Eaglerulez

Aside from the front mid-engine RWD design not being able to put power down adequately I think another major achilles heel for Corvette has been the leaf spring suspension system that the cars use. Quite frankly it just introduces too much lateral movement when going over bumps, it makes Corvette difficult to drive at speed on bumpy roads. The C7's are really well dampened (more so than my old C5 daily) but even then, I still notice more lateral movement than I should going over rougher roads. The irony to me is that I've driven cars that have lesser raw cornering grip than a C7, but I can take them into turns faster because the suspension is more confidence inspiring.

Any thoughts on whether the leafsprings will be kept going into C8?

JerriVette

Sounds like your new to high performance hard cornering sports cars like the corvette yet thanks for your opinion and no the c8 wont have lightweight string composite leaf springs.

enjoy

Eaglerulez

Have daily driven a C5 for the past 5 years and a C7 for the past 2. Have A/B tested the C7 against a Porsche 911 Turbo, Audi R8, Alfa Romeo 4C, and Audi TTRS. The car moves too much side to side when going over bumps compared to those performance alternatives. My car is equipped with MSRC. It's definitely a trait that I've noticed that still exists when transitioning from C5 to C7.

ColeTrain'sC5

The seats are more of a problem than the suspension

84 4+3

It is more due to inherent configuration of the rear than using a leaf... again, for what 90% of the market is going to be it is more than adequate. Plus it lets you not have to worry about mount location due to its design and it also acts as it's own stabilizer bar as well. Arguments can be made one way or the other imo. The jagged edge always on the edge of your seat feel is something I kind of like actually. Keeps things exciting.

Red67John

Well, Pratt and Miller use a factory frame for the C7-R but they don’t use a leaf spring, or any other factory chassis components. Hmm... I wonder if they are new to high performance sports cars.

fasttoys

Never been a fan of the CLS on the C5 C6 and C7. It does make it easier for lowering & packaging. LS is going away for the new C8. I get all the arguments from people saying they are far superior to conventional springs. I would argue that not one other high-end car company uses this configuration on their modern sports cars. Ferrari NO! Lamborgini NO! Porsche NO! and so on. When Corvette team races their cars it's without the LS. Regardless of race rules and regulations, they switch it to a coil over set up. My Lingenfelter C5 Z06 was on a conventional suspension switched from LS and it was much better on the track. Now driving it on the street, I would rather have the LS.

elegant

No leaf springs on the ME. Instead adjustable coil over shocks.

Trackaholic

The C7 May use a leaf as a spring, but that isn’t what locates the wheel. So, while it is true that the C8 won’t have a leaf spring, that has no bearing on whether the wheel may or may not have excessive lateral motion.

One would hope that no matter the technology used, the C8 will end up more confidence inspiring than the C7 (not trying to imply anything is wrong with the C7, just that hopefully the C8 will be improved).

-T

JerriVette

Id suggest dumping the runflat tires on your corvette c7...i think the runflat tire stiff sidewall higher unsprung weight is more your issue than the composite leaf spring.

Warp Factor

I don't see what the leaf spring would have to do with it. In this application, the leaf spring is just a spring, and doesn't serve any sort of lateral or fore/aft locating function.

Houston Z33

I can co-sign on the lateral movement bit however that's from a NON Z-51 car and those lack a rear sway bar.

Z-51 cars are nice and tight, Nissan Z like.

range96

I doubt the composite leaf spring is responsible for lateral movement on bumpy roads. Just ask people with coil-overs.

Super wide run flats, suspension geometry are the likely cause.

Shaka

Unbelievable fake news once again. The only drawbacks to the composite leaf springs is that they are very expensive to manufacture and spring rates are designed for a specific duty for each model Corvette. They are far superior to coil/overs in every other respect. They have efficient packaging and don't protrude into valuable real estate that can be used for airflow. No unsprung weight. Spring rate doesn't alter in roll because of anti-roll properties generated by the two mount point locations. Low CG, efficient load path that reduces binding and bush stiction. Zero fatigue.
They slide at the extremes therefor have no affect on track width like the control arms do on any other car even F1. Unlike C2 and 3 and E Type leaf springs which also perform the duty of a lower control arms or link...

Coil/overs have a wide range of spring rates which require an ARB which increase spring rates in roll..Switch your leafs to coil overs with no other mods, including tires, on your stock Vette, and you will have a lousy riding and handling Corvette. If you don't know what you are doing, don't mess with near perfect factory settings including ride height. You will go backwards, literally. .

vndkshn

People dog on the "leaf springs" in Corvettes, thinking they are somehow like the leaf springs on trucks or old cars... not even close. As Shaka points out, it's actually a pretty ingenious system and it is not what is causing the OP's issues.

Latterlon

The mid engine C8 has coil springs, as shown in the leaked CAD images.

Foosh

This is one of those cases where folks leap to conclusions for the wrong reasons. Because leaf springs were used on horse-drawn buggies, wagons, and carried over to "horseless carriages" and cars for many decades, they are automatically assumed to be inferior technology.

GM's implementation on the Corvette is entirely different and Shaka's post above is an excellent explanation of why they work so well.

Warp Factor

Another is people leaping to the conclusion that overhead cams are automatically superior.

RJ-92

Race teams utilize coil-over springs for adjust-ability purposes. Has nothing to do with the merrits for or against leaf springs.

I don't get the hate on leaf springs. just like the fanboi hate on pushrods. The same people going, "OMG pushrods, that's old technology, get w the 21st century, OHC baby". Are the same ones that drool over pushrods where there used in suspension geometry. Just like pushrods, leafsprings are lightweight, compact and serve their purposes well.

Warp Factor

I'm seeing zero reason for hate on leaf springs, aside from the spring rates and preloads not be as easily adjustable as what is readily available from the coil-over market place.
Yup. Overhead cam engines are nothing new. Been around since about 1910, almost as long as the "horseless carriage".
Ain't easy to bring some people up to speed on various things.