_zebra

not that the hood vent has anything to do with the fender vents in question, but have you actually seen the airflow diagrams? just because the car don't "lift off" (as if pulling your steering wheel somehow magically controls a non-existent elevator on the back ) don't mean allowing the air to escape through the hood don't reduce lift or create downforce.

Guibo

But you linked your personal experience to the end result of the ZR1 on the Nurburgring. They are not one and the same. The Corvette team prides itself on building a car that is balanced for a wide variety of conditions that go beyond a smooth, relatively flat speedway that is banked (and which directs more force that would otherwise be pushing out of the turn downward into the pavement).
As for NASCAR, you would have to know something more about the technical regulations regarding bodywork, ride heights, slick tires (which Corvettes don't have benefit of), etc. Then there is the tradeoff the teams may make with regard to downforce vs low drag. You can't know that the NASCAR cup cars won't be even faster through the curves (at the possible cost of straightline speed). Believe it or not, many regulations are in place to limit speeds and costs. Formula One cars have massively tall sidewalls, but that doesn't mean that's the ideal setup for a normal road car at normal ride height.

JoesC5

My only point in bringing up my personal exprience and bringing up other 100% street cars is that they are stable at speeds well above what is legal to drive. My point is that if I, on a race track, and other street cars on race tracks, can stay planted at 150..162...182...without hood vents and rear fender vents, what's their purpose, other then imitating a full blown race car like the C6R. You can add the vents but it won't make a C7 into a real C7R.

If the C6 wasn't safe to drive at high speeds, I would think there would be a forced speed limiter placed on them.

_zebra

i got to looking up some studies already done on the ZL1 camaro aero & they concluded that the splitter, skirts, belly pans, & hood (hood being a big factor): at speeds of 150mph, the Z generated 65lb of downforce compared to 200lb of lift in a standard SS. numbers show the difference. i know that above 160 in my C5, i still feel comfortable and in control, but it's noticeably lighter on the tires. it would give me more confidence in my car's ability if i knew it had more pressure pushing the rubber to the road.

JoesC5

What has a Camaro got to do with a Corvette, other then similar taillghts on the C7? A base Camaro will not do 190 MPH as will a base C6.

It's not a hidden fact that the Z06's aero has less front/rear lift then the base C6 and that the ZR1 has less front/rear lift then the Z06. It's about the base C6 having good aero to start out with, and the wide bodies improving on it.

Is the C7's front end and rear end lift less then a C6 Z06 or ZR1's. If not, then have they improved the C7 over the C6 Z06/ZR1?.

_zebra

did you stop at the word 'camaro' & instantly hit the quote button?

for one, where did i say 190mph? two, the camaro reference was talking about a study done to validate the wind tunnel results of a vented hood. if you'll stop talking about how you p!55 excellence while driving all your corvettes for a second to pay attention to what other people are saying, you might learn something new today.

the fact that the hood was engineered to extract air from the engine bay has been a proven design to reduce lift on the front end of a car. the particular test i noted was to give actual numbers to the theories we're explaining here because the C7 hood has a similar extractor design to the ZL1.

at high speeds (150mph as tested in that tunnel with the Camaro), air comes up from under the car through the engine bay & pushes up on the underside of the hood. the new vented design allows that trapped air to stop lifting the front end so much because it has somewhere else to go - up & over the windshield. that equals less lift & more stability control.

DREAMERAK

The people who designed the C7 used some of the tech from the C6R, the rear fender vent is one of them, maybe you should send an e-mail off to GM and explain to them that they don't know what there doing, and don't forget the talladega story, I'm sure GM will be very impressed.

rcallen484

That's funny right there GET 'ER DONE

JoesC5

Probably more impressed with someone that actually drives their Corvette closer to how it was designed to be driven then a bunch of Internet yahoos with their Monogramed floor mats in their freshly waxed RAV4.

Suns_PSD

Joe, I think your bragging about doing a track day but from a technical standpoint you are confused.

First, in your example about downforce at 60mph, there is none to very little downforce at 60mph.

Secondly, what part of additional downforce is helpful thru fast turns do you not understand? Have you ever noticed that the MotoGP bikes go as fast or faster than the F1 cars thru the slow turns but get spanked thru the fast turns badly? Why do you think that is? Could it be this mysterious thing called downforce by Engineering types?

Woohoo!, so you went 162mph on a banking (my wife topped 160mph, on a motorcycle on a banking dozens of times, big deal) but what you don't get is that you are unable to go 162 thru a turn that is going away. In fact depending on the turn you probably couldn't do it at 100mph. More downforce allows you to go faster thru the turns.

Stop hatin' dude. If we find later that the C7 Engineering team lied thru their teeth about the additional downforce provided by the vents (not likely) then we can all complain about superfaluous venting. But until that moment please discontinue your rant/ sort of lame bragging.

jdmvette

su8pack1

User 2623

If the above is true and they are more cosmetic than functional then the car is over stylized. I guess the same can be said of the rear venting [along the tail lights] giving it the ever popular and sought after running mascara look. Again over stylized.

These visual cues would be regarded as blatant errors per the school of design, to which I do not believe GM's design house would overlook.

Less is always more -something GM lost sight of with this release.
I'm certain it will be considerably cleaned up in years 3 or 4 when they tend to refresh the car.

Something to look forward to.

rcallen484

The front vent takes heated air that has passed through the hot radiator and gets it away from the engine and out of the engine compartment. The disruption of air passing over the hood reduces the wing effect tendency of a smooth hood. In excess of 165 mph my C6 felt lighter in the front, a feeling I didn't like. The vents on top of the rear quarters are inlets leading to heat exchangers (small radiators) that are on some model(s) for the transmission and differential.

JoesC5

I'm at 140 MPH at the entrance of turn 2 at Talladega. Halfway through turn two, I go WOT. I'm at the max the Goodyear Supercars can hold as they are slightly skipping sideways in the rear. Front is planted. Bridgestones hold better under the exact same conditions. I know what it is to drive both the turns at Talladega and at Texas Motor Speedway. Tell me, have you driven at 145 MPH through the high banked turns at Talladega or Daytona in your Corvette. or are you just a bench racer.

BEZ06 has driven his Z06 with Hoosiers at 145 in turn 4 at Daytona and was able to hit 175 at the front stretch. When he put on his wheels and tires from his ZR1(Michelin PS2) he had to slow down through turn 4 and was only able to get to 165 on the front stretch. You are completely mistaken if you believe that you can sail around a high banked turn and not pull any lateral g's that can get the car going sideways, or into the wall.

I know there is little downforce at 60 mph and that's why I'm not really impressed with the so called improvements in the C7's aero over my Z06 or a ZR1. On the highway, at legal speeds, downforce is for bench racers. I don't want to hear about what a vented hood can do for a Camaro, I want to know how it stands against my Z06's non vented hood. How much down force is exerted on the front of a C7 vs the downforce on the front of my Z06, or a ZR1 that uses a different means to reduce lift, at 60, 80 100, 150, 180?

It's not bragging if you're telling the truth. It's better that someone tells of their real life experiences instead of repeating what they read on the Internet. Maybe you don't want to hear it, but I really enjoy driving my Z06 at it's limit at the high banked tracks. Maybe someday you will have something to brag about too.

I've never ridden a motorcycle at 140 through the turns at Talladega so I can't speak(brag) about that experience. Have you? Are you saying that riding a motorcycle has the same dynamics as driving a car? Otherwise what has riding a motorcycle have to do with driving a Z06?

CitationZ06@yahoo

Increasing down force almost always adds drag which slows the car down. GM is using some smart tricks to reduce drag and add down force; not easy to do for 55k or so. I just wish it had a smart wing that tucked away when the car was off; inched up as speeds increased; and went max air brake during slow down. come on Z06 "smart" wing!

_zebra

alright Joe - if you can't apply the real-world results obtained from a similar vehicle, then feel free to go tip your radiator back a little, cut a hole in your hood, and install some ducting & then come back to tell us how much firmer your car felt on the ground at 140 through the back half of turn 2

Rapid Fred

I sank a 3-pointer once in an intramural basketball game.

I think I'll tell LBJ how to play hoops!

ilkhan

Maybe its less about avoiding airborne and more about making it feel less "floaty" at speed? Avoiding liftoff isn't the only objective for downforce.

Mr C7

One can only pray.