Well, I guess if all new Corvettes, and performance cars in general, are going to be hobbled with that half-assed (literally) "feature", then I'm not sure I will be much inclined to buy one. It would definitely be a line item in the negative column.
-
Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.
C7
- Thread starter CHASZ51
- Start date
85vette
Active member
All the performance cars with automatic transmissions have "torque management" built into the computers to make the transmission and rear differentials live longer, at least that's what GM calls it. Even the diesel trucks do. Anything like my truck that makes over 400 horsepower and 800 ft/lbs of torque needs it. But rest assured, there are "tunes" created that defeat these if you feel you don't have enough power. Likely at the expense of a new transmission but that's been going on since the beginning of street racing hasn't it? Back in the 60's 350 horsepower was a lot wasn't it? Whoever thought back then that one day you could walk into a new car dealer and buy a car making 600, 700, even 800+ horsepower and have an air conditioner AND a warranty, right? Here I am thinking, do I want to go spend a hundred thousand bucks on a new CTS V making 640 hp or do I want to put a solid rear axle under mine with a powerglide and a turbocharged 427 making 1700 rear wheel horsepower like Jeff Hagaman did. Either way, I plan on enjoying them and driving the crap out of them. No garage queens here. (I have 205K on the CTS V now!)
CHASZ51
Z51
It is the rear end and many had to be replaced and started with the 2015. Same for the A8 auto trans with the 2015 and up. Just do a search on warble sound on C7 Vette and there are vids where you can hear the warble. This is why i am scared to mod this car.
CHASZ51
Z51
My tuner would tune TM down. My C6 just feels so much better than my C7. I need a pedal controller and a ported TB for the C7. The lag is so bad it feels like a slug. My modded C6 A6 with tune and headers would rip and get.
85vette
Active member
Probably not so much risk with the Corvettes, since they don't weigh too much but choose a reliable tuner. I've heard horror stories with some of the heavier vehicles. Trailblazer SS's, CTS V's blowing the sun gears out of the trannys. But these are 3900-4400 pound cars!
In the tuning for the C5 there was a table for the amount of fuel to inject for the percentage of gas pedal motion. Sort of the digital equivalent to the accelerator pump on a carburetor back in the day. The changes I did made a pretty dramatic difference in the throttle response.
From what I could see, the stock tuning makes you have to put more foot into the pedal to get that extra fuel needed for decent pedal response. I felt the same sort of thing in my 2009 C6Z, but since it was under warranty most of the time I had it, I never played around with the tuning for it. My guess is that it is the same for the C7s and probably the C8s. I'm sure it relates to the gas mileage thing, since bigger spurts of fuel for smaller gas pedal movements would have to have an impact there.
From what I understand, a pedal controller just fools the tune into thinking that you are providing more pedal motion than you actually are, to try to negate the programmed-in throttle sluggishness of the stock tune. In other words, when you depress the throttle a quarter inch, the controller sends a signal saying the throttle was depressed a half inch. That sort of thing.
CHASZ51
Z51
Greg sure could tune a car. He did three of mine and all were perfect. I am too scared to tune this car and lose the warranty.
85vette
Active member
Call him. He will probably still do a tune for you when he makes the time. He's still working, just picks and chooses. He's got something else going on, I'm just not at liberty to say.
85vette
Active member
https://www.ls2.com/forums/showthread.php/361225-Torque-Management-Explained
You're on the right track Rich, but timing also is retarded.
You're on the right track Rich, but timing also is retarded.
Good luck with that. I guess I wasn't on his "A" list when I contacted him for help.
In my opinion, I would be VERY leery about entrusting my car to someone that is very difficult to get ahold of.
Yeah, that is definitely a concern. From what I understand the dealerships check cars that come in for drivetrain warranty work to see if the PCM (or whatever they are calling it in the new models) has been modified. Doesn't matter that it had been returned to the stock tune before bringing it in to the dealership as apparently they can detect that the tune has ever been modified somehow. But then again, they have more sophisticated tools at their disposal than the tuning programs we can buy commercially.
With all the purpose made electronics in these cars these days, I believe that it is getting to the point where most people will be reluctant to keep them after the warranty has expired. And after new stocked parts have evaporated, well, people will likely be scrounging around in junk yards quite a bit.
Heck, with all the doodads in my Grand Cherokee, I doubt I will keep it after the warranty expires. Matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that if the radio fails, the car will be dead in the water. So many functions of the car seem to be handled through the radio's interface, and I'm not sure it would even be driveable if the radio went kaput. I'm guessing the new generation Corvettes are likely going to be in the same boat. The radio is the obvious choice for a command center over all the functions in a fully loaded vehicle.
I suppose the shade tree mechanic days or just about over with unless you are only working on older vehicles. Maybe shops that do tuning and mods are seeing that writing on the wall.
Just idle speculation, of course.
CHASZ51
Z51
I think the day is coming they will have speed controls on cars and know if you have been speeding and Ins comps making people use a device to track how they drive. Once all that starts i am done driving.
CHASZ51
Z51
I am gonna order a Soler ported TB and pedal controller. I can't take driving this car much longer with the insane lag. The car will even surge from a stop once in a while. Once i can trust the car after a year it gets tuned.
CHASZ51
Z51
The ported Solder TB helped. But taking the car to the dealer Monday for maybe cracked wheels and a bad rear end. I may just lemon or sell the car. Just not happy with it and it seems slow vs my C6. I don't think GM will cover wheels and so many have had bad wheels with the GS and Z06.
Never buy a C7 out of warranty.
Never buy a C7 out of warranty.
CHASZ51
Z51
If a used one ever pops up for under 100k. Maybe in 4 years. It has the flying frunk problem so here we go again. I maybe done for good.
85vette
Active member
The C8 looks great, but it's a way too new design for me to even think about getting one. For one thing, it looks like a bear to work on for anything related to the engine. I don't think a tech could get to it without damaging the paint on the body panels unless they just drop the drivetrain out of the body instead of getting to it from the top. Definitely not going to be a DIY car for anyone who doesn't have a lift. And I don't have a whole lot of faith in ANY place that works on vettes these days to not screw something up while they are working on it.
I just bought an extended warranty on the Grand Cherokee, so I will keep it for probably no more than 8 years. BTW, if you want to buy an extended warranty, you have to go out of state to get any sort of deal. Florida has a law on the books where the dealers MUST sell it at full retail. Even buying out of state, you will have to give them a a mailing address outside of Florida in order for them to be able to sell to you. State sponsored price fixing, if you ask me.
Would be nice to hear that the C8 is bullet proof, but with GM's past history, I sure wouldn't hold my breath hoping for that to happen. Their fiasco with the LS7 engines caused me to dump my C6Z06 last Fall. Sure put a sour taste in my mouth, too.
85vette
Active member
I don't put a lot of stock in the "reported problems" that many vehicles supposedly have. My 2011 F-350 was supposed to drop valves because it was one of the "early builds." The engine was built in June of 2010. 190K+ miles and it still runs and drives like it's new. I was contemplating getting a new 2020 to replace it with because the new one has 475 hp and 1050 ft/lbs of torque. But I really can't justify it. Maybe I'll just put some new doodads on my truck.
Oh, since you mentioned the extended warranty thing on your Jeep, be advised that Jeep apparently has some newfangled stuff on their air conditioning systems. My daughter's 2017 Grand Cherokee had the A/C stop working and she took it to the guy that does all her maintenance work and he told her that the A/C is DEALER ONLY. Her extended warranty paid for it but she had to wait two weeks for a part that was on backorder. She had to go to Quincy as the dealer in Tallahassee was backed up.
Did you have any issues with your C6? What were the problems? Asking in the event I shop for a newer CTS V. Pretty sure they shared the same engine.
CHASZ51
Z51
I will never go over 55k for a used one. So i may get a Chevy spark on a lark. 3 years with that and i can save enough for a used C8 if prices ever come down. C6's are getting old and parts will be hard to find.