ezra1973

I am not planing on taking the car to the track. I am trying to see what benefit it would be to me to have z51 package. Do you notice a difference in the drive if your not on the track?

Deicide

Magnetic ride is nice.

FringbirdAloha

get the Z51 package. It’s worth it.

AgCorvette

I have a base C6, and I think it is a lot of fun. I've never tracked it. I do auto cross it. I did upgrade my sway bars to Z51 sway bars, and I did put stickier tires on it, in hopes of improving my auto crossing performance, and it did a little bit, but the biggest improvement came after taking a driving lesson. Even without the Z51 package, the car is going to be very fast. Unless you are a really good driver, the chances are your driving ability will still be below what the car can do.

The Z51 not only costs more up front, but it cost more to keep up as well, as the tires will wear out more quickly, the brakes will wear out more quickly.

If its going to bother you that somebody has a faster car than you, then you can reduce the chances of that occurring if you if you get the Z51.
If you need to feel like you've got the top of the line, you can get that with Z51, until the other Zs come out later (Z06 / ZR1)

Good luck with your decision, its a nice problem to have :-)

ezra1973

I am on a C7 no z51. I am still driving on the original breaks at 71,000 miles. I am leaning towards not getting the z51 on the C8

Corvette310

Yes it is,

PSU_Vette

I'm curious... How does having the Z51 package wear out tires and brakes more quickly? I had a C6 with Z51 and its wear on the brakes/tires was no greater than that of a base model, from what I could tell...

AgCorvette

The tires are softer/stickier, so they actually wear out faster.
The break pads produce more dust, so the are wearing out faster as well

Tripjammer

Don't be cheap get the Z51 package. The C8 is a supercar not a wannabe sports car....

Z51 should have been standard along with magnetic version 4 shocks on the C8!

Michael A

Sorry, but some of these responses are ridiculous. If you are not tracking the car, you are wasting your money. Even the base car without Z51 corners at 1G. To have a Z51 car that rides as well as the base car, you have to get the optional Magnetic Ride Control. Now you are up to about $7000 extra assuming the price hasn't gone up over the C7. Save your money.

Michael A

Z51 tires have a softer compound than the All Seasons on the base car. The C8 Z51 pads are noisier, and produce more brake dust. That's from the engineers at GM.

Corvette#2

I doubt the base car lacks anything.. It's not like they neutered the engine. We are talking about a car where the ability to fit two golf club bags was considered a non-negotiable design feature !

I doubt even 5% of Corvette owners track their car. If the Z51package and mag shocks were standard equipment, the starting price would be at least 70k and not under 60k. I'm glad they give the consumer the choice.

GeauxTigers1

I believe the mag ride is entirely separate from the z51 (I could be wrong, happens a lot) but doesn’t it just give you the ability to adjust the “ride” from cruising (for a softer ride) to sport to track (for a stiffer ride). I was actually planning on going z51 without mag just bc it’s not going to be a daily driver and I actually like feeling every groove in the road. I’m also in Az so we don’t have a ton of bumps/potholes.

DanC5

Magnetic Ride Control can only be ordered with Z51. A good add if you’re going Z51. Base Vette is a nice sports car with great handling. Z51 goes further. After you wear out the first set of tires you can change the type. Same wheels. If I get one, it’ll have it. But most comfy ride might be base. We’ll have to see.

• Michelin® PS4 Performance 3 Season tires†
• Standard FE3 Performance Suspension
• Available FE4 Suspension with Magnetic Ride Control™
• Larger 345 mm front and 350 mm rear brake rotors
• Extra cooling with additional rear-mounted third radiator
• Electronic Limited-Slip Differential
• Larger rear spoiler provides up to 400 lbs. of downforce
• Performance exhaust results in 495 HP

B747VET

We have now had two cars with mag ride, including our CTS V. If possible, I would never buy any car without mag ride again. The standard base suspension is a compromise. They try to tune it so that it walks the line optimally between touring and serious playing. They generally succeed at neither. A car like the C8 is now capable of being far beyond “compromising” on any aspect of touring or performance driving. But a key element, perhaps the key element, is mag ride.

There’s a reason why Ferrari licensed it. Yes, mag ride can help to optimize performance or track driving for all but the most serious racers. But perhaps more importantly for of drivers, it allows a car that can corner at the absolute limits to also ride significantly nicer on bumpy roads and over freeway expansion joints. I have a number of friends and acquaintances with Ferrari’s. Most have olderish Ferrari’s without mag ride. For the most part, their spouses do not like to use the Ferrari for longer trips because the ride is so brutal. The mag ride Ferrari couples pretty much don’t have that problem.

So the beauty of Corvette mag ride is that touring is quite pleasant and less fatiguing on a variety of roads. More importantly, because the mag ride technology can constantly sample the roadway at a super high rate, for any thing short of max racing performance the mag ride can yield better and safer results. And now for the first time, with the new C8 suspension, mag ride should have an even greater performance impact.

Lastly, when it comes to selling your C8, mag ride can potentially increase resale value and more importantly can make it easier to sell it because there are a lot of folks like me who just won’t buy one without mag ride.

Z51 is a different subject. We have the 4S tires on both our performance cars and would want them on the C8 along with the better Z51 brakes. But I think it makes sense for someone who doesn’t play hard to consider the base car especially now that they’ve developed the new high grip all season Michelin’s. But, again, if mag ride is only available with Z51, then I would say get the Z51, even if you don’t like to play hard.

Corvette#2

I highly doubt mag ride or Z51 will "increase" resale value. Second hand cars with those options will be worth more, because those aren't cheap options, but it will never make the car worth more than difference in price between a base car and a car with those options.

Secondly, I bet the driver's skill level is the limiting factor far before the suspension of the car. Yeah Randy Pobst can claim, I could drop at least 2 seconds off my lap time if the base car's suspension was better. The vast majority of drivers could simply work on improving their lines and hitting the correct apex.

PSU_Vette

I’ll buy the fact that a “softer” summer tire will wear out faster than a “harder” all-season tire, but more dust alone does not mean the brakes will degrade quicker. The fact that Z51 pads are larger than base pads would lead to more dust. Doesn’t mean it wears faster. I could be completely wrong on all of this, but I’d be interested if the is more than just the “dust” argument.

B747VET

I think the price issue you raise is more in the realm of quibbling or semantics. Let’s change it to ... you will likely sell your car for a higher price. And again, you will have a larger pool of potential buyers which could raise the price a little more and could help you to sell it quicker. What’s the value of time? Depends on how much time you have to spare in any given transactional situation. Ever sold something below asking because timing issues were more important? Most of us have.

Pretty much the same for your claims that one doesn’t need MR until they can pick a better line and find an apex. I’ve tracked with base suspensions, MR’s, and full race coil overs. I personally will take the MR any day of the week. MR’s ability to help the car stay flatter in a higher speed mountain road sweeper is alone potentially significantly safer and safety is kinda hard to value with precision unless something goes wrong and then safety becomes priceless.

gunkk

Magnetic ride is worth the price of admission.

vampire81

shorter final drive ration in the z51?