I have just been reading the respected US Road & Track magazine which has some snippets of information on the new C7 Chevrolet Corvette V8 cars. The suggestion is that it will, along with being moderately more compact, become slicker and lighter. This also includes a smaller but just as powerful V8. Some of the changes are driven by government legislation and some by consumer desires and demands.
Chevrolet Corvette named after a War Ship you say? Corvette is a French word given to (nautical, historical) a flush-decked warship of the 17th-18th centuries having a single tier of guns; it ranked next below a frigate; In the modern navy, a lightly armed and armored blue water warship, smaller than a frigate, capable of trans-oceanic duty.