Greetings all. Took delivery of a 2026 C8Z last month.

After break-in miles, I had my first AutoX event on 10/19.

Car is amazing, had a blast.

When I got home, I removed the SD card to edit PDR videos on my desktop like I have been doing since 2016.

I noticed the videos on the SD card didn't have the overlay. It was just the 'plain' (no telemetry) video.

Took the card back to the car. Played the video in the car...telemetry is there. WTF?

Copied all the videos to my desktop, deleted all but one video, took that back to the car. The list of recordings acts like nothing has been deleted from the card.

It looks like for 2026, GM redesigned the PDR so that the telemetry is a layer on top of the video and isn't saved to the video file itself like in times past.

This also has the effect of making the desktop Cosworth software useless since there is no data stored in the video file.

So this means all your runs/sessions are locked to the car. You can't post them to social media or YouTube or send them to a HPDE coach, for example. Completely and utterly useless.

This is my third car with PDR. The 1st Gen in my 1LE, 2nd Gen in the Blackwing and now this. 1st and 2nd Gen were awesome. This 3rd gen is a disaster.

 

You have to select if you want the video overlay or not in the video. I found this out as well on my 26 SR. I also found it would not save any video unless I formatted the card in the PDR menu even though the card came out of my CT4VBW's PDR. If you cant find it let me know and Ill go out to my car to find the where the setting is to embed the data in the video as an overlay.

 

The overlay is selected. That's not a new feature. Even Gen1 allowed you to select multiple different styles including 'none'.

 

To get the video overlay and all the metrics you have to install Cosworth AliveDrive App - currently only available for iOS or Android phones and tablets - no desktop app yet
and then upload the files to the app
It shows 2 screens at the same time and you can swipe the screen to view or hide metrics.
it’s a great app for those that track their cars to compare different laps. But for the rest of us that want to view the recordings on the SD on a computer can only view the video and audio without the overlay.

learned this at Ron Felllows Blackwing class a few weeks ago.

 

That seems a bit silly. All this time I thought I had been recording an embedded overlay, I just pulled my SD card and checked and sure enough, nope. I did find the AliveDrive Race app on the Apple Store, will need to play with it.

 

Wow. I had no idea. And it's no where in the manual or anywhere on line. Seems like a massive oversight.

Thank you so much for sharing.

I am playing with the app now, but wanted to make sure I am understanding the process. I still have to remove the SD card from the car...import the videos to a laptop or desktop and then transfer them to my iPad and then import them into the app. After that, I can export them out of the app back to my laptop/desktop?

Any idea where the files go when you select 'export' on the iPad?

 

The PDR in my 2023 doesn't show a timestamp--all other metrics are there. I've seen some YouTube videos from C8 PDRs that have a timestamp shown. Did that feature come after 2023? Or am I not selecting something to get it to display on playback?

 

Update:

I got a call from the GM Executive Resolutions team after reaching out to C8 Program Manager.

She acknowledged my experience with the 2026 PDR and said GM realizes they haven't done a great job documenting the PDR changes and how to use them outside the car.

The 2026 PDR now uses new software from Cosworth called AliveDrive.

https://www.cosworth.com/data-contro...ms/alivedrive/

It is iOS/Android only. No Windows or Mac version.

And currently, there is no way to export your sessions from the AliveDrive software to anything...no social media, no YouTube, no remote coaching, but at least you can see your sessions with telemetry on a different screen outside the vehicle.

She suggested I contact Cosworth regarding 'feature requests' like functioning export or a Windows app.

 

I have a 2026 CT5-V Blackwing and it has the same PDR system as the 2026 Corvette. The new PDR seems like 2 steps forward, one step back. I'm hoping the PC software

I'm not sure about iOS but the Android app does have the ability to export an outing with the overlay. It's super janky though for me.

Check out this thread from the Cosworth Support Forums. A Cosworth employee said...
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Thanks. I spent the entire day working with Cosworth and a very helpful. knowledgeable forum member to get the PDR files into Pi Toolbox 13. The problem is you still lose the overlay. The data is there in Toolbox (if you build a worksheet from scratch), but the easy, plug & play experience is gone.
Cosworth apparently isn't working to make version 13 work with new format because the forthcoming version 14 will include support, BUT THEY ARE CHARGING A YEARLY FEE.

Not to mention NONE of this is documented anywhere in GM manuals.

The iOS has an export feature as well, but it is broken...the export processes, but the file never shows up anywhere.

 

Well this is just capital! I'm no longer stuck with looking at PDR vids on my pesky 27 inch monitor or even my terrible 12.7 inch infotainment screen. I get to look at TWO 3 inch displays on my phone. That's progress! Thanks Cosworth!

 

This is my overlay in AliveDrive in my 2026 ERAY. I have no clue what the crossed out icon in the top right means.

 

^ I believe the crossed out track icon means PTM off.

 

Actually I think it means I'm not on a Track.

 

That crossed out icon means PTM is 'off'.

 

I appreciate all of the information shared above. Just got back from VIR for my first event with my 2026 Z06. Thought that I would simply update the Cosworth tool box application on my laptop and be ready to get all the data and videos like I have done since 2015 with six pervious Corvettes. What a huge disappointment!

Agree totally that GM and Cosworth have let us down. I certainly hope that a windows version for Cosworth will be available soon. All of the marketing hype about the great new and improved 2026 PDR that GM put out is rubbish if we can't use the data from the SD card like we have will all previous PDR versions.

Also not thrilled that we have to reset all of the track circuits and start/finish lines. I really thought that GM would have smart system in place with this new PDR version that would use GPS to know what track you are on and set all of that automatically.

 

Since my initial post, I was contacted by the GM Executive Resolutions Team and have been working with them for the last month.

One of the outcomes so far is actual update documentation for the 2026 PDR. Since there is nothing in the Owners Manual, GM went back to Cosworth and had them produce a 'manual'.

I am still unconvinced this new PDR is an improvement, but at least there is documentation now.

 

Thanks much for your updates. I have tried asking the customer resolution folks a couple times and got nothing ... other than an AI generated google-type of response that users of the new 2026 PDR are frustrated that the same functionality with the Cosworth Toolbox is not available and some suggestion that "someone" is working on the problem ... maybe resolved in early 2026. And that a solution may involve a paid subscription model. I have very little confidence in any of that conversation as it is just pulling from rumors and innuendos pulled by AI searching Corvette Forum and other forums where speculation is all there is for AI searching to find.

I told the resolution folks that the marketing fluff about the new and improved PDR was just that .... fluff! Overall the new and improved PDR is far less useful than the old PDR that was combined with an easy to use Cosworth Toolbox interface. My desire is for Cosworth to update their toolbox to accept the new data files from the 2026 PDR and give us back what we had before ... a free, easy-to-use, robust laptop tool for analysis with the ability to save videos with the track data overly that we can load up on YouTube ... like we have done since 2015!

Am I out of my mind and dreaming? Or do you think that there is any chance that we could actually have what we used to have with a smooth and easy interface with the new PDR and a new updated Cosworth Toolbox?

 

I recently posted about my frustration with this new PDR after I had an accident on the highway. I showed the trooper my PDR video in the car and he immediately wrote the other party a citation. He told me to send him a copy to put with his notes, which is when I discovered the "new improved" PDR issue. I had to send him a video of the PDR screen made with my phone to get all the telemetry data, very professional looking. Some folks responded to my post by saying it might be good that the PDR doesn't show data because I might have been speeding! Since I was there, I think I'd know that and NOT share the video! Also here in Virginia if you are found to be 1% at fault in an accident, you cannot make a claim against the other party, contributory negligence. In either case I expected the PDR worked at least as good as it did in my 2016 Stingray. This is clearly not an oversight, but some kind of money grab!

 

I suggest that you write an email to Mary Bara at the following email address: mary.barra@gm.com

Seriously, please do it. I read your other thread and you bring a different perspective to the PDR utilization and the 2026 PDR debacle. You are articulate and your story needs to be heard by GM. Obviously Mary Barra will never see your note, but it goes to the GM Executive Resolution Team and then gets forwarded to others at times. I have written via this avenue with an issue before and they do respond.

After talking with the Corvette Concierge folks (worthless) and contacting the customer support folks via phone (also nearly worthless), I just last night wrote to Mary Barra and expressed my extreme displeasure with the 2026 PDR. I have had six Corvettes and a ZL1 Camaro since 2015 and all of them were ordered with a PDR. I track my cars and have used the PDR in conjunction with the Cosworth Toolbox for over ten years! It was so easy. I don't want some convoluted and complex and potentially expensive solution. I don't have a master's in computer science and don't want to learn about file formats and endlessly digging through code and multiple applications to do what I used to do by simply plugging an SD card into my laptop!

I assumed (yeah ASSumed) that GM and Cosworth would have the new and improved 2026 PDR work as it has in the past with a new and improved Cosworth Toolbox. I bought the marking fluff video presentation about the new 2026 PDR being the greatest since sliced bread and having some really good functionality that the Garmin track data/video recorders have now. Instead we have a lame duck 2026 PDR. It is maddening. I think everyone with a 2026 PDR should write Mary Barra and let her know how bad this is in comparison to what we had the past decade!