2013 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe - Car Nerds

this is a sixth generation Corvette this 2013 edition is powered by a 430 horsepower ls3 6.2 liter v8 with a 6-speed automatic transmission that's Corvette chief engineer Ted's yuktah behind the wheel Ted's joined GM in 1977 and began working on Corvettes in the 90s throughout c6 development Tadgh was assistant chief engineer for Corvettes Paget's been busy with the launch of the seventh generation Corvette Stingray not to mention the zo6 version but not so busy that he couldn't drive car and driver down memory lane in ancestral Corvettes from c1 through c 6 I've known him for 20 years and he's always been the kind of guy who's up for a quick spin around the block for no reason other than to talk Corvettes with a fellow car nerd I've been reading you since 1967 Louie Allen didn't start - 71 71 I've been reading car driver since 67 but my first imprint of great automotive journalism was some of the stuff you guys did and I would memorize it I would read it cover to cover and I had photographic memory I can I can tell you anything that was in that magazine that's a compliment I'm glad you paid attention hope you weren't reading our competitors cooktop Car and Driver was always number one excellent thank you so much thank you Dad correct all right during the c6 era you made some very significant quality strides interior especially you address the steering and proved that with variable ratio and better feel no smaller wheel a little bit smaller you noticed from c4 to c5 the wheel diameter actually got bigger on a trend that was generally smaller that was a 386 wheel now we're back to 370 on this this doesn't have the optional wrapped upgrade either doesn't - no this is this is pretty close to the standard condition what we're looking at it here this car doesn't have a heads-up display stars any great stride customers like that Alon heads up yeah even people who don't like it at first once they get used to it they start to miss it after they don't have it we just came out of a zo6 on the c5 this things like limousine in comparison is required much riding it's funny that this difference very comfortable very confident driving well figured out the geometry and compliance making sure wheels work pointing the right direction always coin the electric steering and c7s variable racial to lista yes it is you know it's a little bit slower on center so the car doesn't get dirty at high speeds and then it gradually increases ratio as you move off center so reduces the driver load we've improved the turn circle to beep so the front wheels actually steer farther than on this car was that difficult to do yeah it's always a tough balance the more you steer those big tires the more you start to intrude on body structure if you look you'll see that the tie rods aren't strength their foot they have a lot of shape to them that's because they have to actually wrap around the wheel at the full lock condition and that's why we're making them out of forged steel instead of forged aluminum to get the stiffness back even though it's not a dead straight tire run customers comment about the turn circle it's not one of their top complaints to me but driving the car it's one of the things that makes the car feel big you know we're trying to combat the sense of the car is a big car want to make it easier do u-turns or maneuver the car in parking lots make it less cumbersome and actually make it feel more nimble just by making it turn sharper that will help appeal in Europe where narrow streets and Pike corners and all that are really an issue oh yeah it'll help more so in Europe than here but I think us customers will appreciate it as long so good he shed a tear when the last c6 was built just a moment momentary tear we got a lot of mileage out of this girl both the c5 and c6 which have the same fundamental underpinnings you know was awesome for its time it was strong enough concept structurally and package wise to last through eight years of the c5 and nine years at c6 so 17 years of life cycles incredibly long time in the auto industry but it was time to do an all-new car with the c7 I think you were smart to go after seemingly less important issues such as upgrading the interior quality adding optional leather wrapping and improving the steering I mean just working away and any hint of less than perfection that you found within that platform to make it incrementally better I really wanted to have a car that's fully realized that every attribute and every way somebody might perceive what the quality of the car is like I keep pressing you towards moving the center gravity rearward and you did make a stride we important you measurements you and I made c7 has a slight rear bias with z51 paretic maybe for the first time previously we had been 50/50 with rounding but we were just slightly forward biased now we're slightly revised yep and that's the right direction and of course I'm in favor of making a much bigger step it's not going in that direction because from the physics song rear rear bias is better so I would encourage you to think well that's the conversation for another day thank you touch but a great chief engineer thank you great host - and you're a great writer not really but thank you [Music] you

Channel: Car and Driver

Views: 47,141

Rating: 4.7666669 out of 5

Keywords: Chevrolet Corvette (Automobile Model), Car And Driver (Magazine), Coupé (Body Style), Automobile (Industry), Don Sherman, Tadge Juechter, LS3, GM LS Engine (Engine Type), vette, Car Nerds, Corvette C6

Id: YbNTak1RHeU

Length: 6min 25sec (385 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 14 2014