ivanjo11

In what areas do you think that the c7 needs to improve to handle better than the c6?

jvp

As I posted in the "Just ONE New Feature" thread: tires. Tires make a world of difference in a car's handling characteristics, and Goodyears are less than ideal here. I'm one of the few performance nuts that actually appreciates run-flat tires (having had to make use of them a couple of times on previous Corvettes... ) but GY's run-flats are junk.

Slap some Michelin run-flat PS2s on it and the ride, handling, comfort, etc will all improve quite a bit.

jas

niteriderc5

how about some genuine chassis feel...steering so direct and communicative that its just as fun tooling around city speeds as it is barreling down a twisty track at stupidly high speeds. Whoa i just described the handling characteristics of a Porsche 911 lol A worthy benchmark

ivanjo11

Yeah i agree tires is one of the changes they have to make, steering feel and precision is also important, they have improved the c6 steering feel in its life cycle but its still not at porsche levels...

I think that magnasteer simply filters too much road feel.

The other thing they have to improve is the c6 tendency to oversteer or fishtailing.

If they put in the c7 something like ferraris e-differential or bmw variable m- differential that controls the torque send to the left and right rear wheels based on wheels speed not if the wheel is slipping or not that would definetly improve the car capability to put the power down coming out of corners...

Racer X

The Porsche is a slovenly slug in comparison to the real benchmark in terms of feel and direct connnection to the road; the Lotus Elise.

If you are going to set the bar, set it high.

The one thing that would handling would be to reduce the weight. 300 pounds would be a good reduction.

Blu Angel

Here, Here!

How bout a decontented stripper version a la FRC.

BTW, I think getting rid of the run-flats will knock off about 25 pounds.
Can some one chime in here with the exact weight savings
over run-flat tires?

vette.mix

Marc Lefebvre

Agree with better tires and coilovers like on the ZR1 would be nice as standard equipment

niteriderc5

The lotus is basically a go cart with an interior ( if you can call that an interior) The fact it weighs what it does and has such a short wheel base and mid engined helps a great deal with the way the car feels. There is no way to get a front engine RWD coupe as big as the Corvette or even a 911 to feel like a lotus elise or exige it's just not going to happen. The 911 is a perfect benchmark because its a car that can be used everyday like a Corvette and has that certain 'feel' or driver connection that's less apparent on a Corvette.

Racer X

I have a different definition of a benchmark. The Elise/Exige is the benchmark of the kind of handling a sports car should have. Everything else is a compromise. If you want more comfort, you give up feel.

You make the assumption that I think the next generation should be as heavy. I don't it, should be lighter. Also you seem to think that the Corvette is bigger and heavier than the 911, it is not. They are withing a few percent of each other depending on the model (wheel the AWD are a lot heavier).

If you are stuck with thinking a Porsche should be the benchmark (why not a Ferrari?), the Cayman is a better chassis and design. The 911 is a rear engine car that has re-engineered like 9 times to get the handling to where it is today. The Boxer/Cayman is mid-engined chassis, that had good handling designed in from the fist version.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I drove the Lotus Elise as a daily driver. I had the first year. I hear the seat cushioning was much improved.

PowerLabs

The ZR1 does not have coilovers, it has F55 suspension; leaf springs and the magna-ride shocks.

Gmorgan

"Slap some Michelin run-flat PS2s on it and the ride, handling, comfort, etc will all improve quite a bit."

quick04Z06

I say we get the option of run-flats or regular tires and the suspension calibrations are adjusted accordingly.

Goodyear regular tires are so much better than their run-flats. Frankly, the super stiff sidewall on any runflat is not compliant enough to absorb lateral forces to cut down on tail-happiness. That is why the ZR1 uses the magneride to soften the jounce and rebound a bit to compensate for the stiff sidewalls. The Z51 and Z06 suspensions do not adjust and cannot so compensate.

I'd recommend the following:

Base susp--coilovers, runflats (leafs should be retired)

Perf susp--manually adjustable coilovers, teflon bushings, non-runflats

Perf adj susp--coilovers with electronic adjustment, like F55, teflon bushings and either runflats or regular, with a switch for the adju susp computer to compensate for runflats or regular, or maybe have software that exactly matches the kind of tire you have and the flash can be downloaded from your laptop. Chevy could get each tiremaker to supply code for this purpose to match its tires--cool, huh? You could flash for your track tires, for street summer and for street winter, and as you get new tires, just flash again.

I think steering so run with an electronic power assist but it can be tailored for better feel.