Sounds like there are multiple themes being discussed in this thread (the forward only camera that goes with the PDR, the digital rear view mirror, and battery maintaining). I'm only addressing the aftermarket dash cams. There are a buttload of camera options available with 1 channel through 4 channels. The majority of them will have a cig plug power cable and some will have wiring kits to "hide" the wires and connect direct to a car circuit. You can also find many with a dedicated "Parking Mode" feature. These cameras, usually higher end brands, require a kit that uses both a 12v feed that is powered when the car is on for normal operation and a 12v feed that is always hot when the car is not on. This allows the camera to be functional when parked (either through the hardware or software of the camera). They also have features to prevent battery rundown (again through the cameras hardware or software). So when you park, shut off the car it will switch to the parking mode and function until it senses the battery condition limits you have set (e.g. 12,5v), then shut off to prevent a discharged or dead battery.

You need to decide what coverage you want. For me, both my truck and CT5 have cams with the parking feature. One is a Thinkware camera (parking mode via software) and one is a Viofo camera (parking mode via hardware). Both have worked flawlessly. For the C8 it will not be "parked" unattended normally, so if I added a camera it would be for a reward coverage while booking down the road since I have the PDR. I do have a HTC so as noted the mounting options for a rear looking camera are limited so I also am interested in hearing about solutions for camera placement.

 

I for one am adding a dash cam on my C8 when it arrives. They're much better for video on a road trip. You get panorama shots of mountains, twisty roads, and just better video to download since I take road trips a couple times a year. I'm getting an HTC, so I'm going to try and figure out a way to have a mount for the camera on top of the windshield when the top is down. I think it will give even clearer shots not having to go through the windshield. I might have to end up with a GoPro, or something similar.

 

So the c8 has a PDR Camera (most anyway) and a backup camera. It would appear that there would be a market for a dashcam kit that would use those cameras.

 

Yes you would... how about the guys that pay $ 250,000 for a ZR-1... wouldn't you like, or expect, a security system that incorporates a 360 degree view that records ? That said, I don't remember reading about anything similar in the European high-end cars either.

 

In 65 years of driving legally I've never needed a dash cam. As a career statistician I'll go with the odds and remain unrecorded. Nothing but a coin-toss, though... at best.

 

Those odds are not in your favor.

"It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it."

 

Would be great to see a picture or two of those who have had a rear camera installation done. Cheers!

 

If you mean the usual interior installation, use iPhone or other: Set to wide angle photo ("0.5", etc.), tap the distant part for focus, snap picture in the horizontal center of the rear window at top, bottom, in between if you want. A couple of quick shots attached. The top gives the narrow slit, but a slightly lower/nearer view. The tall one is low in the window. Larger view, but mainly adding a view of higher or taller objects, and cutting off actual traffic behind you (car across the street disappears in the photo).

Obviously, you can attach a camera to the glass over the engine bay, outside the cabin for a better view in HTC. But otherwise the view is pretty marginal.

 

I need to get a dashcam soon for rear view. I am always driving paranoid about the rear driver hitting me. When I drive behind an exotic or beautiful car, I tend to be more careful lest I disturb that beauty. Not sure people see the C8 the same way or feel and drive the same way as me. I need a dash cam that will capture me as well part of it while not falling of the dash due to summer heat. Would also like something that records when I am away from the car. Any recommendations folk?

 

At a signal light, rear driver a teen look away somewhere else chatting with their buddies and jumping around, I'm wanting to get away from them and fast for fear of a rear end collision. I need to get a cam. What are the best recommendations here? No wires visible, that would suck and I want me recorded as well in everything.

 

I have a dash cam in my truck. I have been glad that I had it several times. One time I caught a good flash of lightning in front of me. I would like to have one in my E-Ray but I need to find a good solution to mount it and power it. I like to use a small one so that nobody sees it.

 

PDR dash cam mode served me well. The guy who hit me told me I came up speeding fast from behind and lane changed from the left turn lane into him in the middle lane. That's the personal testimony he reported the cop. I told him and her that's not how I remember it and I would email her the recording. Good thing it was his word vs my footage. My full insurance payout was above market value which already started turning down for Stingrays in early 2025 (got $77k for my 2023 1LT Z51 MSRC coupe with 5k miles).

 

I would not count on it working at all!

The PDR records data in batches which are then laid to the disk. It all depends on a couple factors:
when was the last batch laid to the disk?
was the power interrupted while recording?

In many cases you will get a .raw file which can’t be fixed. This is most likely due to the file wasn’t closed properly (power interruption). But you still have to contend with when was the last batch of data laid to the disk.

in my case the on my C7 the footage quit @20 seconds prior to the accident…. Which makes it useless. I was able to recover the data up to that point in full res but the accident was still in RAM and was lost.

With that said try to stop the recording after an accident give the car several minutes to finalize the PDR video and then remove the SD card and immediately place it into “read only” by sliding the lock on the side.

hope this helps

 

The rear view is aa tough one for the C8, at least for an internal one that's minimally invasive (obviously, you could mount an external camera at the rear). I posted photos of the view out my rear window (SR Coupe), the field of view is poor from inside. I mean this half-ish in jest, but you'd be better off hanging an arm off your rear view mirror/monitor to capture the external camera. Or, maybe a cam with a cockpit view of you, as you want, might luck out and get a little background evidence in the case of a rear-ender. Those are often called a three-channel system (the forward view, view of the interior on the other wide, then a rear camera and cable to connect to the recorder).

I've been getting by with the PDR, I was warned the other day when it hit 80% that I should delete videos or put in a new card. The PDR only gets 1024p and it's not a wide-angle view. definitely better than nothing, but real dashcams record short loops (like 1 minute) and automatically circle back and record over old one when it fills, unless protected (and the sock of an accident automatically protects recent recordings.

Recording while you're away from the car is harder. I guess we could buy Teslas. Mainly, you'll want something with side angle views and you'll need to route power from the battery or fusebox always on point. There may be ones with a battery than can cover fro a while, not sure and would have some obvious compromises of keeping the battery charged as needed.

 

C8 has a glaring design flaw in the PDR does not have available recording for front & rear. It's as annoying and frustrating as the lack of ambient lighting, adaptive cruise, etc.

 

As an engineer, I have to say that's not a design flaw, it's a design choice or lack of making that choice, along with the choice not to add the expense. They chose to put in track recording for people who pay for 2LT. Believe me, I'd love for the design choice to be to capture the front and rear cameras, have a wide-angle mode and loop recording, and 4k. But that's not what the design objective was, not the design we paid for. And not what you're going to get on many cars as standard equipment, Tesla a notable exception. I'm glad they added the feature to capture the front camera when just driving around, though, it's something. I do love that they put the rearview monitoring on all levels, do wish that could be captured but it still makes the car a more drivable daily.

 

It hurts to see a C8 looking like that.

 

Some of the omissions of features on the C8 are truly baffling. 360 top-down view is quite common these days, but GM opted not to put in camera mirrors, etc---so we don't have that capability...even as an optional feature. I'm of the opinion that if GM already offered it on other GM vehicles--it should at least be an OPTION on the C8. 6th gen Camaro had ambient lighting as an option. 360 is an option/feature for trucks. Adaptive cruise is on Cadillacs. Etc.

 

I can't disagree with you. I mean, some would like the self-driving feature, etc. Sure it's a driver's car, but still it could be an option. OTOH, I really like how they leveraged the platform so that it's not insanely expensive for performance in a semi-exoticly designed car, but can be bumped to a decent track car with the Z51 options. Then to a reachable (for many) E-Ray and Z06, then Z51, ZR1X, all with options. And all levels being extremely competitive at their price points without mods and voiding the warranty. As an engineer (electrical and software, not automotive), I find many of the design choices to be impressive.

But I totally get the frustration of not being top of the field on everything they could be.

Plus, I have to be forthcoming and add (as I have before), that I had my Acura for 24 years before this one, so it seems pretty feature rich to me. 😂

 

Stuff like self-driving is even more baffling--as it requires almost nothing bespoke to a particular model.