Maxie2U

Since owning my 2016 C7 I have heard two rocks hit my windshield. Both hits left two very small surface chips in the windshield.

I drove my 2000 Acura for years (highway driving) and heard countless rocks hit the windshield, many were much bigger rocks and made much louder impact sounds than the two that hit my C7. But the Acura windshield never chipped.

Is the C7 windshield "softer" because it's lighter?

DAFFYDRUNK

I can't give you any specs... but there's definitely something about the windshields that makes em more likely to chip. I've had a couple small rocks hit mine and they both left evidence, although slight. There's been others commenting about multiple windshield replacements do to cracks.
Perhaps made in China?

Rooster OG

If I had to guess, I'd think it's caused more by the steeper angle of the windshield. I have no idea though, it very well could be different materials/thickness.

Scruff Vette

Steeper angle and they sit much lower to the ground...right in the wake of road debris kicked up by semis, pick ups, and other cars. My C6's windshield looked like the Milky Way after 45,000 miles.

mikez06

Same here ^^ with our C6's as well. In fact, the C6's had more chips than we've found on our ZR1 and C7. Had the C7 for 2 years, no chips. (And yes, after hearing the rocks hit the windshield)
(Fingers crossed!)

69L79

If you think it is is bad now wait until you get more miles/time on the Car. This has been a problem since the C5s. And, got worse with the C6/C7. Very soft, light weight glass.

Foosh

Generally speaking, the steeper the angle of the windshield, the less susceptibility to rock damage. It's the straight up and down windshields that take a pounding.

I've replaced dozens of windshields in Jeep Wranglers and various pickup trucks over the years. While my cars have taken hits and been pitted here and there, I've never had one broken. Steep windshields take glancing blows vs. head-on impacts in the more vertical mounts.

blown81bu

U can do BRAY windshield protection...
Its on a lot of corvettes and saves the windshield bigtime
Im affiliated with the Northeast distributer if interested for a great deal

KGrant

Practical Joke or Prank or You Got Punk'd - LOL

JMII

I guess feel better knowing this is "normal" but windshield chips suck, I've already collected a few My truck has almost no chips and it has 113K miles on it and those 90% highway miles! Paint is easy to protect - clear bra or touch up pen... but the windshield not so much. Guess I'll have to ask a tint shop about applying something before its gets too bad.

ImpliedConsent

2yr old thread. What??

joemessman

I did some research on this very issue a few months ago. I sum up what the experts all agreed upon. Here it is.

It all comes down to how windshields are manufactured today, because windshield safety has advanced and changed over time. Originally, windshields were made from the same basic glass as other windows. But due to the danger of glass shards in the event that the windshield breaks in an accident, windshields are now made with a special lamination manufacturing process to prevent this.Now, windshields are made with three layers — the outside layers are composed of two pieces of glass, with the third middle layer being a thin strip of vinyl. These three layers are fused together by being pressed together at high temperatures. This way, if the windshield ever breaks, the pieces of glass stick together thanks to the vinyl it was fused to, instead of flying apart as separate pieces.The problem with windshields being damaged more easily now than in the past comes when the heat and pressure are used during the lamination process. The glass outer layers go through a lot of stress, which causes them to form microscopic defects, especially around the edges of the windshield. Whenever a rock, piece of debris, or sudden and violent jolt affects the area where these stress defects are, the windshield is more likely to more easily sustain a larger chip or crack.In the grand scheme of things, these little manufacturing defects that cause windshields to be more easily damaged are seen as a necessary evil. Windshields are much safer for passengers in the vehicle now thanks to the advancements made in the lamination process, but unfortunately that same process makes them more easily to get chipped or cracked. In time, further advancements in manufacturing will solve or at least limit the frequency of defects, but for now it is a case of taking the bad with the good.

orca1946

Vette are so much lower than others cars and [maybe] we drive faster?

VENOM ACR

My windshield has 5K miles and looks like 100K. I have done 3 tracks days and couple mountain runs. I think its due to the sticky tires on a race track kicking up all kinds of crap. On the highway, I'm never close to anyone to kick up a bunch of ****. Plus almost every car has little tires that are all season and aren't sticky. I do think the glass is softer though. I have a 2011 GMC Terrain with 76K miles and the windshield looks 110X better. I'd like to replace it but what's the point if its just going to get destroyed. I did hear about some type of Xpel that can be applied to glass. You get 2 tear off's and they are good for 6 months.

jimmbbo

That is correct, and to add to the story laminated glass was invented in 1903, Ford used laminated windshields in late 1919, laminated glass has been universally used since 1936 and required by law since 1937
Since 'vettes appear to be more susceptible to chipping, it appears that something else is at work, perhaps the chemistry of the glass or the geometry of the car.
FWIW, I have a 2011 Mustang GT with 50000 largely highway miles on it and on a pro rata basis, it has fewer windshield dings than my '17 C7 with 10000 miles...

23/C8Z

Yeah, steeper angle definitely less of an issue vs say..... . My work truck that caught this last night lol



The trailblazer in front lost right rear wheel and i was the recipient of one of it's lugnut/studs... if i was in the vette i bet it would have had small chip and bounced off. This thing penetrated because of steep rake.

fsvoboda

My mother in law had a loose semi wheel and tire roll up the front of her Dodge Caravan and over the roof at freeway speeds, which means that the closing speed was probably well over 100 mph. Big dent in hood, windshield unscathed.The fairly steep rake of Caravan hood and windshield probably saved her in that case, but it's all in the details of the impact, I suspect.

Dcasole

Guys ,Laminated Glass is just laminated glass and for the most part there is not harder glass or softer glass unless you start taking about Gorilla glass that some manufacturers are toying with .

The pitting and chipping that you are seeing all has to do with the take of the glass and the aerodynamics of the car as the little stones and such ride up over the car on this boundary layer but drop out at the low pressure air around the base of the glass , some debris make it farther up but you get the idea. So the more aerodynamic the body is the more suseptable the windshield is to pitting
Except in the case of a jeep CJ or most large semi trucks which all stand straight up in the line of fire .....they just get slammed with everything lol

Dave