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Could GM make it lighter? Sure, but that would also make it even more expensive, and the vast majority of buyers don't care what it weighs and don't want to pay even more for a lighter version.
What they want is better paint.
Seriously though I'd buy into CF wheels and tuned suspension for them if it was available.
IMO people really don't want to trade convenience for performance. Would you give up your HUD for a tenth of a second in the quarter mile? Would you give up your MRC for a small increase in steering proficiency for the track? The list of what people want is long and everything from bigger cup holders to blind spot indicators weighs a few grams each. The car is a compromise between people who really would be just fine with a car in the "Grand Turismo" tradition of a comfortable, but sporty road car and those who value a tenth of a second on the track. If you go too far in one direction you risk alienating the opposite segment of the market.
The current numbers going around 33XX+ is the wet weight then I gather?
Yea. With all fluids at nominal levels and I think a 1/4 tank (not full tank) of gas.
Magazines usually weigh with a full tank (which is why their numbers are higher).
Outside the US, not just in Europe, dry weight is the norm. To me it's like SAE gross versus SAE net horsepower. Which one has more value to me as a user of the product? (Answer the "wet weight")
Yea. With all fluids at nominal levels and I think a 1/4 tank (not full tank) of gas.
Magazines usually weigh with a full tank (which is why their numbers are higher).
Outside the US, not just in Europe, dry weight is the norm. To me it's like SAE gross versus SAE net horsepower. Which one has more value to me as a user of the product? (Answer the "wet weight")
Fuel capacity between cars differs.
Car should be weighed with all necessary fluids full, minus fuel. any other way doesn't make any sense to me
I do think the C7 has better performance than the previous generation and I'm glad for that, but I'm disappointed in the Corvette design team to allow the weight to keep creeping up. The engineering and technology is there for the corvette to have been even better and lighter than it is. Witness the current Camaro. Less weight, better handling, and faster than the previous generation. The current Camaro design team is doing a better job than the Corvette designers. Corvette team needs to step up their game or GM needs to promote the Camaro boys.
The base C6 was 3179 lbs., also per GM, 119 lbs. lighter, even though the C6 had a steel frame, fiberglass hood, plastic roof, and other pieces heavier than the C7's.
Something in the C7 design added quite a lot of weight, despite the greater use of aluminum and CF to try and offset it."
Recently I saw a Utube of a C7 being jacked up; the jacker commented that the c7 had the stiffest frame he'd ever seen -- when he jacked up the driver side rear BOTH driver- side wheels came off the ground at the same time! Super stiff frames don't usually weigh less.
It's a classic case of, "we have met the enemy, and it is us." Corvettes won't sell in the necessary numbers without all the modern creature comforts offered by any other modern vehicle these days. Every generation of everything is getting fatter and fatter, with rare exceptions, even when using the lightest materials possible, such as going to aluminum instead of steel.
All you need to do is look at Lotus. They are all about making things as light as possible, and they didn't sell in this country because they lacked "amenities" that most buyers want.
The latest Camaro has all the latest creature comforts and technology plus it is faster and handles better than the previous generation. Plus it's 200 pounds lighter. Corvette design team needs to get back to work. When you start accepting anything less than the best, that is exactly what you will get.
Yes, every so often, a new generation comes along and makes things a little lighter in the beginning, and then they inevitably get fatter as the gen progresses.
With regard to the Camaro, the previous generation was very heavy, and going to the ATS "Alpha" platform made it easy for them lose a little weight. It still weighs quite a bit more than the C7.
From the C7 rollout: a breakdown as to where the C7 gained weight over the C6.
I'll save you the math -- it's just over 210 pounds total, and of that, 67 or so lbs are from 'soft' or interior additions ( and part of that is the rear mounted battery).
What is not shown is the weight savings from the aluminum frame, which is supposedly 100 lbs lighter, so a net gain of 110 lbs from C6 to C7.
Note that the below figures are for non-Z51 models; Z51 adds significantly for C7, and a little less so for C6 (C7 Z51 dry sump tank, lines, extra oil adds like 23 pounds all on its own).
That's an excellent illustration. The C7 lost 100 lbs. from going to an aluminum frame, but gained 87.2 lbs. from creature comforts in response to complaints about the previous generation, and from mandated safety requirements.
The rest of the weight gain was from performance enhancements for a net gain of 101, not bad.
Recently I saw a Utube of a C7 being jacked up; the jacker commented that the c7 had the stiffest frame he'd ever seen -- when he jacked up the driver side rear BOTH driver- side wheels came off the ground at the same time! Super stiff frames don't usually weigh less.
I can get both wheels per side off the ground in my C5Z (3,115lbs).
****, I could also do that in my Ford Contour SVT (3,110lbs) - or any contour, mystique, cougar, etc.
Can't do much about government mandated crash stuff. Can delete all the electronic luxury BS that nobody needs.
I do think the C7 has better performance than the previous generation and I'm glad for that, but I'm disappointed in the Corvette design team to allow the weight to keep creeping up. The engineering and technology is there for the corvette to have been even better and lighter than it is. Witness the current Camaro. Less weight, better handling, and faster than the previous generation. The current Camaro design team is doing a better job than the Corvette designers. Corvette team needs to step up their game or GM needs to promote the Camaro boys.
Camaro weighs less because it's a physically smaller car. That's it, nothing to do with fancy engineering or technology.
EDIT:
I looked it up to be sure. 1.5 inch reduction in wheelbase which is HUGE and a .75 reduction in width which is again HUGE in weight reduction. 200lbs is actually not that impressive in that regard.
A CF torque tube and tunnel will save about 30 lbs. Non run flats another 16 lbs, remove the AFM and secondary cats, save another 20 lbs, lighter battery and save 20 lbs, then the brakes, and a few smaller niknaks and you;re down another 20lbs. So yeah, a 100lbs or so can be shaved off, but at what cost? I reduced my car's weight by about 45lbs and it cost me $10,000.
01-17-2017, 08:50 PM
not gonna happen, lol
