While even Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter isn’t a fan of the idea because it’s “more mass and more cost,” the C7 Corvette program may eventually implement start/stop technology, if government mandates push hard enough.
“It is very disconcerting to have your lively, great-sounding engine stall every time you come to a stop. The real customer value, the real environmental value is zero. So you are hauling around all that stuff to get a better label value (for mpg on the window sticker). It wasn’t worth it,” he said in an Edmunds report that came from last week’s 2014 Corvette Stingray launch drive.
Sadly, Juechter continued with saying that “customers will have to put up with changes from what they traditionally expected in order to get better economy.”
Is the C7 the last pure Corvette the world will see that doesn’t feature things like stop/start? We certainly hope not.
Comments
Add the start/stop tech but give the customer the ability to choose if they want it on or off like BMW does. It will please the government and the consumer.
How about we consider fuels other than gasoline one of my friends threw around the idea of a hydrogen powered internal combustion engine and I’m pretty sure gm tossed the idea around once or twice
The real question is who will make a over ride like the skip shift first? The aftermarket will address this.
I hate the start stop deal. It may be fine but I like my engine always running. Call me old fashion but that is the way it is.
GM did not do a internal combustion Hydrogen power vehicle. It was a Hydrogen Cell powered vehicle that generates electric power from a hydrogen cell like the space shuttle. It drive an electric drive system not too much different than ther electric motors in the Volt.
I have driven them and they are great. The three issues are that you have few filling stations for these. They also take a lot longer to pump liquid hydrogen into the tank. Also the cost of the drive line is expensive. Power Cells do not come very cheap yet. I see this as being viable some day but not for a while on a large scale.
Also where would you put the tank in a Vette? Even CNG would be difficult and that is why it is mostly trucks large enough to old a large take for the fuel.
I have stop start on my car and it works fine and it can be shut off if you know the secret!
You are old fashion, having a engine running at a stop light for no reason is just a waste!
On a corvette I woukd have to agree I would rather leave the corvette alone and make up the mpg some other way!
If you had stop start tect on a vette how would you be able to do burn outs if you didn’t kknow how to turn it off?
In a normal car it makes sense but in a performance car no!
I would hate to see the Corvette give in to “help meet the corporate average fuel economy” standards. The bottom line is based on the number of Corvettes sold converting them to the “start/stop” technology would not even flicker the needle. Rather they look to successfully marketing their upcoming hybrids like the new Cadillac ELR and cars like the Cruze and Spark and the platform that would have the largest impact the pickups. Leave the Corvette alone, especially when it won’t impact CAFE.
The only positive I can see (which I would gladly give up) is that those of us who own C5, C6’s and C7’s would definitely see the resale value of our cars rise substantially.
Start/stop systems (also called “eAssist) do not add much weight to an existing car, and actually increases its life. The engine starter and the alternator are replaced with a new motor/generator that is belt-driven by the crankshaft. In the Corvette engine, it will probably fit in the same space that the alternator sits, and eliminate the noisy starter and gear that attacks the flywheel on a normal engine start. Only the battery will be heavier, but no by much. The added advantage is that the motor can add over 20 HP to the engine, which could be use during a light acceleration (and save gas).
Those that have “eAssist” can confirm how well it works. But it has been used only in inline four engines. I don’t know if GM has ever tested a system on a V6 or V8 engine.
I’d better get my C7 on order before they do this. Don’t want it.
What if it could be shut off? With a eco button or something?
Maybe. I just like to hear the sound of the engine running. It’s a Corvette. It’s suppose to be heard.
I get the sound thing but at a light when you don’t need it!
I would be ok with it if you could turn it off!
But I would use it most of the time I was at a light!
I rented a 2013 BMW 528i a couple weeks ago while on vacation. Loved the car but that stop/start feature was the most annoying thing I’ve ever experienced in a vehicle. I was very happy to be able to turn it off. I would never buy a car that had this feature if it couldn’t be disabled.
You must really be old fashioned, what didn’t you like about it? It’s seamless, you come to a stop the tact goes down to auto stop on my malibu as soon as I left off the brake engine restarts and I proceed!
In the beginning I caught myself thinking the car was broken down cuz pulling up to a light and having the engine stop is not something that any of us would be used to growing up!
In the past if a cars engine’s turned off at a light you were pushing!
Once you understand the way it works it’s not a problem, 99% of the time I don’t even realize it’s off!
Mpg is a huge difference for me in town!
Why are you calling people old fashioned because they don’t like stop/start? Most people on this forum are into the latest and greatest tech from GM. That’s why we’re here. There you go stereotyping again. If you like the stop/start feature that’s fine but I found it irritating. Going through traffic in Orlando the car must have shut off a dozen times every mile. And in a quiet, smooth car like the BMW 5 series, the little shudder is very noticeable.
Also, I found the 528i to be great on fuel. I averaged 25.4 mpg over 1000 miles for the week I had the car and had the stop start off after day one. An extra 1 mpg or so is not worth mentioning.
Cuz Scott made reference to being old fashion cuz he didn’t like it!
As for the start stop what’s hard to understand when apply the brake the engine shuts off!
If the engine turning off and on really bothers you then you must hate everything in life cuz you can barely tell when the engine turns off anf on!
How can something so small bother you?
I think people like you don’t like the idea of it so you will find the smallest thing you can find to knock it!
And it’s not just a 1 mile per gallon savings!
If you think you’re getting more than 1 or 2 mpg out of it then you’re delusional, son. As for not understanding it, I understand it just fine and I hate it just like a lot of other people. It’s not an attempt by automakers to make the cars better, it’s a way to get that mpg number a little higher to satisfy that stupid CAFE. Enjoy your stop/start my boy, you’re wasting your time on me.
I’m not a boy scum bag! You get pissed off from a little vibration from your car! You tell me who’s being a little boy! Mommy my car is making a funny noise or has a funny feeling! You sound like a belly aching 5 year old!
You were the guy that got beat down on the football and basketball field and then complained about when guys rubbed your nose in it!
Your a sad man, pathetic in your own right, it’s amazing anything in this world could ever make you happy! Your wife and kids must hate your complaining, that’s if you can convince a lady in her right mind to ever let a dirt bag like you in her life!
Wow Dude, you are just so predictable! I didn’t think it would be long before you insulted me like you did to Grawdaddy and just recently to Scott. You’re a small man Ritter who can’t accept when people disagree with you or know more than you as Scott and Grawdaddy do as we’ll as many others who couldn’t be bothered to engage you. Then you make comments about people’s wives and kids? Pathetic, dude.
So it does appear you have convinced a lady that your a real man, you call me a boy and it’s my fault for insulting you! You have no problem with calling me names but I do it and the world comed to a end!
Don’t blame me for going after you! I had no problem with you disagreeing with me until you made it personal! Then I hit the core of your soul!
So take your one sided hurt feeling and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine! K/T!
Ritter, if you think you hurt my one feeling you are sadly mistaken. Where I come from calling someone “my boy” is not an insult, you took it way out of context and lost your head. And you were the one who started by calling me old fashioned, didn’t understand how stop/start worked and that I must hate everything in life . You don’t think that’s an insult? You argue with people until you can’t find anything else intelligent to say and then you come on with the insults. Scott backed you into a corner and you had no comeback so you called him irrelevant . Think that’s not an insult? You may not be a boy but man are you immature.
In my opinion part of driving a Corvette goes beyond mere getting from point A to point B. Many owners pay extra for the dual mode exhaust and then have it open all the time to enjoy the pleasant engine sounds. So much so that some of us do not even use the radio but listen to the exhaust note. Even sitting at a stop light and blipping the accelerator is part of the experience. So it is not a small thing to most Corvette owners. I personally do not want a Corvette that turns itself off, save that for the Cadillac ELR. I am well aware that the technology is the future for many cars and I am fine with it in my other cars but the Corvette is different. It is first and foremost a sports/performance car and that technology does not belong in the Corvette. And as far as the fuel savings even if it improved the Corvette mileage by 10 to 15 % it would not impact the CAFE results.
It wouldn’t be too bad if start/stop was active only in Eco mode; you are already expecting some degradation anyway in that mode.
I don’t think I will use the Eco mode. I had the DOD Engine in my 2006 Chevy Monte Carlo SS and after about 40,000 miles it started using oil. I don’t know where it went; didn’t burn black smoke, didn’t drip in my garage…just disappeared. I always had to keep checking the oil because by the time the check oil light came on it was already 1 quart low. I just traded it in on a 2014 Chevy Impala.
It would be interesting to know whether those that say the feature would be okay if it could be turned off are Corvette owners now. My guess is very few Corvette owners would want this in any form. And as for fuel economy again to most Corvette owners it is a non issue. No one buys a Corvette for economy.
The eco botton doesn’t take away from the performance of the car all the time! I see nothing wrong with it as long as you can choose when to use it
I own a corvette
Active Fuel Management and now Start Stop…not the way to go! All of my 6 vehicles that had AFM (DOD) developed engine chugging after 15K miles and three had oil burning issues after 30K. I don’t want 4 cylinders flopping around and my engine shutting down at every stop too!
I understand why this is coming as in they will have to do a hell of a lot more to keep the V8 alive in the future and these tricks even as little as they add will all be needed. Folks they have to make the 53 MPG and rising regulation and this pains me to say it will be required as well as some other distasteful things.
But like the Skip Shift much of this can be deactivated with after market items. The fact is with this being a federal regulation there may not be a possibility the owner will have this so called switch to turn it off as it would defeat the whole purpose of the Rube Goldberg device. But GM has been accommodating in the past to make their systems easy to defeat.
The one thing I think will be an issue is the sound at idle. One thing about sports and performance vehicles is stilling at a light and letting the engine send a signal that is it healthy and ready to do battle. It is no different than the sound of a Harley at a traffic light too.
The engine and exhaust noise is a major part of the performance car experience to kill the engine in one of these is a sin.
As for the DOD I have had no issues with oil or chugging. I just hate the slight delay in the kick down of the engine and tranny in the trucks. It is due to the DOD but they all do it. Not a killer delay but enough to bug me.
I think all of this is solved with a eco button to turn it off when you want
Good chance that the Government would not permit it to be defeated with an onboard device like this so called Eco button. The skip shift device CAGS defeat device was not permitted from the factory by the Feds.
Like stated it would have to be a aftermarket device and GM could do as they did with the Skip Shift and make it a plug in defeat.
So please let the Eco button go as knowing the laws as I do through my work I find it would be difficult. If they wanted too they could make it even more difficult like the O2 simulators that had to be removed from the market. The Government is making even some of these defeat items illegal.
I used to sell a lot of the 02 Simulators and still sell a lot of CAGS. I just installed one not long ago in a Vette. Beats the hell out of the skip shift.
But eco buttons on other cars are ok? I have start stop on my car I can shut it off now just need to know the trick!
Not sure. The others are on 4 cylinders already.
It may come down to did they get the cars MPG rating with the system activated or not activated in the Federal testing.
The Skip Shift on the Vette was the only way they could get the MPG with it active so it was on during testing and they could not make a delete button.
The emission rules are difficult to follow as with any government program,
There’s a eco button on the c7 vette
Why would this be any different?
It’s for turning on the dod!
If you can turn dod off and on the why not e assist
Then why is not legal for GM to avoid the skip shift? Also why is it now illegal to sell O2 simulators after market.
That you would have to speak to the Feds on that.
I work in the performance aftermarket and see what that has to go into just that and much of It is not always logical. Go figure.
I know companies exploit any loop hole they can and it may lye in there somewhere.
Neither of us can answer this one due to the lack of info.
FYI I can’t shut the trucks DOD off.
A eco button is used on plenty of cars now why would it be illegal on the vette?
My e assist can be turned off now without any after market devices!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Get select models the Corvette in on the electric sports car segment early, or emission ratings will bury the car while everyone here squabbles about AFM, stop-start, and eco-buttons.
That while not what they want now will come soon enough.
There will be some radical changed coming oh so soon.
Word is the C8 was already in the starting stages before the C7 was even finished. I had heard they had both programs going as the C7 was to buy time till the real major changes come. Not sure what they mean by major but look at what the high end cars are getting now and the Vette may have some form much sooner than we expect. They said the C7 was not expected to be around near as long as any recent C model.
I’m not suggesting right this model year. The C7 might not see an EV option, or even the C8…
But I’m thinking how the world will be when the C10 or C12 show up. Crude oil is running out, and ICE sports car will be among the first to get the chop as they are pure leisure vehicles. Crude oil supply is the first and most immediate threat to the Corvette’s long-term sustainability. If GM can negotiate that problem, the Corvette will roll onward for the foreseeable future with not much to worry about.
It won’t be tomorrow, but EV powertrains will out preform comparable ICE’s, rendering them obsolete, costly, environmentally unsound, failure prone designs.
I just don’t want to see the Corvette die off because people were resistant to EV powertrains out of pride for ICE’s.
Oil is not going away anytime soon! People try to scare us into thinking gas won’t be around in a few years!
Our grand kids, grand kids, grand kids will be using oil as long the govt around the world allow us to!
If the corvette ever goes away it will be cuz the govt around the world agree to get rid of super cars!
Whether or not we run out of oil isn’t really the point as to why we should pursue alternative energy…
We should develop different types of energy but telling people that the oil is running out is not the way to lie your way into making or forcing change!
I have no problem with a electric car or something in between
I am ok looking for alternative energy. What I am against is ham stinging the auto industry with fuel regulations that they have no answers for.
While they have done a good job there are going to be limits to how far they can take this and the next step is smaller cars and smaller engines. The 53 MPG by 2025 is a very lofty goal and to be honest I will be shocked if many automakers come close to this. All the while we already have some in government wanting to raise the limits again before we have solved step one and one of them has her plans to run for president.
Change can be good like losing motorized seat belts and velour upholstery but it also can bring us things worse than a K car or Chevy Sprint.
I know it is asking much but can we get a little common sense here and get the government and auto industry to work together vs. against each other.
We are not going to run out of oil anytime soon and even if the middle east cuts us off we can get it from Canada and here as long as someone would get off their butt and approve a pipe line. While we secure the flow of oil we can still invest in these alternatives .
Just wait ’til Start/Stop helps “Start” the car moving from 0 to 30 mph. Then everybody will want it. 😎