GM Shaving Significant Weight Off 2016 C7 Corvette

By Detroit Steel - July 22, 2015

New C7

The more you learn about the technology used to build the Corvette, the more there is to appreciate about the car and the lengths that General Motors goes to make it better.

Pushing for an even lighter C7 for the 2016 model, GM enlisted the expertise of Continental Structural Plastics (CSP), a company that specializes in lightweight composite solutions.

Using a space-age material known as TCA Ultra Lite, the C7’s weight has been cut by 20 pounds on the 2016 model, according to a Market Watch report.

The high-tech material is used on a total of 21 body panel assemblies on the C7, including doors, decklids, quarter panels, and fenders. The panels will be significantly less dense than those on previous models.

“In materials engineering, shaving a single pound per car is a significant accomplishment, so saving 20 pounds per car is monumental,” said Tadge Juechter, Corvette Chief Engineer. “This is a great example of how Chevrolet is continually looking for innovations that improve performance on Corvette, and could benefit possible future applications.”