How bad is the 8l90 automatic transmission cooling on 2015 Corvette C7 Z06?

If 2014 Corvette C7 6-speed automatic had problems with transmission cooling, getting worse with 2015 model year and 8-speed automatic transmission, the problem with the upcoming Z06 shape up to be considerably worse.

In its attempt to make a heavier and less aerodynamic seventh generation Corvette porker faster, at least off line, +Tadge Juechter went for the obvious, automatic transmission equipped version.  Why?

The answer is very simple as usual, considering simpleton  +General Motors  "engineering team" caters to well matched simpleton buying public.  Thus, short time gains can be easily justified, without accounting for the long term consequences.  As long as at least one performance figure can be advertised as superior to past generations of the car, it is all good-at least for a while.

Thus, all of the sudden, unlike with the previous generations, the latest Corvette automatic became the faster car.  What is means is rather pretty sad, the limit of the improvements had been reached, there is no more engine development leading to a faster car.  As the car becomes heavier, more power is required to make it go faster, stickier tires are very limited when car becomes heavy and due to fuel efficiency objectives, the gearing in manual transmission cannot be shortened to take advantage of the newest SEVEN SPEED manual transmission.  As a result, the new manual TR-6070 transmission is a travesty of the former six speed, instead of retaining the former two overdrive gears (which was already pretty pathetic), there are three overdrive gears now, with not a single attempt to adjust the gearing for speed runs.  The newest manual transmission is just like the old one, direct drive in fourth gear just like before.  Certainly a dead end, considering the added weight of the car and inability to defy the basic laws of physics.

So what does Juechter do?  Time to make the automatic car faster!!! Why?  Because there is an opportunity here to increase its efficiency and thus, make the car go faster, at least off the line and in quarter mile runs (as long as these are one time events). 

In the past, both the four and six speed automatic Corvettes were slower than the manual counterparts but had no issues with transmission overheating and there were no subsequent engine catastrophic failures.  The reason why the past automatics where resistant to overheating was due to keeping the stall speed relatively low and diameter of the torque converter relatively large.  Due to the pesky laws of physics and more specifically, thermodynamics, the larger diameter converter rotates SLOWER.  The slower turning converter means less heat build up and great long term durability.  Also, there is another benefit, due to less heat build up-the pressure build up is insignificant. 

Cleverly enough, in a pretty pathetic attempt to defy the skeptics and anyone with even minimum amount of physics knowledge and common sense, the 2014 Stingray came with a six speed transmission that somehow made the car faster, in spite of the previous experiences stating otherwise.

As much as Juechter loves to claim that the shifting algorithm and electronic controls have been vastly improved to cause this great improvement, the reality is completely different. 

What has happened is very simple: the torque converter became smaller, thus, it can spin faster (physics once again), with less rotational inertia.  When combined with the higher stall speed, the combo is a real killer, making the Stingray literally fly with the automatic transmission.

The only problem here and apparently something that Juechter chose to ignore (assuming he really is an engineer, this would be a deliberate action), THE FASTER THINGS SPIN, THE MORE HEAT THEY GENERATE.   Not surprisingly, this is exactly what has happened to the automatic transmission in the Stingray.  The evidence that the automatic transmission in the Stingray overheats routinely is rather condemning already.  Even at the dragstrip, with summer ambient temperatures, Stingray cannot run more than once without transmission temperature rising to dangerous levels.

The pathetic attempt at new cooling system is already a failure, the location on TOP of the quarter panels shows complete ignorance and undersized cooling fans and ducts add more insult to the injury.

Then of course, there is the convertible automatic Stingray, lacking these ducts and hoping to cool the transmission with the cooler UNDER the car-WHAT THE FUCK WAS JUECHTER WAS THINKING HERE?

The biggest problem with the overheating automatic transmission: the PRESSURE BUILD UP.  This is the part that causes converter to flex, causing the crankshaft to move and obliterate the thrust and main bearings on LT1 engines currently.  Not surprisingly, the most likely variant of Stingray to blow the motor is the CONVERTIBLE AUTOMATIC STINGRAY.  Any attempt to push this POS to the limits advertised by GM and Juechter is a guarantee of catastrophic engine failure and apparently a fire?

The scary part:  the converter became even smaller, with even more heat and pressure build up.  If there was a recipe to fuck the buyers over, it just materialized with the new 8 speed automatic.  If the blown engines were happening with the six speed automatic, they will certainly multiply with the new automatic and especially with the convertible cars.

And here we are, with the upcoming Corvette C7 Z06, with the same shitty automatic transmission that in reality is a grenade waiting to obliterate the engine.  Apparently after numerous blown LT1 engines, Juechter realized he may be up shit creek should Z06 cars start losing their engines and already, there is a change to the automatic Z06-second transmission cooler.

The Z06 is a real porker, lucky to end up under 3700 pounds, especially with AUTO AND CONVERTIBLE options.  Without any doubt, the transmission will be pushed pretty hard to get this porker off the line, generating shitload of heat and pressure build up.  So what does Juechter do?

There is a SECOND TRANSMISSION COOLER, making the porker even heavier and still in the same shitty locations, with the second cooler UNDER THE CAR.  What will this accomplish?  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, ESPECIALLY FOR THE AUTOMATIC CONVERTIBLE Z06.

Of course, it is a pure coincident that GM will not be releasing the automatic and convertible versions of Z06.  LOL  .