ChineseGoddess

Never seen it on any other Corvette before. I'm curious.

BeaZt

They are there for cooling purposes

ekib

one cools the electronic rear diff and the other cools transmission oil

ChineseGoddess

Damn, that's awesome! Thanks.

CACTI 1

The vents on top of the rear fenders direct air into
the vehicle to feed cooling systems for the transmission
fluid and electronic limited slip differential, which then
exits through openings built into the brake light housings.

CRABBYJ

I hope there is a fine screen or air filter top side so no small debris pieces find there way inside.

Thud

I keep hearing references to electric rear diff.... does that mean the rear brakes are being used to simulate a diff? My bmw 135i had an "e-diff" like that, but the rear end itself was an open differential.

plasboy

No, actually is active and works as an open diff. going into a corner then applies power to which wheel needs it as you come out of a corner. Tied to computer if I understood correctly.

C7Joy

There is a good explanation of the venting given by a Corvette engineer in the sticky section. Check it out.

proexpert

any photos or drawings of the ducting for this venting system, from this inlet vent to the taillight exit vent?

ChineseGoddess

I was wondering what the black next to the tail lights were. I would like to see those drawings/pics as well.

WHT

The rear vents are supposedly for cooling as some say.

But, they don't do very much when you look at the air flow analysis. Watch the videos and read interviews from some of the design team and they clearly say they were primarily added to make the C7 look more "rear mid-engine". They are there for visual design and to make it look different than the C6.

bizaro

It's the new water collection system. Collects water in a small reservoir to dump on your tires after a burn out. Cools em down...

DREAMERAK

They are primarily for cooling, not aero and if only visual, how come the C6R race car has them for cooling also?

USAFPILOT

on later cars it will cool intercoolers on the rear mounted twin turbo ZR1.

JoesC5

I get asked the same questions on this vent...


Originally, it was supposed to feed air to cool the rear brakes, but when it came time to actually build production cars for the consumer, it was nothing more then a styling gimmick. GM realized it wasn't needed to cool the rear brakes on a production Corvette and to make it functional just ran up the cost of the car.

It lasted as a fake scoop/vent for two years on the 1956 and 1957 Corvettes and then went into the stylist's waste paper basket.

I'm sure GM could design a method to cool the automatic transmission and the differential without having the big black vent on top of the fender, and do it without hurting the car's aero drag. The vent is probably 10% functional as a cooler and 90% functional as a "let's make it look like a rear engine car" styling gimmick.

DREAMERAK

IF they are so inafective as you say, why are they used on the C6R race car? the vid i saw says this design was taken from the C6R.

WHT

You don't separate "aero" from cooling. You have to look at all aspects of airflow (how do you think vents cool?).

Don't get made at me. Watch and read what the design team said.

DREAMERAK

Yes, thats why i used the word primarily. who is mad?

DREAMERAK

which vid? you got a link?