It is. It is also the primary control for all of the airbags and active and passive restraints so no one is going to be removing it real easy either. 
Computer Question
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 111
Likes: 0
From: Philadelphia MS
Computer Question
A buddy of mine told me that there is a computer in my 2006 coupe that remembers everything you do. Hard braking, speeding, rpm's, etc. And that if I took my car to a "track day" and blew the engine, the warranty wouldn't cover it b/c they would see the history of my driving behavior when the incident happened.
Is this true?
Is this true?
Team Owner
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 82,175
Likes: 1,319
From: McKinney TX
St. Jude Donor '21-'22-'23-'24
No, I don't think so. Your buddy's either paranoid or else he's just been talking to someone who was confused.
There is a "black box" tied to the airbag system that records most of those things for the last few seconds before an airbag deployment, but that's all.
There is a "black box" tied to the airbag system that records most of those things for the last few seconds before an airbag deployment, but that's all.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 35,617
Likes: 167
Tech Contributor
Cruise-In 11 Veteran
NCM Ambassador
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'10
Your "buddy" is stretching the truth just the tinyest bit. What your car has is what has been referred to as a "black box." Think of the "black box data recorders" that are on board commercial aircraft and record the last moments of flight and are so commonly referred to during accident investigation and crash reconstruction.
The Corvette's "black box" isn't black actually, It's silver with a big yellow connector. It is located directly behind your ash tray and it is called a sensing and diagnostic module or SDM. The SDM first and foremost is the brain behind your air bags and supplimental restraint system. It also documents about the last 30 seconds of your drive and stores data in a continuous loop which overwrites the previous data. It does know how fast you are going. It knows if you are on the gas or the brake. It knows what your rpm's are as well as the position of your steering wheel. It also tracks some other telemetry data from your engine and powertrain. These are most commonly used as a diagnostic tool in the event of a fatal accident.
Oh, and you're not alone. Black boxes have been in all Corvettes since the C5.
Here is a picture of the SDM in the Corvette C6.
The Corvette's "black box" isn't black actually, It's silver with a big yellow connector. It is located directly behind your ash tray and it is called a sensing and diagnostic module or SDM. The SDM first and foremost is the brain behind your air bags and supplimental restraint system. It also documents about the last 30 seconds of your drive and stores data in a continuous loop which overwrites the previous data. It does know how fast you are going. It knows if you are on the gas or the brake. It knows what your rpm's are as well as the position of your steering wheel. It also tracks some other telemetry data from your engine and powertrain. These are most commonly used as a diagnostic tool in the event of a fatal accident.
Oh, and you're not alone. Black boxes have been in all Corvettes since the C5.
Here is a picture of the SDM in the Corvette C6.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 35,617
Likes: 167
Tech Contributor
Cruise-In 11 Veteran
NCM Ambassador
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'10
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 4,836
Likes: 9
From: Rushsylvania Ohio
If so, my top speed would be saved at 155 mph!
Racer
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 276
Likes: 1
From: Bowling Green Ky.
The lady took in our '06 LS2 GTO for a CEL when it was about 8 or 9 months old. Service mgr threatened to void warr as car had been driven to hard and rev limiter pegged several times. Stated he could see all of this from reading the "black box". Thinking quickly she demanded a print out of said box. His answer was that it had been deleted as a one time courtsey but next time your warranty is gone. Did some checking and like Talon 90 says it overwrites. Just BS on service managers part. She also told him it was a high performance car, and if we didn't plan on sticking our foot in it on occasaion we'd have bought another Honda.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 4,296
Likes: 156
From: Location: Location: kAnSaS
talon is spot on, it was called a derm (Diagnostic Energy Reserve Module)back in the day but has been updated to the sdm ( Sensing and Diagnostic air bag Module) and it does keep track of alot of things in the event of a collision. High speed is one thing they keep track of. I believe that the "valet switch" gets its high speed info from it as well.
Could it be used to void warranty? i guess but if speeding in your car is going to void warranty then you could argue why didnt they limit the pseed from the get go???
They do this on most cars these days as it is but its not a warranty thing its based off the speed rating of your tires. lower the speed rating on the stock tires the ECM limits your speed to that.take your wifes car out to top speed once you get to the point the rev/speed limiter slows you down then check your speed rating on your tires. it should be the same. Dont worry about warranty at the track ,maybe your insurance tho in the event of a collision would worry me more!! regards, paul
Could it be used to void warranty? i guess but if speeding in your car is going to void warranty then you could argue why didnt they limit the pseed from the get go???
They do this on most cars these days as it is but its not a warranty thing its based off the speed rating of your tires. lower the speed rating on the stock tires the ECM limits your speed to that.take your wifes car out to top speed once you get to the point the rev/speed limiter slows you down then check your speed rating on your tires. it should be the same. Dont worry about warranty at the track ,maybe your insurance tho in the event of a collision would worry me more!! regards, paul