Allen_B

All I can add was it seemed like a circle-jerk with delivery of my brand new Z06 just this past week to try and get this accomplished.

I requested installation/update prior to delivery of my new car but sadly, Mike Furman at Criswell in Maryland and more surprisingly the service team couldn't seem to figure it out. The story was the techs (at one of THE largest Corvette dealerships in the nation) had never done this and couldn't figure out how to install it prior to delivery of a new vehicle. I have worked in the tech industry for close to 30 years and lean toward to calling "bovine excrement" but hope that I am just ignorant on the process...

Amazed that such a well regarded dealership couldn't execute on this, especially with advance notice. I have to think that the update is something of an illegitimate red-headed step child that GM doesn't want to acknowledge unless there is an open checkbook involved.

Worst part is I would have paid for it as an "upgrade" to my new car but after being jerked around, the principal now comes into play.

Starting C7 ownership with a twinge of animosity that I had hoped was addressed within GM years ago. Lord knows by checkbook has been accommodating over the years, sad that GM hasn't been willing to meet anywhere near the middle for VERY loyal customers...

Steve Garrett

Interesting....I thought this was not going to be available until December.

Foosh

We've subsequently learned that it's available now for some, but not all of the models listed in the SEMA announcement. That could have been part of the problem for AllenB, but they should have been able to come up with an answer.

LT4CMG

Allen, if your brand new Z06 is a 2017 w/out Z07, then it won't be available until "end of November", whatever that means to GM. In my line of work, we use dates and times, not end of this or that.

Allen_B

Interesting since the bulletin listed the P/N for the FE6 (my car's option package) seems pretty clear. I specifically requested as part of the PDI and preps for the service department to complete the updated suspension calibration (P/N 84375894).

The part that makes me scratch my head is the odd deflection from the dealership. Seems the request was like speaking Swahili on Mars at one of the largest Corvette dealerships on the planet. It seemed like either a huge inconvenience or akin to asking to upgrade a new C7 with a diesel engine and a 4WD off-road package. I admit I "expected" the update to be included in the purchase but if pressed was willing to discuss the cost but in this case was completely dismissed. This is the source of irritation...

Allen

dashotgun

I made an appointment at Hendricks chevy in cary nc. They did not have a clue what I was talking about. They said they need the car in person to pull the vin( not sure this makes sense why not put the vin in by hand?) I will keep you guys posted. Appointment is thrusday.

blkvet6

I suggest, as I always do myself, that you print out all the pertinent documents and bulletins, and hand them to the service advisor so you do not get the "we don't know what you're talking about" reaction.

dashotgun

i tried that he insisted I bring the car in. i suspect they w ill blow me off and ask to bring it back for another day after pissing around

Allen_B

Did recently receive a note that the applicable calibration may “possibly” be available end of December.

Unsure what that means but will see but seems like a LOT of confusing info coming from GM on this. I am honestly thrilled that GM is supporting the platform and continuing to refine a great product but sometimes they are their own worst enemy when it comes to communications and rolling things out.


Allen.

LT4CMG

Thanks for the update Allen. I agree, I too am pleased that they are working to refine and improve. However, as with any giant corporation, the rollout is rarely as smooth as initially expected. A part of me is happy that my car's put away until April, so hopefully the techs would have done a few updates already and my car won't be a guinea pig for them. Although my understanding is there isn't a whole lot to do except download and install

dashotgun

At the dealership they know about the update but did not know about the reimbursement for labor. Yes the download costs 350. Kudos to the guys who got a freebie. Should be done later today then overnight to let the shocks temperature stabilize. If all goes well I will give my initial thoughts on it tomorrow

c54u

According to GM documentation on the mag ride upgrade it states:

"In order to the get the maximum performance and consistency out of the updated calibration, please allow the vehicle to
sit for 8 to 10 hours after the update. The MRC damper system has a built in temperature offset correction as part of the
calibration. Allowing the vehicle to sit will allow the damper temperatures to normalize, and the temperature offset in the
calibration to accurately reset. The vehicle is still functional without this process. However, the temperature offset correction
will be less accurate, resulting in a less optimized operation until the damper temperatures are allowed to normalize."

I am reading this as you can drive your car home and let it sit there for 8-10 hours instead of leaving it overnight at the dealership according to the last two sentences.

Thoughts?

bjones7131

Allen I bet if you had told them to keep the car before U wrote the check or do the upgrade they would have found a way. As we know money talks.

Allen_B

I would think either would be acceptable based on the verbiage but also think it would depend on the dealership. I would “suspect” most service departments would prefer the car be picked up immediately instead of taking up shop space overnight.

This time of year, I would prefer to leave it at the dealership overnight as long as it’s indoors since my servicing dealership is pretty close. For some, that may not be as convenient.

All good questions to think through/discuss but sort of moot until the actual recalibrations are available and more info is available.

NSC5

I interpret the wording as indicating it is fine for the customer to take the car immediately however he won't experience the full benefit of the new calibration on the initial drive. The new cal numbers provide a reset to the system so that it believes the shocks are "cold" so the new calibration is sub-optimal until its first restart with a true cold system when the system will then be fully in sync with conditions.

This is a static flash and not a learning/adaptive system (like the A8 for example) so the new calibration parameters aren't being changed based upon actual shock behavior and once it sits overnight for the first time it will behave fully as intended. I don't like leaving vehicles at a dealership any longer than necessary because that just greatly increases the odds for something undesirable (lot damage, overnight vandalism) happening.

dashotgun

I agree no way is it going to sit there overnight.

Dif

I understand what you're saying
But I've been scratching my head wondering why letting the car sit even matters.
Procedure is focusing on shocks being cold, like it makes a difference.
But when the car is driven the shocks heat up, from use, and from engine/muffler heat etc.
The shocks eventually become heat soaked and now perform differently than when cold.
I used to think I was imagining it, but with my C6 w/MAG and now a C7 w/MSRC, there's a noticeable improvement in ride/handling after the shocks heat up.

But if it matters the shocks need to be cold, why not do the update After the car sits and shocks are cold.
Then if as they say, we'll see the full potential with a cold start, what happens after the shocks heat up.
Is it now working less than optimal ?
I don't think so.
I'll admit maybe I'm missing something and overthinking this.
Food for thought

Foosh

^
Makes absolutely no sense to me either after learning a lot about MSRC technology when we both switched to the DSC Sport controller.

NSC5

My guess is that there is an compensating algorithm in the shock controller program that assumes a certain amount of fluid heating over time when the car is being driven. When the controller gets its new flash then it "thinks" the car hasn't been operating recently so it uses its base setting for the temperature offset assuming "cold" shocks when they aren't actually cold. Because of this there will be some discrepancy between commanded and actual behavior until the vehicle either sits long enough for the shocks to actually be "cold" or the first drive is long enough that the controller algorithm determines there has been enough time for the shocks to have come up to normal operating temperature.

I would expect the difference between perfectly desired and actual will be pretty minor because I doubt if the fluid goes through an extreme characteristic change due to temperature. If it did then the controller would need temperature measurement of each shock along with an ambient reading to determine how to dynamically adjust for the changes that occur in normal driving (i.e. going through light standing water which would hit and cool the shocks).

The last part of that bulletin probably belongs under the heading of too much information and it is unlikely that the average driver's "butt vibration sensor" is sufficiently calibrated to even notice the difference between a vehicle driven immediately after the flash versus one driven 8 hours later. If there was an actual probability of experiencing a lasting problem/issue by driving immediately after the flash update then the bulletin would state that the vehicle must be left in place for X hours after the flash update.

ronkellogg

How long did the software update flash take?