Just the Facts: •Finally, new seats in all Corvettes. They'll be like the ones in the Centennial Edition.
•New Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires for the ZR1 and Z06 are basically street-legal race tires.
•2012 Chevrolet Corvette production begins in July.
DETROIT — Many of the changes on the 2012 Chevrolet Corvette have already slipped out, but today Chevy clarified a couple details: All 2012 Corvettes get new seats, while the Z06 and ZR1 models get a brand-new set of Michelin tires.
The 2012 Corvette, which goes into production in July at Bowling Green, Kentucky, makes its public debut this weekend at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green.
The tires are available as part of the PDE High Performance package on the 2012 Corvette ZR1 and the Z07 Ultra Performance package on the Corvette Z06, and they're newly developed versions of the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup. Chevy describes them as "essentially street-legal versions of a racing tire." Intended for owners who take their car to the track, the new rubber reportedly helps boost lateral acceleration, shorten braking distances and ultimately trim lap times.
The Michelins, sized 285/30ZR19 in front and 335/25ZR20 in the rear, are mounted on new Cup-style alloy wheels with either a machined or satin black finish. Chevy says these wheels are stronger and lighter than last year's 20-spoke alloys.
The other headline here is that all Corvettes for 2012 get the revised seats and steering wheel seen in the Centennial Edition Corvette. You'll also find new padding on the armrests and center console.
Finally, in a nod to fuel economy, Chevy has put taller ratios on 5th and 6th gears in the ZR1's manual transmission, resulting in a claimed gain of 2 mpg in highway mileage. Fifth and 6th are overdrive gears on this transmission, so this change merely moves the ZR1 closer to the aggressive 0.74 and 0.50 overdrive ratios on the Z06. Don't like it? Well, don't upshift then.
Source:
http://www.insideline.com/
All 2012 Corvettes Get New Seats, Better Tires for Z06 and ZR1
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