Emelia Hartford C8 TCM
 

Anyone else watch Emelia Hartford's YouTube channel? Of course, I only watch her channel for the deep C8 technical knowledge.

Thoughts about her crazy TCM problem? Yes. I know that she's hacked, wracked, and trashed her C8 well beyond what any normal C8 owner would. But is there something else going on?

She's done so much to that vehicle that it no longer is recognizable as a Corvette, mechanical-wise.

new clutch
 

And needs a new clutch... yet... $180k cash offer. Lots I don't understand

I avoid that channel. It’s basically a performance shop prototyping parts they intend to sell later but using a model masquerading as a DIY Corvette owner. It’s perfect marketing bait for the average Corvette demographic.

$180k is nothing compared to what she's making off the channel using the C8. What will she do when she sells the star of her channel? The clicks will drop like a rock.

What would that be? Deviant middle aged man child?

I was trying to be more PC about it but yeah. :lol:

ha ha.

I'm not sure it's a crazy TCM problem. They've twin turbo'd and built the engine and trans on a car you can't tune, and have to use a piggy back to trick it into running. They reset it, and it came back. I can't imagine anyone is expecting it to be perfect until it can be cracked or GM unlocks it.

Nothing against her. I think she’s trying to build a “brand” beyond YouTube and looks to me like she had a nose job recently to further a career where “appearance” matters. Wouldn’t surprise me if she dived into Hollywood more.

Who the hell cares!!! She is doing what she wants to do with passion, last time I checked that is what the America Dream is all about.

I predict the 458 spends less time in her hands than the C8 did.

I’m sure that’s the case and no judgement from me on what she wants to do. I just don’t have any interest in watching another scripted reality show.

It’s like wrestling, it’s fine if you want to watch it as long as you remember it’s not real.

Oh Emilia!

Obviously, you care. :yesnod: I said I had nothing against her…

Looks like she ported and polished her intake...

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...da81a9bb9a.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...dd1ba71299.jpg

Omg!

Well played sir!

Looks like the C8 ain’t the only thing she’s modifying

Whatever makes a person happy in life, I’m all for it. Keep doing what you’re doing Emelia.

I agree, she has done well for herself. I wish her the best.

Ha she did have that beak shaved down.

Probably got a tax write off for a business expense.
The better you look the more clicks you get from old perves which helps pay the bills.

You guys do know she knows more about cars than 90% of the people on this forum right? She has built probably 20 cars in her short life time haha. Has another 9 second manual car she built as well. She has other people helping her too yeah, but who wouldn't? You guys act like she's some model (she does virtually zero modelling) that they stuck in front of a camera who doesn't know cars. She was a relatively small channel until she got her C8 and she worked hella hard for what she has now. She's wrenching on cars every day. Can everyone here say the same? No? Cool.

She has the fastest C8 in the world right now and I have no idea why people on this forum are so hell bent on trashing a fellow member of the Corvette community who is actually helping to test and develop parts which will push this platform forwards for the rest of us.

Jealousy, she is running a successful business making money and hiring employees and living her dream. The trolls can't stand it!

How do you reset the TCM with the laptop?
 

How do you reset the TCM with the laptop?

You can't. They were attempting to use the laptop to Clear the DCT Codes in hopes that would unlock/reset the trans. It was unsuccessful. But like most things electronic, rebooting it seemed to temporarily fix the problem.

Sadly, “trashing” each other is a hallmark of this forum. :yesnod: For the record, I never trashed her. She has chosen to become a public figure and as such, improving appearance improves chances for greater success, especially for women. I simply noted the obvious.

And got your drooling in the process. You guys act like you haven’t seen this before. Did y’all just get out of prison or something?

Jealousy! Most of the guys here would love to have a wife that was this into cars. They don't, and try to make themselves feel better about their current situation by bashing this type of girl!

She is fronting those business how easily you are fooled. She is an actress and a pretty good one at that.

so did she sell the C8 after all? I know, I could watch the you tube video, but I'm trying to conserve data...;)

:iagree: who cares if she had a nose job or any F*&$^&% job. She has gone thru some dark times. I give her props for fighting thru it, hanging in there and her success. All the best to a girl in finding her dream!

Some people here are such snobs, it’s disgusting really. Emelia has singlehandedly opened up numerous modification avenues for regular consumers because of her tinkering. Smh ungrateful misogynistic boomers still waving their canes because “a woman in my secret club”.

We all know where this thread was headed for at the outset.

:trainwreck:

It’s not her, it’s the other boomers who are drooling over a 25 year old influencer thinking it’s all authentic that I’m calling out.

And the truth comes out. Most of the guys here specifically want a hot 25 year old wife who’s into cars and this serves as porn to them. If Emelia was a dude you wouldn’t be tripping over yourselves to defend his honor.

Since I stated this post I'll say... As a boomer (and proud of it), I don't get it. Emelia is cute. Sure. But, I don't think she'd be in the top 1M R-rated clickbait chicks on the internet. And, I don't know, her little adventures seem real to me. Of course, I'm on wife number four and have never spent much time figuring out what women are selling me.

I have watched some of her Corvette videos. I didn't notice. Plenty of people that don't have YouTube channels get this type of work done.

Do you go to all the YouTube guys channels and investigate if they have work done?

Keep in mind by trade she is a trained actress who has starred in feature films prior to this channel. https://www.emeliahartford.com/about
As I’ve said before “scripted reality show” probably best describes it.

BTW: In the video, Emilia initially had concerns opening the frunk or rear hatch with a low battery or dead battery. Just so everyone knows, there is a manual frunk release under the dash and a key hole behind the rear license plate to manually open the rear hatch, along with a key hole under the side air ducts for the doors. I guess it pays to read some of the manual. :cheers:

Actually, there is a young male You tuber who posts track events driving his new C8. I enjoyed watching his recorded track laps and enthusiastic narration around the track. His driving skills were impressive for his age. Of course, the critics came out and bashed his videos. The reality is that he can run circles around most of the keyboard racers on this forum, but still was criticized. I praised his ability and driving skills, especially for his age. It's a shame how critical people are in this world, first to complain and criticize. But if they only could look at themselves and realize how imperfect they are, maybe they would try to improve themselves and stop worry about others male or female.

Maybe, but you don’t really know that either. You’re assuming they’re keyboard racers because it fits your narrative better that this guy could run circles around people you don’t know who are critiquing his performance that he chose to publicize for money, People who chose to be celebrities know what they’re signing up for. You can’t realistically expect to share with millions of viewers and not find any critics. If a YouTuber has what sells then it sells. It doesn’t have to be real or perfect.

But otherwise I don’t see people gushing over YouTube guys like they do YouTube girls. Being female does seem to have it’s advantages.

OK, so maybe he is good, but the most important thing is has he had any cosmetic surgery, tattoos, teeth whitening, a personal trainer, etc.? That is really all that matters.

Seriously, you must be using the word "model" very loosely here...

If you get paid for someone taking your picture you are a model. If you get paid to represent a company in an ad your are a model. Have you seen commercials lately? There are tons (almost literally) of them that I would not want in a poster on my wall as a teen.

Post up a picture of yourself and let us criticize your looks.

It’s not her looks I have a problem with, but given all the wagging tongues on this forum it does appear to be working for her.

Touch a nerve, did I? Clearly you are personalizing this. But you make a great point in that one can be a "model" for anything. But the insinuation is that she's a stereotypical super attractive (I know, it's relative) model. Regardless, she has done well for herself and is likely laughing each way to the bank!

I'm with you there. It was her personality that made me cringe. This is in contrast to the late Sabine Schmitz, Cristy Lee (who seemingly *really* knows how to wrench!) or even Vicki Butler-Henderson (she just opened a YT channel!); all great car women.

Not only is she some decent eye candy, she's a great driver too. She was almost selected as a pro-driver for Lamborghini and has her pro licenses. And she can drift. She earned my respect when I saw her give $25K cash to all of her staff just for sticking with her. She's not spoiled and remembers where she came from and the people that helped her achieve her success. She did things to a C8 nobody else has done and made it work. Why not sell it when it's at its prime? Good business move IMO. Move on to other things. It's giving her more content for her channel which is paying the bills. Keep getting it done Emilia, haters are always going to hate.

Most employers give money to their staff for sticking around. It’s called a paycheck.

Agreed. But this was a cash bonus. Just a "Here, thanks for being cool" 25 grand. That's a rad boss.

Not a nerve. First, I had to correct my post, there are lots of models in commercials I would NOT want in a post on my wall as a teen. Really, it was a comment that "models" are no longer what I knew them as when I was a teen in the 70's. They are no Farrah Fawcett!

I get the criticism of her presentation style, it can be off putting. However, it seems to be a YouTube thing. Plus the dragged out videos with useless filler are irritating, but also a YouTube thing. Some of the most irritating things about her videos are a function of YouTube monetization algorithms. I don't understand the animus. If you don't like her videos, don't watch. I rarely if ever see comments about the looks of male YouTubers. There are plenty that do not fall above a 5 on a looks scale. More than a few don't do much of their work. Where are all the threads and comments about that? I don't watch Emelia's videos to drool over her. I started watching because they were about C8s and that is what I wanted to drool over. If I want to drool over women there are about 10 billion better videos to watch for free.

I look forward to the teardown of her transmission to see how the Dobson clutches held up. I may not learn much, but it will be more than I will see about them than on another 100 YouTube car channels.

You guys make some great points about people not "staying in their lane".
If all she is is a model ... she should just stick to modeling and stop acting like she knows anything about cars.
Leno, Carolla, Seinfeld, Allen ... should just stick to comedy and stop acting like they knows anything about cars.
Dempsey, Cage, Newman (passed tense) ... should just stick to acting and stop acting like they knows anything about cars.
Thanks for helping me understand it better.

"If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad"

But you don’t really know the backstory on that. If it was done in front of a camera then it’s part of the show. It could have been in their union contract for all we know.

LOL! Unions. But I'll give you that man...it is an unknown. But it did present good optics. Those optics keep me a fan.

Don't like her, don't watch her. I have been watching some of her videos for awhile now. I am not some rabid SIMP, I pick and choose the videos I watch. Is she sometimes annoying? Yep Who isn't? Does she sometimes leverage her femininity to sell products and get views? Yep. As a woman in a man's world she is probably smart to do it, and nobody is forcing people to watch her.

But she clearly wrenches and drives.

Fair enough. But I hope you don’t have a problem with unions, Emelia is in one per her own bio: https://www.emeliahartford.com/about

https://www.sagaftra.org/membership-benefits

Can't stand em...but I know why people use them. I try not to judge that harshly.

Kudos to Emelia. She's living a good life and is clearly successful. She definitely has charisma, which attracts a lot of viewers, and she is usually entertaining. If she were my daughter, I'd be very proud of her accomplishments.

You just copy and paste from the other thread?

There is nothing fake about her. If GM is calling her in she has to have the touch! I give her a lot of credit she is a real American Lady.

Is GM supposed to honor the warranty on what is left of this Corvettte?

If the modifications didn't cause the failure and the failed part is a GM part, yes.

Which part isn’t affected by a mod? She got inlet screens?

Uh, yeah. Another learning moment. You’d be surprised to know that GM uses YouTube influencers for free press. GM has an army of engineers that knows exactly what their engines can and can’t do and can warranty them.
”American lady?” This is what I’m talking about. Where did you people come from?

Seats?, front hood latch, front suspension, lots of things. It is up to GM to show her mods caused the failure.

Apparently you never saw Dempsey or Newman behind the wheel.

I am pretty sure he was chastising people for their narrow minded statements. Sarcasm, if you will. Just because one is an actor or model, doesn't mean they cannot be knowledge and capable about cars and car racing.

We forget that road racing was a Gentlemen's Sport. Drivers were from well to do families. Playboy's if you will.

sarcasm?
 

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...b1fec029c3.jpg

Uhhh you do realize she's an actress and an SAG member right?

Who fucking cares. She's a badass and far more successful than any of us.

Nah. If you go way back when she first got her s14 you can tell she's filming it all in her phone. She's legit. You're all just bitter.

Nah.

I think she's the real deal and she has a huge YouTube following. I don't doubt that she does (or shares) a lot of the work herself. Ever see her hoist the rear tires on her C8? Much better than I could accomplish.

If she was just a pretty face, why would GM put her at the head of the Z06 line (along with Speed Phenom and a couple of others)?

Yeah, 5 years ago when she first moved I believe from the Midwest to SoCal she worked minimum wage in the service industry and lived off of food stamps. Like all the big YouTuber's I'd say she has the same killer combo of a strong work ethic + business savvy + some genuine/wholesome form of personality with appeal to a general audience. I don't know her personally but I do know TJ Hunt (we still live in the same city of San Diego, met in our local SD86 car club when we did a lot of meets/car shows where he shot his earliest videos). I'd say they're mostly matched in aptitude with the edge to Emelia being more business savvy with her network.

She was mostly unknown up until just 3 years ago (SEP 2019) when she posted this image on social media on the day Netflix lifted its embargo to announce she was a contestant competing on their Fastest Car reality show where "built not bought" garage projects owned by common folk race against affluent owners in their "bought not built" supercars.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...1f68b2f03e.jpg

This past week I noticed her in a trailer for a movie called A Hollywood Christmas which just dropped on HBO Max.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...de78eb84f9.png
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...c8e7be3ab4.png
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...31ea9565ea.png

Have we figured out anything about the TCM?

Or just going to complain about YouTubers.

Never watched anything, but after a few mins, my thought was "annoying" and shut it off...

:thumbs: Yep that video where her C8 was on a lift and she put on a rear Racing tire/wheel, was impressive. She is obviously at the gym a lot! Yep at 80 I can do it, being very careful. But I exercise in my own gym 7 days a week and have been for ~37 years, 8 years before she was born. Not easy!

Doubt she does a lot of her own work for cars in her YouTube videos. Doesn't have to! Smart enough to make money and get others to do things for her cheap or free for the exposure. Probably gets paid by some for the advertising benefits. :cheers:

Man, seems like allot of people have a hard on against Emilia.......oh wait, I didn't mean that, meant just obsessed with criticizing her......

Right.

As done with other cars waiting to see a full stand alone (big bucks) for the ECU and DCT together. The ECU stand alone is definitely not an issue so much as writing a program for the DCT operation and talking to the ECU. Though it seems you can’t have one without the other, as of yet. It has been done on some BMW’s with DCT. May be the only solution to get full control of this setup over the long run.

I think you mean hard on for Emilia.

Strangely this is the only “doing her own work” that everyone seems to reference despite happening like well over a year ago.

She’s not the head of anything at GM. She’s a contracted influencer promoting product just like everything else you see on YouTube.

Speak for yourself,

Since I'm not interested in watching the entire video, what's the issue with the TCM?

Whatever it is, have you read about a bunch of TCM issues on the forum? Me neither. There's no problem with the TCM in a production car.

She’s a trained actress and model performing the trade she’s trained to do. Yet despite proof you seem to still think she’s a self trained DIY home garage mechanic and engineer who modifies $100k sports cars just for fun.

I’m not bitter, I’m just not gullible.

Good for her for exploring the limits of the C8. I do not follow her YouTube channel, but have read about her efforts with the Corvette. She’s successful and enjoys what she is doing - that’s not a bad thing.

Depends on your definition of “success”.
On YouTube, she has just under 1 Million subscribers while spending a lot of money on modding cars and producing videos. From a financial standpoint probably barely breaking even.

LazarBeam for example has 20 million subscribers just for basically just showing clips from other YouTube and Tic Toc videos. Production cost is pretty much nothing and effort is near 0.

Mr Beast who is only 24 has 117 million subscribers for essentially commenting on videos of people playing Minecraft, counting to 100,000, and simply giving away money that he’s apparently drowning in as YouTube’s wealthiest star.