granracing

I was recently invited to a GM event in NYC where we got to see the new C7 in person. As part of the event, we were able to meet with the head designer of the project, the lead interior designer, and lead interior designer. The reason I’m posting this here is primarily because I came to this form prior to our meeting to see what you guys were saying, and get a feel for the types of questions you had. I normally don’t just do a first post like this but since we’re not “real journalists” and are just a few motorsports enthusiast guys who do this for fun, maybe you won’t bash me too badly for doing so. And no, I'm not going around on all of the Vette forums posting this.

As many here have said, seeing the car in photos and seeing it in person reveals a big difference in appearance. The C7 looks much better up close. While I have respect for older generations, this one just seems to be a big jump forward in many aspects. This is truly an impressive machine that I feel competes will compete nicely with much more expensive sports cars.

The information and ideas I got from this forum were very helpful in our efforts. I wanted to say thank you and share what we did with everything. So here it is.

Can’t wait to see how this car drives!!
Dave

elegant

Thanks for sharing the article.

TTRotary

Well written and very informative.

7LitreC5

Great article. That is the first thing that I have read that indicates a function for the "fangs".

sprtplt

Again, with the suggested "weight loss" but absent the actual weight.

tuxnharley

There's an interesting tid bit from the article that I hadn't heard before - that in the Z51 package with its 10.5 quart dry sump system, the GM 5 year/100k mile warranty will actually cover track usage, if the car has no mods. Wow!!!!

Boil

Great article…!

Found this bit the most exciting…

Also, great CLEAR shot of the storage behind the infotainment display…!

Blancpain

some excerpts:

"In person, the car makes a much better impression than in pictures, making the C6 sitting just behind it look positively dowdy. "

"But the dry sump system is the big kahuna here.... So confident is GM in the systems ruggedness, the 100,000 mile warranty covers track use! (Take that Nissan, for equipping your cars with a launch control system…that voids the warranty!)"

"Sharp readers with a good memory will now be panicking, remembering the last “configurable display” in a Corvette, the much hated digital dash from the 80s. Fear not, as this is no KITT-inspired digital dash, but is a configurable display setup, that yes, can be set to mimic an analog tach! Lexus did this to great effect with the highly desired LFA supercar,"

"Actually, the entire interior is a work of art compared to recent Corvette efforts. Surfaces are all delights to the eye, be it leather, carbon fiber, aluminum or microsuede."

"Real Napa leather is used on the seating surfaces and it took mere seconds to decide that these seats will blow away the abominations we tolerated in the C6. In fact, they are magnesium framed, and for the first time a Competition seat is available. "

"and the assembly line worker now has a method of tweaking each door panel on the line to ensure perfect fit."

"Early critics have raised objections about the taillights in particular, but I think it’s something you have to see in person. They’re actually rather interesting when lit, and much more three dimensional than they appear on paper. Tom pointed out that the old round ones would have been out of place on this car and I certainly agree. Working with the racing and engineering departments resulted in the need for cooling duct exhaust vents in the rear fascia. When attempting to use the round lights at one design stage, it looked rather Swiss cheese-like with a bunch of ‘polka dots’. "

"Closer examination will reveal that the final forms really aren’t “just a copy of the Camaro” but are rather different shapes. Indeed, they are similar in count and proportion, but Tom reminded us that the two cars have shared the basic light count for decades."

"The quarter panel top vent inlet locations, for instance, where requested by the Pratt and Miller boys, and their placement yields not only superior aerodynamics, but a lighter car was well, since locating the coolers at the back of the car removes yards of piping and improves weight distribution and reliability to boot."

" I questioned the “fangs” on the lower grill lip. He could see I wasn’t a fan. Turns out they are part of the pedestrian safety package, and of course, have been tunnel tweaked to double as downforce devices."

lemans

They may also be mounting points for a splitter in the upcoming Z06-ZR1 cars.

granracing

Thanks, much appreciated. We had over 1 1/2 hours of conversation recorded and this somehow is our "trimmed down" version. LOL

There were a few areas that they were hesitant to discuss, with weight being one of them. Only thing I can think of is the cars being displayed at the show aren't totally complete. For example, there will be an air dam of one sort of another that isn't on these cars yet. There was also talk of a few minor adjustments to the interrior.

Another aspect I thought was great is the designers were actually listening to what people are saying about the car. There was a big sense of colleboration and pride with this project.

The Z51 package... At least to me, it would be interesting to learn more about the custom Michellen tires they had developed specifically for this car. From what they said, there was over 1 million spent on developing the tires. That seems like a ton of money, and maybe it was exaggerated?

For the trunk, they did state that fitting a set of golf clubs was a must and taken into consideration. Even if you don't golf, at least it shows there is some functional storage room back there.

B-Myster

That was a nice write-up. Thanks for sharing it.

sam90lx

We can only hope.

Slynky

"Pedestrian safety package" :scratcheshead:

jvp

It's a small shot across everyone's bow and they need to pay attention: PedPro is getting to be a BIG deal in Washington DC. Like the ridiculous CAFE rules and regs, PedPro requirements are going to make it harder and harder to make a beautiful car due to bulges, bubbles, and other things needed to protect pedestrians.

Seriously.

Yell at your critters. Tell them pedestrians don't need protection, they need to watch out for oncoming cars. Otherwise we're going to get some strange-looking vehicles in the near future.

jas

granracing

If the car hits a pedestrian, the fangs help prevent the person from going under the car and push them towards the hood. They also have other elements in the hood design that go towards this as well. At least GM spent a considerable amount of time in the wind tunnel to make them help the aero instead of hinder it. Originally looking at the car had thought the fangs were a bit odd, but at least it made sense from GM's perspective.

Volvo's V40 is looking to put an exterior "air bag" on their cars. Seems a bit crazy to me but...

BuckyThreadkiller

The more I hear about the tires, the more I wonder about spares. I know it has been difficult in the past to get a replacement for the C6. I hope GM and Michelin have a pipeline of replacements for blowouts and road debris at the launch.

BuckyThreadkiller

Europe has some whacky regs for pedestrian safety. Apparently there are people over there who walk places and must be considered.

granracing

Anyone hear how much OEM replacement tires on the Z51 are going to cost?

B-Myster

Since the Michelin PS2 RF in 18/19 are around $1,700, my guess is more than that for the new Michelins in 19/20.

Slynky

Ahhh, I see. Thanks for the info.

(LOL @ exterior air bags...)