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All cars with wide tires do it. Its only noticeable in cold temps and when you are turning sharply.
Solution: Don't turn as sharply if possible, don't drive it in cold temps or just understand what it is and drive it like you stole it!
Don't understand how some can get upset it's a simple workaround. Guess they don't use Microsoft products as I always am using workarounds!! They just need to think about the great traction in the Spring, Summer and Fall! That is the benefit of low slip angles!
Originally Posted by monicatomokc
It's not temp driven and so common that it's addressed in the owners manual:
From page 1-20 of the 2014 owners manual:
It is temperature dependent. In the summer I make a full lock turn backing out of my side garage to go down the driveway! At 40F I make 2 "K" turns-no big deal. I don't like the "hopping" even though it does no harm!
Im new to this forum. Im considering a purchase of a 17 grand sport 2lt. I test drove a grand sport 3lt and z51 2lt today. I drove the grand sport first. I love evrything about the car except the tight turning tire chatter that occurs. The dealer told me it was due to the " sticky tires" the grand sport has. He said the z51 used a different tire and it was not as pronounced. I drove the z51 and it seemed just as bad. Im in massachusetts and it was about 30 degrees today. Does this tire chatter get much better in warmer temps. Can i change the tires to something that will elimate this chatter. Thanks in advance for all your input.
Welcome to the forum, you will find the people here are a great resource, collectively the forum can answer almost any question about Corvettes. Buy the Grandsport tonight if they are still open, or be there first thing in the morning, tire chatter will be something very quickly forgotten. If you buy one Corvette you will be a fan for life.
BTW: Drive a Zo6 too.
Thanks for posting this, I found it very interesting
Ackerman got a patent in the 1800's for his compensation for the different radius of the front wheels in a turn. Apparently a big problem with wooden horse drawn carriage wheels!
However it doesn't explain why the chatter goes away in a C7 with the same Ackerman geometry front end and tire width when winter tires are swapped for the Michelin's. Slip angle does!
Below are two pics from my PDF. Have ~5 pages of a steering kinematics text but that can put everyone to sleep! It shows why slip angle is a key to providing compensation in rubber tired cars.
Suffice to say no rubber tired car uses full Ackerman geometry compensation (it has a negative effect at high speeds.) They rely on slip angle providing some of the needed compensation in tight slow speed turns. Race car tire construction has very little slip angle, hence not much compensation!
Slip angle provides some of the compensation for the difference in turning radius on slow speed turns.
Race tires have much less slip angle, which results in less compensation when making slow speed turns. Hence more chatter. That is offset by higher achievable "g" force in high speed turns.
Ackerman got a patent in the 1800's for his compensation for the different radius of the front wheels in a turn. Apparently a big problem with wooden horse drawn carriage wheels!
However it doesn't explain why the chatter goes away in a C7 with the same Ackerman geometry front end and tire width when winter tires are swapped for the Michelin's. Slip angle does!
Below are two pics from my PDF. Have ~5 pages of a steering kinematics text but that can put everyone to sleep! It shows why slip angle is a key to providing compensation in rubber tired cars.
Suffice to say no rubber tired car uses full Ackerman geometry compensation (it has a negative effect at high speeds.) They rely on slip angle providing some of the needed compensation in tight slow speed turns. Race car tire construction has very little slip angle, hence not much compensation!
Slip angle provides some of the compensation for the difference in turning radius on slow speed turns.
Race tires have much less slip angle, which results in less compensation when making slow speed turns. Hence more chatter. That is offset by higher achievable "g" force in high speed turns.
Way more technical discussion than I needed, but thanks for the explanation. I just didn't turn the wheel as sharp after I found out it was normal.
Way more technical discussion than I needed, but thanks for the explanation. I just didn't turn the wheel as sharp after I found out it was normal.
Sorry for the technical explanation! There are new first winter C7 owners who may appreciate knowing why. You have the solution, IMO. "Chatter and Hopping," as GM calls it, does not cause harm but for me it is not pleasant and I also prefer to make "K" turns in the winter!
The reason I present these technical issues is to show it's NOT caused by lack of Ackerman steering geometry compensation as some have stated. I never had this issue with the same width front tires on my C6 Z51 and in my first C7 Z51 winter weather in 2013 wondered why it was so bad. So investigated. The sever "chatter" or "hopping" occurred when it was below 40/45F when the tires had less traction not when they were "more sticky!" Turns out the use of the tire surface "squirming" or slip angle has been long known as providing some compensation for the different front tire turning radius on sharp slow speed turns! Validating tire slip angle is the cause is it goes away with more normal slip angle, same width winter tires!
It's important when you have a friend in the car and turn the wheel sharply and it "hops" to understand it is NOT a design fault! It's the consequence of having very high performance tires that provide super traction when they are warm!
Best tell your passenger it's for warm weather performance or they will just tell all your other friends about the piece of junk you bought!
In reality it is a non issue. It doesn't hurt the car for one thing, and for another, if you don't have to turn so sharp, don't do it. Like I stated it is non issue. Sleep well this evening.
In reality it is a non issue. It doesn't hurt the car for one thing, and for another, if you don't have to turn so sharp, don't do it. Like I stated it is non issue. Sleep well this evening.
Finally, the answer that counts. It isn't a problem. Maybe if you haven't experienced it before you might question it. But like a lot of things that sometimes seem strange it is a HO HUM once you know what it is. It doesn't affect anything on the car, it doesn't need to be repaired and other cars do it as well. No need to worry about buying tires that don't do it. If a person truly worries about things like this then they should spend some time meditating on their life and about what it means.
It's not temp driven and so common that it's addressed in the owners manual:
From page 1-20 of the 2014 owners manual:
Tire Chatter/Hop
When driving at slow speeds and in
very tight turns, the vehicle may
have tire chatter/hop. This condition
is normal and the vehicle does not
require service.
My C6 does it too. It's a result of the front suspension setup, not the type of tire or ambient temperature.
Does this have any effect on the car at times pulling slightly to the right?
No, it's completely unrelated.
Are you sure you're not noticing that the roads you're driving on are crowned, which would cause a rightward drift? If not that you may have an alignment issue, but it's not related to the chatter being discussed here.
Don't understand how some can get upset it's a simple workaround. Guess they don't use Microsoft products as I always am using workarounds!! They just need to think about the great traction in the Spring, Summer and Fall! That is the benefit of low slip angles! 
