Kent1999

Just was watching a ZR1 review video, and noticed that the front fender side vents have noticeably more protrusion from the plane of the fender, whereas the Z06, GS and Stingray vents keep themselves fairly close/flat to the fender.

frame grab from the video:



Not saying I like or dislike it -- just noticing.

sammyv

Interesting! Looks a bit odd from that angle.

KnightDriveTV

I noticed this feature myself and I have to say...very odd looking. I really hoped there were upper fender vents hiding under the camo on this car, but no luck. Then to see this protruding side vent...I can't say I'm a fan of the side vent design at all, from any angle.

I'm not going to lie...I feel a bit let down by the ZR1. The ACR-E so properly executed...they went all in. This ZR1 feels like some tippy toes in the water.

To be clear, i'm sure the car will kill it and I'm proud of GM for building it. I'm proud of what the car will do...I just wanted to see them go all in, and this ain't it.

2016_Z06

The viper was all in and now there are no more vipers...

Hit Apex

Damn, now that you've pointed them out, that does look weird to my eyes too. I hope it's just an odd camera angle?

JerriVette

Extrovert styling can look strange from particular angles...

Important to see the car in person on the road to decide for yourself.

At least for me.

Paulchristian

I have no idea what the designers were thinking. The side vents are terrible. It is as if they got tired of designing the car and said, "screw it, lets just go with this."

Why not just open the bodywork into the fender without a giant ugly louver. How that louver got approved all the way up through the design team and through Tom Peters is beyond belief to me.

Maybe you wind deflecting off of it redirects the debris flying off the front wheels that would otherwise sandblast the brake ducts and quarter panels, LOL!

Bob U

The Z06 vent look good. Should have stayed with the Z06 style and just made it a little larger.

elegant

The OP is correct, that is a significantly protruding vent, as in below. When Kirk Bennion was asked about the smaller, but also protruding GS front fender vent, he said, “we wanted it to be a major design statement.” Perhaps in addition to needing to vent much more air for the ZR1, they wanted to again “make a major design statement.”

I think they succeeded.

rob62

Exactly right. Many here are whining about the removable top, convertibles, chrome wheels, auto trans and the like but the bottom line? The Corvette must stay true to it's ability to be used as a somewhat NORMAL car. That is priority one. Ring time is second.

skank

The Viper went the cheap route and cut rectangular holes in the top of the fenders. Then they put inserts in that can be removed at any whim. Where as the ZR1 has true engine cavity and wheel cavity/brake cooling air management. The ZR1 aero package is far beyond the Viper ACR as well as the GT2 RS with it's after market (LG) looking black plastic snap in vents.

schaibaa

The ACR-E didn’t doom the viper. It was the last hurrah.

Hit Apex

Yes! It was designed to also protect the rear quarters. Let's go with that. I feel better.

NemesisC5

The protruding vents create negative pressure to evacuate hot air. Evidently required to actually function rather than additional "window dressing"....I'd guess an explanation will soon follow.

TOPSPOT

Like NemesisC5 said, the side vents appear to be functional. You can see in Shmee150's video in the other thread, there is mesh on the other side of the carbon fiber.

Bill Dearborn

A car for the racers and not the waxers. Functionality doesn't always look great. By causing a negative pressure there they increase air flow out of the engine compartment. Maybe, two of the 13 coolers on the car may be mounted inside the front fenders. Or maybe they increased the cooling capacity of the radiator and use the wickers to enhance air flow out of the engine compartment to make use of that capacity. Supposedly, that is why aftermarket attempts to increase radiator capacity in the Z06 didn't work. There wasn't sufficient air flow through the radiator to make use of the capacity. Maybe this is something owners of A8 Z06s could use to help cool them down on track. Install larger radiator and enhance flow out of the engine compartment by adding some side wickers to them. If it works that is all that counts.

Bill

CORVETTEZL1001

The protruding vents look Great and have function.

elegant

Another picture/view of the front fender vents. Clearly, as mentioned above, functionality was rated more important than visual appearance.

tail_lights

The spats left the wheel well and moved to the vent At least they are painted

TrackAire

I agree that the vents are shaped that way to create a Gurney flap effect to help create a high negative pressure area to help suck more air out of the engine or wheel well area (don't know which yet). This is key for the car to reduce lift and keep engine temps in check.

When I first saw these vents, my first impression is that they'd look good painted to match the body.

Form following function usually makes a vehicle epic when it comes to track performance.

I don't understand why people complain about the most track focused Vette that they want to use as a daily driver. You can't make a car extreme on the track without a lot of functional parts hanging off of it, ride stiffness, visibility issues and comfort compromises. Its not like there aren't other Vette options......