felkebg

I am shopping for several of the autonomous driving features to purchase when I upgrade my wife's Cadillac and we will have to get a platinum edition of trim to get the full array out there. I just read the 2018 C7 changes and noticed that the only safety option change is a wider view back up camera. Is this GM saying that we don't want to pay for these options or that we want to fully drive our vettes? Thoughts?

ersatz928

GM is afraid of the extra 5 pounds of hardware that will reduce the fuel economy......

Zymurgy

You might find this interesting:

Zymurgy

In case anyone does not know who "Tadge" is, Tadge Juechter is Corvette's Chief Engineer.

There is a whole forum section devoted to questions to and answers from Tadge: Ask Tadge

ersatz928

Imagine the "joy of driving" into a car that was in your blindspot......

mschuyler

Well, you could turn your neck and take a peek before driving there, like everyone in the world did up until a few years ago.

Bajaholic

It is a Corvette, You are supposed to be in front of everyone, not lagging behind.....

Sheesh!

Seriously, Corvette is a sports car, why on earth would one care about all the extra autonomous ad on's? Not being sarcastic (ok a little) If you want a Cadillac, buy a Cadillac, want a adrenaline pumping go fast and stick to the ground, buy a sports car. JMHO

Vetteman Jack

I have the SBZ feature, as well as others, on both our daily drivers and do like the features. I would support having some of the warning features on a Corvette, as many are not intrusive and to me do not ruin the driving experience. Whether other Corvette buyers would opt for the features is debatable.

mpuzach

I've had the pleasure of conversing with Tadge face-to-face on this very topic. During that conversation Tadge said exactly what John included in his post above. My take on it was that though Tadge and his team understand and respect that it's a feature many would find attractive, there would have been compromise involved in including it and they thus made the decision to leave it out. BTW, for those who've not had the opportunity to talk with Tadge, Harlan Charles, Ryan Vaughn, Kirk Bennion, and the rest of the Corvette team, be assured that they are very accessible at events such as the annual NCM bash and they're very open to buyer feedback. These people are great IMO.

2K14C7

We have the full array of safety nannies on our Denali and they really help. I do wish the C7 had a few.

sTz

... or properly adjust your mirrors.

Hopper12

We got our CT6 with all the 'assist options' - night vision, adaptive cruise, auto braking, lane steering correction, video mirror, surround cameras, etc., etc.

Many of them I wouldn't want on our C7 or, if they were there, I'd turn them off. A couple of exceptions:
* Video rear view mirror. For those who would poo-poo these based on a car reviewer comment but without actually trying one for a while, they definitely have their places where they are a real help. You can use the mirror as a normal mirror or video at the push of a switch on the mirror. I use it in the CT6 when I have people in the back seat blocking the view out the back. Same with the wife's SUV - load it up and your view is blocked, so just flip the switch and you have a clear view. The other reason I like it is that it's a wider field of view by far. Could sometimes use it on the C7 when it's loaded up for 2-3 week road trips, or when I want to see 'around' a car when backing out of a parking spot, etc.
* Surround cameras - those that have them know what I'm talking about. Makes it much easier to park a vehicle - but you have to have cameras in the side mirrors so that might not happen for a while.
* Night vision is really nice (and it really works!), but probably not necessary in a C7? The CT6 uses infrared and shows the road ahead in your gauge cluster at night. It will 'bracket' people, deer, dogs, etc. and initiate braking if you need if it's turned on. Saved us with deer on two occasions.

All this said, I really enjoy driving our C7 and don't want a bunch of nanny's, but some additional aids (like the front cameras that were added) can be very useful.

plasboy

I've been driving for 46 years and have never had any real problem with blind spots when changing lanes. To me the blind spot warnings are just a pain. They are on on our Caddy with traffic beside you or a wall, it sees no difference. Don't drive in heavy traffic every day but have been there. I'll pass for now.

SilverGhost

To Captain(s) Dunsel: Relax, your Googlemobile is almost here.

Larry/car

Thirty, forty years ago you could actually see out of the car. I have a 1961 Oldsmobile, you can actually see without having to endure uncomfortable positions and still not really seeing. That blind spot could be a pain as you bounce off the car you just hit. Technology is available and most want it.

thill444

The only thing I would like is blind spot warning. My wife just got a brand new 2018 Honda Odyssey Touring that has every advanced safety feature known to man. Blind spot warning, lane departure, lane assist, forward collision warning, collision mitigation braking, adaptive cruise control, etc.

I hate the lane departure warning and lane assist. I don't like when the car tries to steer itself while my hands are on the wheel. The collision mitigation system already almost caused an accident when a car in front of my wife slowed to make a right turn and the van thought the car stopped and automatically slammed the brakes. The car behind my wife almost hit her. Blind spot and adaptive cruise control are the only features I like.

The C7 is a sports car... it doesn't need all this crap that adds cost, complexity, weight, etc.

fsvoboda

BTW, one of the conversations with Tadge on this site mentioned their reasoning in not including some of these features when they designed C7. Given the lead times to production they were making those decisions early in this decade, I would guess.

As C7 already has been engineered, I wouldn't say that GM was "holding back safety features on 2018." Rather, these won't show up--if they do--until the next generation of Corvette. Adding stuff to an already engineered car isn't as simple as one would think, as everything interlocks.

BTW, the feature I most would like to see is the video rear view mirror as on some Cadillacs as it would hugely reduce rear/side blind spot problems.

TEXHAWK0

All these warning systems are just the first step towards cars that drive themselves....

Then you won't have to worry about seeing.... just take a nap and the car will wake you when you get there.

Obviously, these systems have a way to go...for example the guy in the Tesla that ran full speed into the side of an 18 wheeler trailer because the auto pilot system did not "see" it.

Red Mist Rulz

The Corvette is a driver's car. It will, and should, be the last car in GM's fleet to get "autonomous" driving controls. If you want your car to drive you, you don't want a 'vette. Buy a damn Toyota instead. Today's attitude seems to be "Why should I actually have to pay attention to what I'm doing? My phone and radio are much more important than the road." Anyone who runs into another car because they weren't paying attention should lose their license for 6 months.

Baltimoron

agreed