2015 Corvette C7 Z06 front bumper-a clear case of penny wise and pound foolish General Motors mentality

If there is one continuous trait that all Corvettes carry CHEAPNESS must be the winner and nothing shows this part clearer than the newest Corvette C7 Z06 front bumper. This is the same bumper that makes a serious contribution to overheating issues plaguing the newest +General Motors flagship.

Typically, a higher performance model of Corvette, in addition to extra power and handling and braking upgrades, comes with a wider body.  This wider body is there to accommodate wider tires and wider track.  The wider body has been featured on Corvettes since 1990 (Generation 4 ZR-1), with the notable exception of fifth generation that did not include a wider body to accommodate the Generation 5 Z06.

Although a car with wider body can obviously accommodate wider tires and have larger track width, the consequences of a wider body (and wider track) usually include higher rolling resistance, worse aerodynamics (drag coefficient and effective frontal area) and extra weight.   As of now, absolutely all so called "wide bodies" have been done half ass by GM, for one reason or another, with the cheapness being the driving force.

The previous generation of Corvette included one widebody style fits all upper versions of Corvette, from the top of the line ZR1 through the Grand Sport, at the bottom.  This version of widebody was developed for the middle of the line hi po Corvette, C6 Z06 and then, in the typical GM approach thrown on the other three widebody Corvettes,  ZR1, Grand Sport and 427.  Since GM is cheap, none of the widebody cars were easy to distinguish to an untrained eye and they were not modified depending on the actual application, outside of half ass side air duct differences.

The previous generation widebodies included slightly wider front bumper, with larger air intake and flared fenders and flared and ducted quarter panels.  The rear bumper remained the same and the actual body of the cars, along the rocker panels was the same as with the base car-all in the name of saving money.  Without gettting into details of shortcomings of that generation of widebody Corvettes (especially the cheesy front spats in lieu of real air curtains), to some extent, these widebodies worked and the greater front air intake (which should really be even larger for ZR1 and smaller for Grand Sport) did it job accommodating upgraded radiators and supplying extra cooling ability.

For a very peculiar reason, the seventh generation widebody Corvette, Z06 is different and certainly not for better.  This time around, the genius in charge, +Tadge Juechter decided to literally turn things around and instead of widebody specific front bumper, the newest flagship ended up with a Z06 specific REAR BUMPER.  Here is the pathetic part: the real reason why the rear bumper was changed instead of the performance necessitated rear bumper: the choice of the tail lights and visual consequences of  widening the quarter panels, without relocating the angular looking tail lights.  Yes, the changes to the body of the car had absolutely nothing to do with the aerodynamics or any other performance considerations.

Since apparently, the aesthetics took precedence over performance and Mary Barra allows Tadge to change one bumper at the time, the latest car has been literally ghetto rigged up front and denied the much needed wider front bumper and subsequently, more efficient air inlet to provide better cooling.

Instead of a wider front bumper, allowing for a bigger radiator and real oil cooler,  Juechter and his crew resorted to  recycling the same base car front bumper and grafting some truly pathetic Bushwacker style flares to cover the wider front tires and larger front track width, all at the expense of eliminating any expansion of cooling system that is a necessity for a large displacement supercharged behemoth.  The fact that Tadge Juechter allow this to happen and in fact, this moron considers this a good thing certainly raises concerns not just about Juechter's competence but his sanity as well.

In Juechter's words:

If we designed to higher temperature criteria, we would have to add a lot of cooling hardware which drives mass up and perhaps more importantly, you have to feed the system with more air which has a huge impact on appearance and aerodynamic drag. Like most aspects of car design, the challenge is in finding the best balance of conflicting requirements.  

This statement alone explains perfectly why the newest flagship is nothing short of a poser bullshit ringer to an advertised most track capable Corvette ever.  According to Juechter, for the most track capable Corvette ever, FUNCTION FOLLOWS THE FORM.  What the fuck Tadge, since when a highest performance oriented car designer and engineer makes the functionality and efficiency of design merely an afterthought?  Are you saying you could not design a car with better air intake because it would not look good?  What exactly stopped you from coming up with a suitable front bumper and matching fenders?  Are you saying that piece of shit rigged up front end, with the fangs and bullshit front splitter and those Bushwacker flares looking like a high school project were a plan of visually pleasing design that rendered the newest flagship totally worthless on the track?  WOW!!!
Oh and Tadge, the aerodynamics you fought so hard to preserve, they are still shitty and the newest flagship cannot even come close to the top speed of the last ZR1, not to mention the brickwall this turd hits at 150 mph.

The ironic part here, in addition to the bullshit statement from Juechter is the fact that for a few pennies saved on the front bumper and better cooling system, the newest flagship turd lost its most anticipated advertisements:  Nurburgring lap time and top speed surpassing the last ZR1.

The consequence of this truly stupid cost saving measure falls fully on the shoulders and wallets of the buyers.  To revise the front end and redesign the cooling system will not be cheap, assuming that anyone in the aftermarket will even try (no, a better radiator alone will not do the job) and the alternative, having Juechter admitting the failure and stop falsely advertising a track capable cars  apparently will not happen until someone files a lawsuit suing GM and Juechter for fraudulent advertisement.