6 in./49 in.
Wheelbase 106.7 in./105.7 in.
Horsepower 450*/430
Torque 450* lb.-ft./424 lb.-ft
Manual transmission: 7-speed/6-speed
Automatic transmission: 6-speed/6-speed
*Chevrolet estimates"
