If the engine continues to use bank-to-bank cylinder deactivation for cruise situations, the overall engine displacement will not be less, or much less than the current GEN V SBC 6.2L/376 cid. Testing revealed that running on 4 cylinders on a 5.5 liter test mule resulted in insufficient torque output for the Corvette application, with its higher final drive ratios.
Unfortunately the days of the GEN 4 LS7 7.0/427 are over.
If the C8 comes out for MY2018, the C7 only got 4 years of play. That doesn't make much economic sense for GM.
Experimental C8s currently reside in Building 54 (a.k.a. Area 54) at GM’s Milford, Michigan, proving ground. Since we nabbed aerial photos of one test mule two years ago, prototypes seldom leave the building during daylight hours. GM owns two Ferrari 458 Italias for benchmarking, and the company once had a McLaren in its benchmark fleet. Also owned by the General: a Nissan GT-R, two Porsche 911 Turbos, and a BMW i8, any of which may be being used to aid in C8 development.
Here is a pic captured 2 years ago of one of the mid-engine Corvette test mules.
And another
