dsandula

Is Magnetice Selective Ride Control needed? Has it proven reliable over a number of years & miles? I'll never run my Corvette on a track and will likely end up with a Z51.

Maxpowers

I love it. There are a lot of threads that go into great detail and debate on this topic. You should consider looking at those.

Foosh

Needed? No, but it's very nice to be able to switch between a comfortable ride on rough pavement and spirited handling on smooth roads. I would NOT consider a C7 without it.

Reliable? Yes, very!

davepl

It turns a car like the early C6Z, which was harsh and annoying to drive, into a boulevard cruiser on demand. It gives you the best of both worlds, really, and allows you to change the car's entire personality with the turn of a ****.

Unless it was for track duty I personally would never buy another Corvette without it (except the base Stingray, which rides fairly soft anyway).

So far as I'm aware, it's been very reliable. There are no "moving parts" so to speak, so not much to go wrong.

I'd say with the Z51 it's especially important because (and this is just an assumption) that the non-mag-ride Z51s are calibrated fairly stiff... but I don't know much about the Stingray Z51, sorry.

dsandula

Can you please help me with links to those threads? I queried Magnetic, Ride Control, etc and couldn't find any links.

RFZ

love mag ride on my 17 gs. i would not buy one without it. it was a major factor in trading in my c6z. i have been driving c6z since 11/05, very happy with it. however the test drive in the gs showed just how much improved the suspension technology is.

Hopper12

Here's a link with quite a bit of info. Have mag ride on our C7, CT6, Denali, and had it on several cars before. Really like it and never had any issues at all - rock solid technology.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...n-z51-car.html

dvilin

Absolutely not needed. Worth the money yes for those who spent it. They certainly are not going to say otherwise..

Foosh

It's not so much that, it's that once you've had it, you can't imagine being without. I am constantly switching between Tour and Sport MSRC settings depending upon road conditions.

george vee

Magnetic ride lets you change the way the rides and handles, makes it feel like your driving different cars when changing modes. I have 22k miles on mine without any issues. Many cars have it because it's a superior system. I wouldn't by Corvette without it.

JaxC7

I didn't get it on my my 2LT Z51, but sometimes miss having it. Overall, the Z51 is stiff, but here, the roads aren't bad and I don't notice the stiffness much. My next one will have it for sure.

gpotski

Don't leave home without it!

Rsaodom

Had a c7 Z51 without magride and my wife didn't want to go anywhere as the ride was too harsh for her. Now with the c7 Z06 with magride it is a completely different story.

LT4_CE

I agree with all the positive comments regarding MSRC. In terms of reliability, the technology has been around for years and is being constantly revised to keep up with the competition. I believe it was first introduced as standard equipment on the C5 (50th anniversary edition?) but may have been available before that as an option, maybe even going back to the late model C4s? Perhaps someone with greater knowledge will provide accurate info on that. One thing to note is that the shocks themselves are more expensive to replace than non-mag shocks, and of course the entire system would be expensive to repair if anything went wrong with it, although as I mentioned, I believe it's quite reliable. There are plenty of threads on MSRC here on the forum.

Bill Dearborn

They had variable shocks (F45) before the mag ride (F55) became available in 2003 but the reliability wasn't any where near as good. The magnetic shocks electrically change the resistance of the fluid inside the shock and don't require the complexity involved with the previous shocks.

Here is a GM C5 promotional video showing the road performance difference between standard shocks and the MR shocks.


Pay attention near the end of the video to the way the two cars go over a series of road bumps (never see anything like that on a track, but many times on highways) and which one would you prefer to be driving over those bumps.

Bill

05XLRtoC7_San Diego

It depends where you live.
On smooth California roads- the difference is very negligible.

There are reports of MRC shocks already leaking on C7s.
All of 4 of my shocks were leaking on my XLR, and the replacement cost was extremely high- so be warned of that, esp if you plan on keeping the car for 10+ years.

Foosh

All shocks are filled with fluid, and there are reports of all shocks leaking, rarely. There is nothing more complicated about MSRC shocks and standard, the only difference being the electrical current flowing within, and the magnetic bits in the shock fluid. It's the controller doing most of the work, and that's as reliable as the ECM running the engines in all modern vehicles.

Aren't you the one who kept posting an old invoice, showing a price of MSRC shocks for your old Caddy? The current price for 4 new ones for a C7 is about the price of a set of tires. I'm sure the ones for your 2005 XLR are expensive, because I suspect they're very hard to find. Virtually all new technology is expensive in the beginning, then matures, and the price drops dramatically.

spireland

I don't have it and don't miss it, though I don't think you can go wrong with it. The z51 suspension isn't the smoothest in the world though it doesn't bother me without it. My Wife used to complain about my Mustang with the track suspension as being way too rough tough she has zero problems with the non-mag Z51's.

I wouldn't worry about reliability, I would do what I did, go ride in both versions and decide if the cost is worth it.

I daily drive mine so I wanted to keep the price down so I didn't get many options on mine. That's just me though.

drobbins

Is there any ability to control MSRC beyond the driving mode selector?

05XLRtoC7_San Diego

Foosh- I just knew you'd have to jump in to attack! You must have stock in Delphi Automotive/Beijing West Industries or something that compels you to refuse to wake up and realize that there have been issues with MRC.

The original post asked for reliability.
There are reliability issues.
It's part of the cost-benefit analysis.
You may LOVE MRC, but not everyone has drank the Kool-Aid.