After decades of exciting races between Porsche 911s and Chevrolet Corvettes, Chevy is preparing for a new showdown with Stuttgart’s most powerful SUVs. Instead of putting money into a new line of high-performance SUVs, Chevy will change the name of its sub brand, Corvette, which has always been associated with performance. Surprisingly, it took GM so long to add an actual performance SUV to one of its model lines. Even though they have high roofs and five seats, Porsche’s best-selling cars are the Macan and Cayenne every year. Because they make a lot of money, they can make crazy cars like the 911 GT3 RS and 718 GT4 RS. Put aside your hopes for an electric Corvette SUV, at least for now. The SUV will be built on the well-known Alpha platform, also used to make the Camaro and the stunning Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwings. Using the platform as a guide, the Corvette SUV will come in two sizes and be fun to drive. Think again about Macan and Cayenne. The Alpha platform gives users access to all of GM’s powertrains. If Chevy decides to make a car like the Macan, we expect the base engine to be a turbo four with more than 300 horsepower and the top machine to be a twin-turbo V-6 with more than 400 horsepower. To compete with the Cayenne, the more prominent SUV will get a twin-turbo V-6, and the top models will get a 6.2-liter V-8 with about 500 hp. Automatic 10-speed transmissions and all-wheel drive will come standard on the Vette SUV. Magnetorheological dampers can be added as an option. The list should start with the most exciting Corvette SUV models. After its debut, the SUV will get the Z0-something treatment, which doesn’t surprise anyone, so that it can compete with the most expensive utility vehicles. The supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 Cadillac Escalade V with 682 horsepower should be able to handle anything. It has carbon-ceramic brakes and tires as wide as the Mississippi. We still sell our products for thousands less than our competitors. Chevy plans to release the Corvette SUV later this year. It will go on sale in the second half of 2024, with an MSRP of around $60,000.
