+General Motors has a serious problem with its top performer and +Tadge Juechter 's love child, Corvette C7 Z06 and it is not going away, in fact, the problem is getting considerably worse due to that appeal to younger buyers part that involves more people actually exploring the performance aspects of that supposedly most track capable Corvette ever.
The number of problems related to the newest flagship being forced to perform track duties is mind boggling but they all seem to revolve around one common factor: highest ever NORMAL engine operating temperatures. The main issue here: a severe reduction in safety margin of the acceptable, engine oil, transmission and of all things new electric power assisted steering.
Now, this would not be so bad if the car had acceptable cooling abilities to keep the extra heat at bay, dissipating and extracting heat from the engine bay, transmission and other overheating components but... the newest Corvette generation has no such ability and due to those pesky laws of physics, any heat generated by the engine, stays trapped, causing a phenomenon called heat soak. As already mentioned in this blog, heat soak should not be mistaken with overheating or heat generation. Heat soak is the lack of heat dissipation leading to heat build up. Unfortunately, even though the big man Juechter decided to make the car run hotter, clearly to appease the emmissions watchdogs, he and his team failed to address the heat dissipation part, rendering the newest Corvette generation and especially the flagship, disaster waiting to happen. With the new Z06, the problem of upcoming fatal engine breakdown is unovaidable. When subjected to track duties, engine oil temperatures can easily approach 300 degrees, with the recommended 15W-50 syrup causing the problem so much more evident due to the thick oil acting as a heat sink while supposedly protecting the engine. To top it off, the engine oil cooler is not only of the coolant to oil variety but its location renders it completely worthless (at best) . When combined with high coolant temperatures approaching 250 degrees, this is a true recipe for disaster.
Will GM warranty catastrophic failures resulting from track duties? Maybe... however, given any modifications committed by the enthusiastic numbnuts will most likely void the warranty applicability, teaching everyone involved a valuable lesson.
Given the design of the car, what is the real solution here? There is only one actually, avoiding any track duties period and delegating the flagship piece of shit to Cars and Coffee competition only.
The newest explanation is that it's just the ECU. Heat soak? No way, it's all good. Just get an aftermarket tune. If engines are blowing up with the current setup I can't imagine how many will spall with a reprogrammed ECU.
ReplyDeletehttp://horsepowerkings.com/gm-responds-c7-z06-shortcomings/
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/2015-corvette-z06-owners-report-heat-soak-power-loss-its-actually-a-conservative-ecu-setup-89790.html
The aftermarket tunes bump up the KR and lean out the car. By now it is pretty obvious the OEM tune is not conservative, it is a necessity to protect the motor but apparently aftermarket knows better...
DeleteThat's interesting, because based on my knowledge of the internal combustion engine, when you lean out the mixture, you increase cylinder head temperatures. Hmmmm.....that is taking things in exactly the WRONG direction for that car. If anything, they should be dumping more fuel into the cylinders to promote cooler running. When you dump more fuel into the cylinders, not only do you gain the benefit of cooler running (so the ECU doesn't go into limp mode), that also reduces your knock tendency because the air/fuel mixture is less likely to spontaneously combust under cooler temps. This allows you to run more advanced timing and make more power. I'm not sure the AFRs are for the C7 piece of shit, but they should be targeting somewhere around 10.0 AFR's at WOT. Maybe it's time for these clowns to consult with the Subie tuning community for some help. hahahahahahahaha
DeleteFunny........my Viper uses 0W-40 weight oil............like, the exact opposite of the C7 Corvette.........hmmmmmm........I wonder why? Because Dick Winkles is a fucking mastermind, and Tadge Juechter is a fucking dick.
ReplyDeleteSo does mine and so do many other cars, except for Corvette. Not sure how that worked with the previous Z06 I had. I do not recall anything requiring using heavier than 5W-30 regardless if on the street or track. New Corvette lacks the cooling system to support such heavy oil, the cure is worse than disease.
DeleteJust another brilliant design maneuver by Tadge and crew.
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