One feature not often mentioned in discussions about the Chevy Corvette C8 is what we at GM Authority have come to call ‘dark mode’.
The principle behind dark mode is to remove as many distractions as possible from a Chevy Corvette driver at night, leaving only with the most important information.
As with many other GM vehicles, a knob located to the left and down of the steering wheel in the C8 Corvette cabin controls the brightness of the interior lighting. But in the case of the C8, turning this knob all the way to the left turns off most of the interior lighting, except a few specific items, such as the “D” and “M” indicators on the push-pull gear selector.
Regular night-time lighting
Low night-time lighting / dark mode
Meanwhile, the instrument cluster goes into a minimal mode, showing only the vehicle speed, the drive mode, the engine temperature, fuel level and the driving range, plus any temporarily necessary information like exterior light indicators and park brake status.
That’s still quite a lot lighting, but it’s important. The center infotainment screen and the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) controls of the Chevy Corvette are less vital. Therefore, they go completely black in dark mode.
The end result is that the driver now has much less interior light to deal with, and can therefore focus more on what’s happening in the night-time scene directly ahead, with lease light-related fatigue to boot.
Regular instrument panel in Tour
Dark mode instrument panel in Tour
Students of General Motors history will be aware that dark mode has been around for a while. GM took a shareholding stake in Swedish automaker Saab in 1989, and owned it completely from 2000 to 2010. During that period, Saab developed what was known variously as Black Panel and Night Panel.
This system was more severe than the one used in the C8 Chevy Corvette. When Black (or Night) Panel was engaged, only the speedometer remained lit. Other gauges or lamps appeared only when the driver needed the information.
The 2021 Chevy Corvette is available only in Stingray form, though other versions of the C8 will become available over the next few years, including the C8 E-Ray, C8 Z06, C8 ZR1, and C8 Zora. A C8 Grand Sport will not be part of the lineup.
The vehicle is built exclusively at the GM Bowling Green plant in Kentucky, and is available in 1LT, 2LT and 3LT trim levels and Coupe (with a manually-removable roof panel) or hard-top Convertible body styles. The only engine offered in the Stingray is GM’s 6.2L LT2 V8, which produces 490 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque as standard or 495 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque if the car is fitted with Z51 Performance Package.
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Comments
This is a great option…. less eye strain. Conversely, I see many people in all brands with max dash lights, you could read a book by them!
We’re is Mary T Barra ? Meanwhile the customer being had the dealership get stock orders first and the sold order last so they can sell the store order at $25k to $50k over Msrp my order started in 7/28/2019 as a 2020 order and now it a 2021 order at a higher price then my order for the 2020 and now my order been at 3000 status now since April 1 and now they tell me I may not see my 2021 I may need to reorder a 2022 because the 2021 production end the week of 7/22/2021 I think I been had buy the dealership .we’re is Mary T barra at the CEO of GM when the customer being had so the dealership can make $25 to $50 k over on there store orders thanks Mary TBarra thanks
3000 status should get you a car ! Your dealership should guarantee that
BUY ANOTHER CAR !!!! Don’t let them win.
there are 2 dealers i know of selling at MSRP. i got my deposits back from both when my local dealer finally delivered after 14 month wait. and $2k over msrp.
I read that if your car is at 3000 it will be built before they end the 2021 production! My order was at 3000 for 4 months and I expect delivery the first week of July!!
I am at 3000, and Shane has informed me that my TPW is 8/30. That would mean the info given to you about 7/22 is inaccurate.
That’s almost 2 years waiting! What a bunch of …….!
Reminiscent of the Saab night dash.
I like it. I wish I could turn off the screen on my other gm’s as well at night completely while leaving the radio in.
Presuming then that Holden borrowed it from Saab, since the G8 had a similar feature. I seem to recall that the imported GTO had it as well.
Otherwise, the closest you can come to that in a current GM vehicle would be anything with HUD, though you can’t quite dim the dash to 100% dark unfortunately.
My 92 Olds had a blackout dash and a HUD from the factory, I don’t know why they dropped that option.
Bet that’s worth another grand coming from gm! lol.
I had a fully loaded 92 Oldsmobile Cutlass International. All the interior lights could be shut off, and the HUD would display the speed, and the turn signals or CEL if either were active. It was a really nice feature, especially for long drives on unlit and dark highways
You dont need to get the Z51 package to get 495 HP, you just need the high performance exaust to get 495 HP.
I just got a surprise from my dealership a few minutes ago my TPW is 7/12 how is that after 2 years
That’s not a good feature, make the elderly drivers fall asleep… 🙃🙂🙃
I wish they would give me my TPW. My status has been at 3000 since April. It would be nice to be able to drive and enjoy it before I have to park it for the winter. But nothing I can do about it, so I wait. Congrats to all that have theirs already and to those with a TPW. Good luck to the rest of us still waiting.
It’s time to boost your bhp from 575 to 600 plus. Thank you
how can i find my 3000 status
Next time I read a blog, I hope that it does not disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, nonetheless I actually believed you’d have something helpful to talk about. All I hear is a bunch of complaining about something that you could fix if you weren’t too busy seeking attention.