The extra cooling is a radiator laying flat just behind the grill.

The tech is pulling out a piece of tape

 

Do we have better pictures of the A8 cooling?

 

The quarter panel mounted core and fan are about 30-40% larger than the Z51 A8's too.
Just curious...where is this car in the picture?
S.

 

Came into Orlando this morning.

 

Right. I have a source that said the A8 delay was to test the extra cooling to ensure it fully addresses the heat soak and timing-pulling problems in the M7. Since the A8 is an up-charge option and is what the engineers consider the be the "reference car," they are happy with the A8 performing better when pressed on road courses. I think the thinking is that M7 guys want the fun of rowing gears, but don't care much about squeezing out maximum performance. This also explains why we haven't seen a 'Ring time--- they want to be judged by the A8 with the extra cooling.

If I were an M7 guy, I would be upset that GM isn't going this retrofit for their cars.















(Just kidding)

 

Another one that a friend ordered arrived this afternoon and I suspect my car may be here too (courtesy delivery to David Maus).
S.

 

Problem is, is that the additional cooler is just for the A8 transmission; it will not help reduce engine oil and water temps.
Bish

 

@Bish: I was totally kidding in my post. But, in all seriousness, is it that A8 needs ADDITIONAL cooling versus the M7 or just "different" cooling? Probably a clueless/naive question, but it seems to me that all energy comes from the engine and if additional cooling is needed in the A8, that means that less flywheel energy remains to put into the wheels. I realize that automatics are inherently a bit less efficient than manuals, but I thought modern autos had largely narrowed that gap.

Maybe the answer is that even a 3-4% drop from from a 650HP base is a lot of heat to dissipate. It will be interesting to see back-to-back dyno's of M7 versus A8.

 

Chris,

Although there is some additional power loss in an automatic I believe the biggest reason for the additional cooling is that the automatic transmission cannot safely run as hot as a manual transmission. The auto transmission fluid has a far more complex role acting simultaneously as hydraulic fluid, lubricant, and cooling medium. When running with the converter unlocked fluid shear can generate a lot of heat in a hurry.

I guess the M7 guys could install the A8's front cooler as an additional oil cooler If the existing radiator space won't allow fitting a higher capacity cooler I expect that location may get used as space for a secondary radiator in M7 cars, perhaps a combined cooler for A8 Z06 units.

 

I would like to know more about the additional cooling - I suspect the OP's picture is additional engine cooling capacity (based on the location), and not transmission cooling that was solved earlier with the larger tranny cooler. Below is a post I wrote but decided not to post on Feb 7. I wanted to wait and see what the fix was, and I would still like to know if it involved anything else beyond engine cooling to keep up with the performance capability of the A8. I will be interested to see what the shift points are in track mode, and whether or not any additional ECU mods were made to help cooling. Sounds like a bigger radiator would help the M7s. I guess time will tell.

A Corvette Forum reply I decided not to send on 7 Feb. "The A8 is making Jim Meros out of Joe Average, putting the car at the high end of the performance spectrum without necessarily having the skills to optimum-perform an M7 like the pros do. The pros overstress/overheat the LT4 on track. The A8 will do that more often with lesser experienced drivers, especially if it is programed to shift at red line every time and find downshifts that Joe Average would not even consider. I think GM can fix it with an ECU mod that tones down the aggressiveness of the A8 shift logic, but it will hurt track performance – something a bunch will squeal about, and for good reason. The real fix will be to figure out how to manage cooling of the LT4 so it can operate at the high end of the performance spectrum without the high oil temperatures."

Pappy

 

The picture I posted is a additional trans cooler. The tech showed be the GM drawings on his laptop.

 

Thanks for the clarification. Is it in-line (in series) with the rear cooler?
Could you tell how it was getting its airflow?

Pappy

 

It has the rear cooler and the front cooler. I do not know which cooler the fluid it flows to first, but they are in-line.. As far as the airflow I guess if the camera can see it the air can to, airfow is a strange thing at times.

 

And additional cooling needed for the Z51 M7.
I want a Z06 but really, they have got to make significant changes for 2016 or Chev will have N Edsel on their hands.
I live in Texas, we get to 105 in the summer.
They needed to redraft the Z06 to address these issues.
Jim
2012 Lingenfelterb 670hp RUNNING COOL