The available front suspension lift system for the C8 Corvette is a handy feature that allows the driver to temporarily increase the vehicle’s front ground clearance when entering parking lots and driveways or going over speed bumps.
Rich Dinkela, a car enthusiast who runs the YouTube car channel Roamin’ Rich, recently got his hands on a new C8 Corvette and decided to put the front suspension lift system to the test before giving his viewers feedback on whether or not he thinks tit’s worth ordering. He was surprised when he reviewed his footage, though, as he noticed the $1,995 front lift system allows the vehicle to completely raise one wheel off the ground if necessary. The wheel automatically stops spinning once the vehicle detects that it is no longer in contact with the pavement, but it’s fairly interesting to see a C8 Corvette cock a wheel in this fashion.
The front suspension lift system is fairly straightforward. All the driver has to do is press the associated button in the center console when they approach a bump they think is big enough to scratch the bottom of the car. This will raise the front of the vehicle by approximately 40 mm (or about 2 inches) in less than 3 seconds, Chevy says. The system, which works at speeds of up to 24 mph, can also remember up to 1,000 GPS locations, enabling it to pinpoint where the front suspension lift has been activated in the past and automatically switch it on in future instances.
While this option is a little bit pricy at just under $2,000, it can be very handy for C8 Corvette buyers that want to use it as their occasional point-a-to-point-b mode of transportation or take it on road trips. With the front suspension lift system equipped, owners will never have to stress too much about scratching the bottom of their car when pulling up to a restaurant parking lot or entering a hotel parking garage, for example. At the same time, owners who plan to drive their Vette very occasionally and only want to use it for spirited backcountry drives or track days may find this option unnecessary.
Check out the video below to see the front suspension lift in action, courtesy of Roamin’ Rich.
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Comments
Cars like this and the Camaro 3 wheel without a nose lift too. Normal due to their lesser suspension travel than a normal car and especially a truck.
I don’t think it “automatically” stopped spinning, I think it’s because the driver was applying light braking during the maneuver.
Wheel sensors applied the braking, You are wrong.( its what traction control systems do, control wheelspin using abs sensors and the brakes to stop wheel spin)
When an article is written maybe take the facts for what they are
He would have to be braking with his left foot(if you are right) because He is pushing the gas pedal to get up the incline. Think about it one time when You watch the video, He slows down , but must be pushing the gas He is accelerating UP and over the incline. In Your scenario he would have to pushing the gas and brake at the same time He is moving forward up a small incline and yet still applying the brakes?? Not likely. what really happened was, when the car lifted the ABS sensor detected wheelspin and applied the brakes to that wheel
You are wrong in multiple ways. First, most DCT/AMTs use wet clutches, including the Tremec on this car, so they are designed to creep like an automatic transmission. So if you want to go slow, like parking, you ride the brakes, particularly on a sports car with lots of torque and low gearing.
Have you even driven a manual transmission? When you’re low-speed maneuvering, you don’t press the gas, you slip the clutch. You can’t do this without a clutch pedal, so the transmissions are specifically designed to do this.
You’d know this if you actually have driven this car, or any AMT for that matter.
Second, VSC systems don’t operate at low speeds. First, there’s little concern about sliding and crashing when you’re going at a walking pace. This is complicated, but a ABS/VSC system doesn’t look at differential wheel speed: it uses a mathematical model to estimate wheel slippage, called an estimator. This is because all wheels can slip at the same time, and in fact, is desired. The estimator becomes inaccurate at low speeds, so these systems are inactive.
When you have some experience in the industry, and have gone to school for stuff like ABS/VSC, you know when articles are wrong.
@Tom Daniels…. Sounds like you’ve got a bug up your ass lol.
I was curious how they accomplished this lift technology. Appears to be 2 small airbags under the springs. Not sure if it can be added afterwards (tapping factory harness to add the parts). I have learned to drive low cars, so was not sure if this was
really worth it. In the end I ordered it and will see if it makes a difference.
I do think that for a more broad driving experience, on city streets, it hopefully will save a few scrapes on those
difficult driveways.
So, it only works but only if you have good memory and height judgement the first time?
Jay Leno explained this on his show while driving one before the C8 came on the market
I would rather pay for the lift than having to repair or replace the front spoiler/splitter. I also think it’s great that it can remember the area in case you forget to raise the vehicle.
Front lift is the only way I could get a C8 into my sucky driveway.
So 40mm is closer to 1.57 inches, is that really enough to provide comfort you’re going to clear that many more curbs, etc? Hard to justify in my mind. Corvette already at 5.3 inches which is higher than a 2020 Toyota Corolla.
The lift option doesn’t actually raise the car off the ground on one wheel, but heightens the ride on both left and right sides to avoid scraping the front lip/spoiler.
To clear this all up officially once and for all, I was there so I know how it works. I was DRIVING the car in this photo. What happened was I left Tim Hortons and pulled up along a real nice looking blonde at the next set of lights. Of course I had to show off, I mean c’mon, she gave me literally almost a FULL SECOND of eye contact. So I was showing her my new levitation package that Don down at Fullovit Chevrolet in a place you guys don’t know and have never heard of, well ol Donny threw in the package for free this year because I put the Back To The Future Time Travel package on his Astro Van a few years back and he’s been happy ruining and unruining the future for years now. Fair trade I think. But that’s the true story, so everyone let the veins in their foreheads and necks flatten out again because it looks like you all have massive eels running through them right now. Glad I could shed some light here. Have a good, but NOT GREAT day guys!
Wait where am I? The guy in the video said the corvette was a great car to buy and then he even said it was worth the money for this option? How much is that option? I’ll gladly take my Viper ACR without the gimmicks and challenge anybody at all that I can enter that driveway and exit that driveway with the same zero scratches I came in with. Common sense just isn’t very common these days so they have to idiot proof every car on the road nowadays and even still, you cannot fix stupid. It’s just hardwired in and you can’t mess with that tangled mess of short circuits EVER.