Tag: hydroformed perimeter frame

The C7 Corvette Chassis, Pt 6: The Chassis Tadge Juechter Built

ScottC7 Corvettes

When Tadge Juechter’s C7 Corvette debuted, fans were stunned to learn that the base model C7 was built an even better version of the Z06’s aluminum chassis. But wait, there’s more! The same new aluminum chassis would be used for the coupe AND convertible Corvette. This was a major breakthrough and bespeaks of advanced engineering. Here’s how Juechter’s team did it.

Juechter’s objective was to build a modern performance car that delivered enhanced driving experience, more efficiency that yielded more performance. Every element had to contribute to the overall performance and there would be nothing fake. That explains everything that we see on the C7 Corvette, but what’s unseen is even more amazing. Read More

Chassis History, Pt 5: Dave Hill Strikes Again! Delivers evolutionary, but superior C6

ScottC6 Corvettes

Corvette fans have been frustrated for years with Chevrolet’s evolutionary Corvettes. The “pie-in-the-sky” mid-engine Corvette has been around since the 1960s and anything less was evolutionary. The pending C8 aside, the C5 was the most revolutionary Corvette; because of the hydroformed steel perimeter frame, center backbone, all-aluminum LS1 fuel-injected engine, and transaxle. The C5 was the most solid Corvette ever offered and allowed engineers to vastly improve the basic suspension, the Z51, and the Z06. The racing C5-R won its class at Daytona in 2001 and 2003; won its class at Sebring in 2002, 2003, and 2004, and won its class at Le Mans in 2001, 2002, and 2004. This never would have happened without the superior basic C5 chassis. Dave Hill’s team got the C5’s chassis design so right that by 1999 they determined that a C6 needed to be started. Read More