Sep 9, 2019
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Hey folks,

Hope this finds everyone well.

As a hopeful new C8 owner (come on GM release my allocation to my dealership hahahah) I was wondering about the scarping of the nose as I have never had a low riding car before.

I know there is scrape armour (thanks C8Liz) and that I will have a 2" lift from the Front Lift with Memory I have added to my build.

Yes they different variances of Corvettes I am sure has and will all be somewhat different, but I was looking for advice from you All-Knowing Swamis of Vette :cool:

Cheers,

Kevin
 
Having driven/own a C6 and driven many C7 Corvettes, I can say:

The C6 scrapes everything, BUT, 90% of the time it is only the plastic/rubber air dam under the front bumper that is hitting the ground - nothing to be concerned about. If you are going fast enough, you can hit the lower edge of the bumper, but there are two chassis-mounted scrapers that will take most of the impact.

The C7... I've never actually had one scrape.

Looking at photos of the C8, especially the black one next to the black C7, the C8 does appear to ride a little bit higher, but the nose is much longer than the C7. Also, the C7 ramps up a lot at the lower edge of the nose if you don't have the front splitter installed. There's likely risk of hitting the nose with the C8, but it's probably not as bad as most people think it will be. If you are getting Z51, I would recommend the armour, but I wouldn't freak out over it.
 
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Having driven/own a C6 and driven many C7 Corvettes, I can say:

The C6 scrapes everything, BUT, 90% of the time it is only the plastic/rubber air dam under the front bumper that is hitting the ground - nothing to be concerned about. If you are going fast enough, you can hit the lower edge of the bumper, but there are two chassis-mounted scrapers that will take most of the impact.

The C7... I've never actually had one scrape.

Looking at photos of the C8, especially the black one next to the black C7, the C8 does appear to ride a little bit higher, but the nose is much longer than the C7. Also, the C7 ramps up a lot at the lower edge of the nose if you don't have the front splitter installed. There's likely risk of hitting the nose with the C8, but it's probably not as bad as most people think it will be. If you are getting Z51, I would recommend the armour, but I wouldn't freak out over it.
Yes I have the Z51 as I wanted the MagRide and low and behold you can't have one without the other hahahahah :) As well I guess extra cooling is always a good thing :) As well there is the memory lift I have included in my build but was still a bit worried. I have been watching the instruction videos of how to attack an incline in a low riding car as well :)

I was worried and I guess it comes part n parcel with owning such a rig, in watching some youtube videos of Ferrari's and Lambos as well as some other nice rigs I was like OOPSY here comes a noise I really don't want to hear and that I do not ever hear in my current rigs hahahah :)

Cheers,

Kevin
 
Yes I have the Z51 as I wanted the MagRide and low and behold you can't have one without the other hahahahah :) As well I guess extra cooling is always a good thing :) As well there is the memory lift I have included in my build but was still a bit worried. I have been watching the instruction videos of how to attack an incline in a low riding car as well :)

I was worried and I guess it comes part n parcel with owning such a rig, in watching some youtube videos of Ferrari's and Lambos as well as some other nice rigs I was like OOPSY here comes a noise I really don't want to hear and that I do not ever hear in my current rigs hahahah :)

Cheers,

Kevin

I believe the C8 rides higher and has a shorter nose than most Lambos and Ferraris.
 
I only test driven a C4 with the greendwood effects and as soon as the road was rough with dips it would scrape and bang. I was cringing the whole way. Now the C7 I have with the ultra rough streets in my area has me worried. I already started to plan which streets I'm going to avoid and those I can safely ride, it's going to make my trips longer. Then we have potholes that the city loves the open wound look all year round so I'll have to take into account those and leave a whole lot of room in front of me. People will think I'm 90 years old from driving slow in some parts. As for speed bumps at malls and supermarkets I'm taking note this winter all the places where I can circumvent them and places where I won't go.


Do you have a link of that armor?
 
I have a C7 that has been lowered on LG GT2 shocks, so the OEM composite leaf springs and Z51 shocks were removed. The car rides almost 1 inch lower. I have never scraped the front spoiler or bottomed out. I am careful with concrete parking barriers and steep driveways.
 
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Don't worry about it unless your dementia causes you to forget it's a Vette and you wing the front end into a parking curb. The rubber air dam will scuff once it a while when transitioning from level to an incline or vice versa but it's rubber and is only 2.5 inches above the asphalt, and it doesn't hurt it one little bit. If it's a more radical change in elevation angle, approach at a 30 degree angle, getting that one front tire on the incline early. This will begin to raise the car before the nose crosses the deflection, thus adding clearance immediately and more by the time the other tire reaches the deflection. I drive over some pretty steep speed bumps and have never had a problem through 8 years and 2 Corvettes, and I also have a splitter on mine. Get on your knees, take some clearance measurements and exhibit some smarts when driving.
 
Don't worry about it unless your dementia causes you to forget it's a Vette and you wing the front end into a parking curb. The rubber air dam will scuff once it a while when transitioning from level to an incline or vice versa but it's rubber and is only 2.5 inches above the asphalt, and it doesn't hurt it one little bit. If it's a more radical change in elevation angle, approach at a 30 degree angle, getting that one front tire on the incline early. This will begin to raise the car before the nose crosses the deflection, thus adding clearance immediately and more by the time the other tire reaches the deflection. I drive over some pretty steep speed bumps and have never had a problem through 8 years and 2 Corvettes, and I also have a splitter on mine. Get on your knees, take some clearance measurements and exhibit some smarts when driving.

I can't really see in your picture, do you have a front one or just the sides?
 
I'm going to have to take a crash course on what the heck to call them, splitter(s), skirts, spoilers etc.
Spoiler typically is the one on the rear behind the hatch, rockers are the side aeros, splitter in the front aero. To be honest, unless you're looking for improved aerodynamics for track use, they are more bling than anything. If nothing else, the rockers do help protect the car's side panels from road debris coming up off the tires. Tell your passengers not to use them as running boards though.
 
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I'm going to have to take a crash course on what the heck to call them, splitter(s), skirts, spoilers etc.


Anything around the bottom edge of the car falls under the umbrella term "ground effects." The ultimate goal of anything like this is to create a downforce to enable the car to increase the available friction between the tires and the ground during high-speed cornering and to add stability while travelling at high speeds in a straight line. The secondary purpose is to control how the air moves around the car to dynamically improve cooling and to reduce drag, which is much more advanced than slapping items around the edges of the car.

The three main front and rear components used are splitters, spoilers and wings.

Splitters are, as mentioned above, installed on the front of the car. This can be classified as 'ground effects'. It is a flat piece of material that extends horizontally out from the bottom edge of the car. They can be small...

042816_33.jpg

The black thingy under the chin of the front bumper.

... or large.
2P7A9465-1200x800.jpg

That giant table on the front.

Next is a spoiler. This can be installed on the front or back of the car. On the front, they are a ground-effect because they involve the air around the bottom of the car. On the rear, they are not. It is a vertically-mounted flate plane that does exactly as the name says: it 'spoils' the air, often in areas where turbulent air collects. This created a pressure differential that produces downforce. On the front, it is also called an 'air dam'. Those platic/rubber bits that extend beyond the bottom of your front bumper, way back from the front of your economy car? Those are spoilers.

Front:
bre2_bodypart_510airdam_lgt_1024x1024@2x.jpg

woxmp6cnqy2ZzXtEt07Nh0QAj_iUp7jqEBFBtV1R-VYraVDf5oVIdEqB5v0WjCnG7RvzGVw1MNES3PlDvaerSVMMtleP1PRzjMXfok2rzawrRXPwcr0tlgPdLolQ3Q

Rear:
lmore5716.jpg

1010851475.jpg


Wings are the final major component. They are not a 'ground effect' item as they are usually not against the lower edge of the car. These mostly for downforce and are held away from the body on supports in order to be exposed to cleaner moving air, allowing for a greater potential downforce. They can be mounted on the front or rear of the car, but is often only found on the rear of closed-wheel cars.

Rear:
maxresdefault.jpg

C6_WING_2_1024x1024.jpg


Front:
c51yovy0wyl21.jpg

19d47a25610da90f45a0633fd769702955414e05

(Yes this is for real. Yes, this is a Nissan GTR).

Lastly, the bits that extend along the length of the sides of the car. These are the side skirts, often called rockers (incorrectly as a rocker is an integral part of he structure of the car). They can extend horizontally away from the car or vertically down, towards the ground. They prevent air flowing along the edge of the car from traveling underneath the car.

EbaySkirts3__99690.1500055710.1280.1280.jpg

40011003-100.jpg



There's a lot more to it than that, but those are the basics.
 
EJ. You better tell 90% of the aftermarket suppliers that are calling them rockers they are incorrect. Including ACS Composites, Corvette Mods, Zip Corvette, etc. In all fairness, Corvette America does call them side rocker extensions.... In defense, Corvette Central does call them side skirts... West Coast Corvettes call them rockers/side skirts... lol.... an argument for either to be correct....

Good explanations and pics by the way.... :thumbs:
 
EJ. You better tell 90% of the aftermarket suppliers that are calling them rockers they are incorrect. Including ACS Composites, Corvette Mods, Zip Corvette, etc. In all fairness, Corvette America does call them side rocker extensions.... In defense, Corvette Central does call them side skirts... West Coast Corvettes call them rockers/side skirts... lol.... an argument for either to be correct....

Good explanations and pis by the way.... :thumbs:

Can I tag any of the suppliers in this thread?

"Rocker panels are stamped pieces of strong metal that form part of the structural body of the car. They are an integral part that runs along the side of your car between the front and rear wheel wells. Other than the roof supports, they are the only part of the structural body that connects the front and the back of your car. In other words, rocker panels keep the back of your car from separating from the front of your car. When you think of a piece of metal that you step over every time you get into your car like that it’s easy to see how we take these machines for granted. "

Side note: they can be made of any material, not just steel.

They are called side skirts from the verb 'skirt':

[transitive, intransitive] to be or go around the edge of something
  • skirt something They followed the road that skirted the lake.
  • They skirted the forest and emerged on to a path.

Yes, at the end of the day, everything is technical.
 
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Can I tag any of the suppliers in this thread?

"Rocker panels are stamped pieces of strong metal that form part of the structural body of the car. They are an integral part that runs along the side of your car between the front and rear wheel wells. Other than the roof supports, they are the only part of the structural body that connects the front and the back of your car. In other words, rocker panels keep the back of your car from separating from the front of your car. When you think of a piece of metal that you step over every time you get into your car like that it’s easy to see how we take these machines for granted. "

Side note: they can be made of any material, not just steel.

They are called side skirts from the verb 'skirt':

[transitive, intransitive] to be or go around the edge of something
  • skirt something They followed the road that skirted the lake.
  • They skirted the forest and emerged on to a path.

Yes, at the end of the day, everything is technical.
LOL.... I was a rocker when I was younger and played in the band.... On that subject we use to chase skirts back then too.... Hmmmmm.... I better quit while the quitting is good... :Biggrin:
 
Hey folks,

Hope this finds everyone well.

As a hopeful new C8 owner (come on GM release my allocation to my dealership hahahah) I was wondering about the scarping of the nose as I have never had a low riding car before.

I know there is scrape armour (thanks C8Liz) and that I will have a 2" lift from the Front Lift with Memory I have added to my build.

Yes they different variances of Corvettes I am sure has and will all be somewhat different, but I was looking for advice from you All-Knowing Swamis of Vette :cool:

Cheers,

Kevin


Just be careful parking against a curb (use your cameras) and take speed bumps on an angle and you will be fine.

I don't scrape on any speed bumps and have been fortunate enough not to plow into a curb parking...yet.
Relax and have fun


IMG_0418 copy.jpg
 
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