genolan

Integrated Tire Temperature/Chassis Controls
Chevy uses the tire temperature data available through the C7's tire pressure sensors to more carefully control its ABS and electronic differential. Because the pressure sensors don't measure tire temperature directly (they actually measure the temperature of the TPMS sensor's microprocessor), it's not a perfect science, but it is one that data modeling can largely overcome. And it's one more piece of information that can be utilized to enhance the driving experience.

Tire temps are split into three categories: cold (below 45 degrees), warm (45-115 degrees) and hot (above 115 degrees). In "cold" mode ABS intervenes sooner and more progressively, while the differential is more aggressive to limit inside wheelspin. As temps increase, ABS control intervenes later and becomes more lenient, while differential locking ramps up more slowly.

Faster Than a Grand Sport
Chevy announced weeks ago that the Corvette C7's official lap time at the Virginia International Raceway Grand Course is 2:51.8. What Chevy didn't tell you is that the outgoing C6 Grand Sport model (fitted with larger 275mm front and 325mm rear rubber and weighing 60 or 70 pounds less) is slower around the same track.

Its lap time was in the 2-minute, 54-second range at VIR. The current Z06 runs a 2:49.

Booms When You Want Them, Silence When You Don't
Every 2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 is fitted with active noise cancellation that utilizes the car's audio system to diminish unwanted road and tire noise. A 14-liter bass enclosure built into the car's rear bulkhead enhances the booms you want and cancels the ones you don't. The C7's optional 10-speaker Bose audio system comes with two subwoofers.

"No Corvette has ever boomed like this one," says Juechter. Seriously. He really said that.

PTM Is Faster Than You
Alex MacDonald is the chassis control engineer who calibrated the C7's Performance Traction Management system. After hundreds of laps around the Milford Road Course (also known as the Lutz ring) at GM's Milford Proving Ground, he's quicker using PTM 5 (the most aggressive mode) than he is with the system fully defeated.

Even Jim Mero, the ride/handling performance engineer responsible for all of the Corvette's official lap times, says the system is virtually unbeatable. Mero used PTM in the C6 ZR1 to set that car's 7-minute, 19-second lap time at the Nurburgring and admits he hasn't tried to beat PTM on the Lutz ring, but that it would be difficult.

According to MacDonald he knows he's got the calibration perfect — and he's got the data to back this up — when Mero complains that it's just barely slowing him down. "That's where the calibration needs to be for the best corner exit speed," says MacDonald.

24-Hour Durability Test
Before the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette C7 goes to production, it must pass a 24-hour durability test in which the vehicle performance integration team changes only the tires and brakes. Performed on the Lutz Ring at GM's Milford Proving Ground, the test is to prove the thermal stability of the car's subsystems.

Engine coolant and oil temps as well as transmission fluid and differential fluid are monitored to be certain they stay within a life-permitting range. "This is basically a test of the car's thermal stability," says MacDonald. The test is run over the course of six days using four tanks of fuel per day, partly because the heat cycling is harder on equipment than doing it over 24 consecutive hours. Each tank, when the car is driven at 10/10ths, is consumed in an hour.

Michelin Pilot Super Sport ZP
Ask Jim Mero what the best part of a Z51 Stingray is and he says it's the tires. According to Michelin North America's Lee Willard, lead development engineer for the new Corvette tire, the Pilot Super Sport ZP is a hybrid tire that utilizes technologies from both the Pilot Super Sport line of ultrahigh-performance tires and the Pilot Sport Cup DOT race tire currently optional on C6 Corvettes.

Says Mero: "The tire has high limits but also lots of latitude." And by latitude Mero means the tire (at freezing or below air temps) only needs one lap to reach its full ability on a dry track. And thanks to dual compounds and asymmetric sidewalls, it outperforms the outgoing standard-fitment tire on the Corvette in every area, including wear. ...

Stingray Sam

Copying and pasting this article like this is probably copyright infringement, especially when you don't even give credit to the original source. A link to the article would be a legal way of doing it.

TTRotary

Well there we have it - the regular Z06 runs 3 sec faster than the new C7 Z51. Break out the popcorn and wait for the tears...

JOHNGFLYER

Does the audio system have to be turned on for the Noise Cancelling System to work? I assume it will.

WhiteAndBlackC7

Bring a crowd of people to spectate the lap time testing, and no one will watch or care about the C6 Z06 running around the track.

All eyes would be on the C7, as it looks great and performs well. Even from the drivers seat, the C7 wins because the Z06 driver is looking at a 10 year old ancient interior.

TTRotary

Usually, race drivers are looking outside the windshield. Please do us a favor and stay far, far away from the track, and be sure to check the RPO "autopilot" when you buy your C7.

JerriVette

Cool information! Thanks

Snorman

Who cares?
Is it your week to come here and sh*t in threads?
S.

WhiteAndBlackC7

So this car is made, designed, and geared for people who only drive it on a track?

Sorry man, I dont follow your logic. This car is meant to be driven all over the place, and every feature as a complete package appreciated to its fullest- styling, technology, and many other features.

Sounds like you expect people to decide on purchasing this car solely on its track performance.. in that case, maybe the 2014 Camaro Z28 is better for you? Although the stereo system is stripped out, it has a single speaker so you can listen to your "How to be a comedian" audiobook while hot lapping VIR trying to keep up with C7 drivers that are sitting on their vented seats and cranking the two-subwoofer stereo system.

HollywoodC7

LOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have seen, read, heard tons of 6ers hatting on the C7.....and now above you throw a curve at the C6....LOL...1st time ive seen this.....as far as im concerned, when I owned my C6 it was the coolest car around, and the C7 will be the coolest car around etc etc...LOL

BlueOx

That must not be the Z06...it must be the ZR1-ified Z07?
It's clear the regular/original Z06 so many own wouldn't come close.

Speednet

Here's a link to the original Edmunds story that the OP copied and pasted:

http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/f...ut-the-c7.html

The story includes a bunch of new photos, so be sure to check it out.

TTRotary

Everyone in here sure did 3 weeks ago, including you. A little huffy, are we? You do realize this is funny coming from a guy who's avatar features himself in a track-prepped car. Methinks you care a lot... honestly, what did you expect?

Snorman

Three weeks ago, I was discussing your comments about the C7's brakes (which were predictably negative, as expected), not lap times at VIR.
But that's not the car I race on the track. That car is not even a Corvette.
You thought wrong.

It's funny how you somehow find a way to justify sh*tting in a thread simply because the quoted article referenced the Z06. It must be boring in the C6Z section.
S.

Goaty

Not a shock that the C6 Z06 is faster, Tadge and others have always compared the C7 to the Grand Sport, not the Z06. 3 seconds is not insignificant, the Z06 is a beast.

MikeyTX

Wrong ................. Read the article.

michaelinmech

MikeyTX & BlueOx,


I have not seen anywhere where either a 'regular' Z06 or a Z07 version lapped VIR in 2:49 ??????? What did I miss

ChucksZ06

Michelin Pilot Super Sport ZP
Put those tires on a c6 or c5 vette to see an honest comparison.

MikeyTX

I was responding to Ox. It was a normal Z06

michaelinmech

I understand that Mikey- but when did a Z06 of any 'variation' lap VIR in 2:49 - I thought the fastest was 2:53 and that was a Z07 model ????

Just asking for my own knowledge . . . .