2015 Corvette Z06 Priced at $78,995
American supercar delivers unprecedented performance, technology

DETROIT – The 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 – the most powerful and technologically advanced model in the iconic car's 62-year history – will be offered at a suggested retail price of $78,995 while the convertible model will start at $83,995, Chevrolet announced today.

"The 2015 Corvette Z06's performance and technical capabilities place it in the elite fraternity of supercars," said Harlan Charles, Corvette product and marketing manager. "Very few cars in the world deliver 650 horsepower, true aerodynamic downforce, carbon fiber and performance technologies such as Magnetic Ride Control, Performance Traction Management and an electronic limited slip differential – and none gives the driver a transmission choice or the choice of a coupe with a removable roof panel or a full-power-top convertible."

Leveraging learnings from the Corvette Racing program, the $2,995 Carbon Fiber Ground Effects enables the Corvette Z06 to produce true aerodynamic downforce for increased stability at high speeds. The package adds a functional carbon fiber front splitter, carbon fiber rocker panels, and a larger rear spoiler.

For the ultimate performance, the Z07 Performance Package is available for $7,995, adding Brembo carbon ceramic-matrix brake rotors that improve braking performance and contribute to better handling through reduced unsprung weight. The Z07 package adds adjustable front and rear aerodynamic components to the Carbon Fiber Ground Effects package for unprecedented aerodynamic downforce and Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup tires for enhanced grip.

"The Z07 performance package enhances overall performance to make the Corvette Z06 one of the most track-capable cars you can buy off the dealership floor and still drive it to work every day," said Charles.

Z06 models are offered in 1LZ, 2LZ and 3LZ trims. A range of available features enables customers to tailor the look and feel of their Z06, including:
- Premium Package with leather-wrapped interior
- Aero-enhancing carbon fiber ground effects package
- Performance Data Recorder and navigation
- Competition sport seats offered in leather or sueded microfiber
- Carbon fiber interior trim and carbon fiber convertible tonneau cover inserts
- Visible carbon fiber roof panel (Coupe)
- Tintcoat exterior colors, several available wheel finishes and several available brake caliper colors.

Most powerful, technologically advanced Corvette ever
The Z06 rejoins the Corvette lineup for 2015 with a stronger aluminum frame than previous models, an aero package designed to produce performance-enhancing downforce and an all-new, supercharged 6.2L V-8 engine rated at an SAE-certified at 650 horsepower (485 kW) and 650 lb-ft of torque (881 Nm). That makes it the most powerful production car ever from General Motors and one of the most powerful production cars available in the United States.

To balance performance and efficiency, the LT4 leverages the same trio of advanced technologies introduced on the Corvette Stingray – direct injection, Active Fuel Management (cylinder deactivation) and continuously variable valve timing – and leverages them with a new, more efficient supercharger. Combined with the fuel-efficient multi-speed transmissions, aerodynamic design and lightweight construction, they help make the new Z06 surprisingly efficient.

The Corvette Z06 also leverages other technologies introduced on the Corvette Stingray, including the strategic use of lightweight materials and advanced driver technologies, with calibrations tailored for its capabilities. The aluminum frame structure, for example, is 20 percent stiffer than the previous, fixed-roof Z06.

Additional technologies support the car's tremendous performance capabilities and enhance the driving experience, including:
- Third-generation Magnetic Selective Ride Control dampers are standard and can be adjusted for touring comfort or maximum track performance via the standard Driver Mode Selector
- Performance Traction Management is available in the Track mode of the Drive Mode Selector and offers five settings of torque reduction and brake intervention for track driving
- Launch control is available in Track mode for manual and automatic transmissions, providing maximum off-the-line acceleration
- An electronic limited-slip differential, also standard equipment on Z06, adjusts the rate at which the limited slip engages, to balance between steering response and stability in different driving conditions with more aggressive performance in Sport and Track modes.

The Z06 offers three increasing levels of aerodynamic downforce:
- The standard Z06 features a front splitter, spats around the front wheel openings, a unique carbon-fiber hood with a larger vent, and an aggressive rear spoiler.
- The available carbon-fiber aero package – in either carbon flash paint or a visible carbon-fiber finish – adds a carbon-fiber front splitter with aviation-style winglets, carbon fiber rocker panels, and a larger rear spoiler with a fixed wickerbill, which combine to create true aerodynamic downforce
- The available Z07 package adds larger winglets to the front splitter, along with an adjustable, see-through center section on the rear spoiler for track use. With this package, the Corvette Z06 delivers the most aerodynamic downforce of any production car GM has tested.

Drivers can monitor the Z06's performance without taking their eyes off the road via a color head-up display (standard on 2LZ and 3LZ trims) that, among the range of performance readouts, displays a g-meter in Track mode.

The Z06 also offers the award-winning, industry-first Performance Data Recorder – or PDR – which enables users to record high-definition video, with telemetry overlays, of their driving experiences on and off the track. The racing-derived system is included with the available navigation system.

Editors: Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price includes destination charges but excludes tax, title, license, optional equipment and dealer fees.

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world's largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4.9 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design, and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at Chevrolet Cars, Trucks, SUVs, Crossovers and Vans.

The C7 Corvette Z06 was always gonna happen. Back in 2008, even when the U.S. economy was down a few cylinders and the C6 ZR1 had yet to start production, Tadge Juechter, Corvette chief engineer, knew he wanted an engine above LT1 for a track package on the C7 Corvette. By 2009, the project was underway. The development team, led by Jordan Lee and John Rydzewski, considered all options, but the lightweight, compact, power-dense small-block was a shoo-in. It was the best option for packing enough power under the Corvette’s low-slung hood, and the recent addition of direct injection opened up even more room to make power.


John Rydzewski (left) and Jordan Lee are responsible for the small-block development. They are standing in one of the dozens of dyno cells at GM’s Powertrtain Facility in Pontiac, Michigan. The ducting behind them is the combustion air unit that feeds the engines. Dyno operators can vary the temperature, pressure, and dew point of incoming air to simulate extreme cold, humidity, and altitude. Some test cells go to -40 degrees Fahrenheit, but they wouldn’t tell us to what extreme they take their altitude tests.

Because the engine was destined for the Z06, engineers were trying to replace the LS7, so the initial target, shaped in part by 0–60 and quarter-mile goals, was a bit more modest than 650 hp. When the supercharger development came through with tremendous airflow numbers, engineers knew they’d be able to blow the LS7 away and spent time tuning the camshaft to fatten up the powerband, where drivers spend most of their time. The result is an engine that beats the LS7’s peak torque by 1,500 rpm, beats the 911 Turbo’s 520hp peak output by around 4,000 rpm, and has a 50–75-lb-ft advantage over the C6 ZR1’s LS9 for much of the powerband. Right out of the box, in 2013, the Z06 was breaking C6 ZR1 lap times on GM’s test track before suspension and tire tuning even got into full swing. When it was happy with the results, Chevrolet announced the Z06’s supercharged LT4 produces 650 hp at 6,400 rpm and 650 lb-ft of torque at 3,600 rpm. Here are the engineers and the components that got them there.

SHORT-BLOCK

According to John Rydzewski, assistant chief engineer for small-block V8s, the Gen 5 LT1 was a great foundation for building the LT4. “The block is very robust, we didn’t have to change much.” In this regard, the LT1 and LT4 sharing architecture with GM’s trucks is an advantage. In a truck towing a trailer, an engine could be at wide-open throttle (WOT) for 10 minutes at a time or more, and the blocks are designed to handle that sort of stress. How long could a Z06 go at WOT without running out of road or attracting a lot of law-enforcement attention?



One issue that faced engineers was equalizing the pressure across different parts of the crankcase. The Gen 5 block has bulkhead breathing cavities just above the cross-bolts on the nodular-iron main caps to allow air to circulate between cylinder banks, yet that proved to be insufficient on the LT4. Because all oil drainback feeds through the center of the block, differences in crankcase pressure can prevent oil from draining properly, causing the PCV to suck up oil rather than crankcase gases. “It’s critical that we get oil out of the valley,” says Alan Rice, the design responsible engineer for ventilation and lubrication. The solution was simple: two holes, roughly 5⁄8 inch in diameter, were drilled into each lifter valley. A PCV separator, which is unique to the LT4, was developed to keep oily air from being drawn through the intake, where it could end up collecting on the back of the intake valves. A little bit of oil on a port-injected engine can help lubricate valves, but because all Gen 5 V8s are direct injected, there’s no fuel washing the back of the intake valve. That means oil in the PCV system can end up sticking to the back of the hot intake valves impeding airflow and eventually preventing the valves from seating properly.

We spoke with Mike Garza, design system engineer for the block, crank, cylinder head, valvetrain, and lubrication system, who told us that a forged LT1 crankshaft would fail during extreme dyno tests when subjected to LT4 levels of power, so they engineered a unique crankshaft. Compared to the LT1, it has increased rolling loads (the amount of force applied to the crank fillets). Steel wheels are rolled over the fillet at an angle to extend the fatigue life. Because the cranks were failing at the same spot at the rear of the block, the lightening hole at the last rod journal was eliminated and tungsten slugs were added to the No. 8 counterweight to compensate.


Mike Garza with the LT4’s unique piston and rod. The last Z06 engine, the LS7, used titanium connecting rods to help balance its larger pistons, while the LT4 uses powdered-metal rods that get additional machining to remove mass before they are shot-peened.


The forged piston has a slightly different topography than the cast LT1 piston to lower the compression ratio to 10:1. Ring lands are hard-anodized. The small end of the rod is tapered and the wristpin uses a diamond-like carbon coating to reduce friction.


The LT4’s forged crankshaft eliminates one of the connecting-rod journal lightening holes for additional strength.

CYLINDER HEADS AND VALVETRAIN

The LT4’s cylinder heads are very similar to the LT1 because the two were developed in tandem. More than 6 million hours of engine analysis went into the Gen 5 engine, with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) used to design the intake and exhaust ports digitally before they were ever cast in aluminum. The results are ports and combustion chambers that are efficient and flow a tremendous amount of air, even more than the LS9. The design of the combustion chamber gives the charge-air-mixture motion that ensures combustion starts in the center of the chamber. Because of the increased air volume added by the supercharger, compression is 10:1 compared to 11.5:1 in the LT1.


You’d have a hard time telling an LT4 head from an LT1 head at first glance, although there are casting indicators that allow the milling machines to identify between parts.

The valve angles are the same as the LT1, at 12.5 degrees for the intake and 12 degrees for the exhaust, allowing the LT4 heads to use a lot of the same machining as the higher-volume V8s like the 5.3L and 6.2L Ecotec3 truck engines found in the Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe, and Suburban, as well as their counterparts at GMC. Simply put, without the volume of the truck V8s and the economy of scale that affords the Corvette team, the C7 would have been a lot more expensive. What makes the LT4 head different are its valves, valve seats, and composition. Unlike the LT1 heads, which are cast in 316 aluminum like the block, LT4 heads are rotocast using 356T6 aluminum alloy to better withstand the increased combustion loads. The LT4 also uses titanium intake valves and corresponding valve seats to get reciprocating mass down.

The LT4 has the same 6,600-rpm fuel cut-off as the LT1, so the two engines use the same valvesprings. However, because the intake charge is under boost, the LT4 uses less lift, 0.472 versus 0.511 inch on the LT1. The supercharger ensures the engine is ingesting much more air and fuel compared to the LT1, so the exhaust got a 17 percent boost in lift, from 0.472 to 0.551 inch, and more duration to ensure it has enough time to escape the cylinder. The 0.551-inch lift on the LT1 intake and the LT4 exhaust is no coincidence; it’s the limit of the Active Fuel Management (AFM) lifters. The AFM system allows half of the engine to shut off by controlling oil to the four sets of lifters. With the lifters collapsed, the cam’s lift isn’t transferred to the valves and fuel is also shut off for those cylinders while the rest of the engine continues to run as a V4. The LT4 was even tested to operate in V4 mode under boost, but it was not found to be more efficient that way. With a small frontal area, low-drag bodywork, and a tall cruising gear in both the seven-speed manual and eight-speed automatic, the Z06 is able to maintain highway speeds and up to 3,000 rpm in AFM mode for fuel economy unheard of in a car at its performance level.


LT4 heads get additional exhaust lift and cam duration, with slightly less intake lift. Note the three-sided lobe at the rear for the direct-injection fuel pump.

LUBRICATION

Calibrated with a spring that determines the pressure curve, an active displacement oil pump unique to the LT4 helps increase efficiency. For normal operation, the pump provides 44–58 psi of oil pressure. As engine speed goes up, bearings require more oil, so pressure increases to the 65–72-psi range. In case of spring failure, the pump defaults to the higher pressure.


Alan Rice worked with the lubrication system and PCV system on LT4, both in computer simulation and on dyno tilt stands to ensure the extreme cornering and braking forces of racing don’t starve the engine for oil.

Adding power adds heat, and not just in places you’d expect it. Oil squirters help cool the piston from underneath, which means more heat is absorbed by the oil. The LT4’s oil pan has a cooler, bypassed at low oil temps, that’s fed from the radiator’s output. Compared to the LT1, the LT4’s oil cooler has more cross-sectional area for a 20 percent increase in cooling. The LT1 is also offered with dry-sump oiling, and the LT4’s system is similar with both engines using a salt-core, sand-cast pan with oil passages cast in place. The LT4 uses a single pickup for the scavenge side that runs to the scavenge pump. From the pump, oil is routed to the tank, where the lift tube has a centrifugal oil/air separator. Oil control is always critical to engine longevity, and due to the Z06’s ability to create up to 1.2 g’s in lateral acceleration on some tracks, the development team put the dry-sump oil pan through grueling tests. Before the engine was ever put on a track or a test stand, however, the pump parameters, bearing sizes, bearing clearances, and flow restrictions were all modeled in a computer.


The kickout in the extruded cylindrical oil tank adds volume needed for the most demanding of track work. Service fill is 9.75 quarts.

SUPERCHARGER AND INTERCOOLER

In order to fit the supercharger within the confines of the C7 Corvette and still meet pedestrian safety regulations for vehicles sold in Europe, an intercooler design like the one found on the LS9 wasn’t going to work. There had to be area under the hood available for the bodywork to deflect and absorb impact before hitting anything solid. To keep the sleek lines of the C7 Corvette intact and still give the driver a great view of the track ahead, engineer Dan Hommes was tasked with removing 3 inches of height out of the supercharger and intercooler assembly without losing airflow or power. In engineering terms, that’s quite a challenge, as the LS9 was already very compact.

“The airflow that we were able to produce is just incredible” — Dan Hommes

Dan Hommes was responsible for making the LT4’s supercharger/intercooler/intake assembly as compact as possible without impeding airflow. With the lid off the assembly, you can see the intercooler heat exchangers. Cool water comes in to the front port, it’s split to each side, and runs to the back and comes forward, so heat absorption is equal from front to back. Because water is better at heat absorption, the intercooler circuit runs 60 percent water and 40 percent Dexcool for better heat rejection. In comparison, the engine coolant runs a 50/50 mix.

In the LS9, the intercooler heat exchangers are in the lid, the only place to put them because the Eaton TVS 2300 supercharger rotors take up a lot of room in the lifter valley. The rocker covers weren’t going to change, so that meant the supercharger couldn’t get any wider. The solution was to use supercharger rotors 10mm smaller in diameter. The existing TVS 1650 rotor size was not quite large enough for the power levels the LT4 team was targeting. To get more air volume, Eaton built a longer set of TVS 1650 rotors that displace 1,740 cc per revolution, a size unique to the LT4. The smaller-diameter rotors mean less air per revolution, but the reduced mass and inertia allow them to turn 34 percent faster than the 2300 rotor set. In the LS9, max supercharger speed was 15,080 rpm; on the LT4, the rotors spin at 20,150 rpm at max engine speed. An added benefit of the smaller supercharger rotors is that less torque is required to drive them.

The smaller rotor set allowed the intercooler heat exchangers to move out of the lid and down between the rotors and the rocker covers. The LS9 intercooler heat exchangers were made using a tube and fin construction that featured flattened tubes without any internal structure, like a radiator. For the LT4, Chevrolet used intercoolers made by Dana Thermal Products that use clamshell-stamped plates that use a turbulizer plate—essentially a fin inside the plate—to vastly increase the surface area the coolant comes into contact with. The heat exchanger has 15 fins per centimeter—that’s 50 percent higher density than on the LS9. So even though it’s 24 percent smaller, the intercooler rejects 10 percent more heat than the LS9. On a typical 68-degree day, the discharge air from the supercharger can reach 248 degrees. By the time it passes the heat exchanger, those charge air temps are down to less than 120 degrees.


The supercharger discharges straight up in the middle, the ribs in the lid are an attempt to dampen the rotor pulse frequency. To add enough cast aluminum to remove the high-frequency noise would hamper airflow. Instead, the lid got a panel with an elastomer that’s a lot like a rubberized sound-dampener you’d put on your floorboards.

We asked how the LT4’s intake operates when it’s not under boost, and whether or not the intercooler impedes airflow. Dan told us he initially thought the small plenum volume might be an issue, yet even when not under boost, distribution isn’t a problem and the front cylinders fill just fine. As for the heat exchanger, we learned that in order for the exchanger to efficiently cool the air, there has to be a pressure drop. At peak boost, the pressure-drop requirement is only 0.5 psi, and when it’s not under boost, there’s little restriction because there’s just less air.

The intercooler packaging wasn’t the only detail that was improved over the LS9’s design. The intake airflow path was developed using computer simulation, with a goal of minimizing restriction. The end design has volumetric efficiency of 92 percent, up from 89 percent on the LS9. Combined with the cylinder heads ability to flow more air, the LT4 is able to make more power than the LS9 with less boost in the middle of the powerband, while peak boost is similar at 9.71 psi. Remember, boost is just an indication of how much restriction the supercharger is facing when trying to move air through the engine. In total, the LT4’s supercharger is more efficient, more powerful, more compact, and 20 pounds lighter.


The gear case cover has a dampening material because it’s practically inside the car. The gears sit in a bearing housing sealed for life filled with a special synthetic oil. The development team monitored gear oil during development and temps never got hot, thanks in part to their proximity to the intercooler.

FUEL SYSTEM

Yoon Lee was the only member of the team developing the LT4 that also directly worked on the LS9. His focus was the fuel system, and he’s proud to have engineered the largest direct-injection (DI) gasoline pump in the industry. Yoon’s description of how they got the pump to deliver extra fuel to feed the increased demand from the LT4 was right up our alley: “We bored and stroked it.”


Yoon Lee holds the LT4’s DI fuel pump, the largest of its kind for a gasoline engine. It was “bored and stroked” compared to the version used on the LT1. It’s so precisely machined that the plunger doesn’t use any sort of rings.

The DI fuel pump has a 26 percent higher displacement, thanks to a 1mm-larger-diameter plunger and 0.3mm more lift on the cam. The development team considered a high-pressure fuel pump driven off the accessory drive, but that idea was shelved in favor of a more compact, more reliable cam-driven pump. On direct-injected DOHC engines, there are a lot of places to mount a pump, but the single-cam Gen 5 small-block didn’t leave many options. Mounting a pump at the front of the block would have meant extending the block due to the position of the timing chain and cam phaser. That’s not something you consider lightly, as the compact design is a small-block trademark. Instead, the fuel pump was mounted at the rear of the block, and there’s a hole in the lifter valley right where you’d find a distributor in a Gen 1 small-block. The billet-steel pump is bolted to the block with 8mm bolts and uses a roller follower just like a valve lifter. There’s even a set of dual springs with a beehive outer spring. In fact, the VVT cam phaser mechanism had to be tuned differently on the LT4 because spring pressure on the pump created an additional load on the valvetrain.

The in-tank electric pump pushes fuel to the cam-driven, direct-injection pump at around 70 psi. Fuel goes through a pressure damper, then into the pump where a plunger increases the pressure up to 2,900 psi. Fuel exits the pump and goes to the feed pipe, then to the crossover, and into each fuel rail. Compared to an LT1, which operates at 2,175 psi, the crossover pipe and supply pipe are a little larger in diameter to compensate for pressure pulsations. The injectors are the largest GM uses in DI applications and flow 14 percent more fuel than the injectors used in the LT1. The injectors use two O-rings to seal against cylinder pressure and feature a burly injector clip keeping it in place. “The mounting bosses are much beefier.” Unlike a diesel engine that can use multiple injections during the compression stroke, the spark-ignition direct-injection LT4 uses one injection on the intake stroke. The high fuel pressure helps make a fine, uniform spray that more evenly atomizes the fuel and is aimed at the bowl at the top of the piston, timed so that mixture is right at the spark plug.

Lee explained they’ve found that three lobes on the fuel pump cam seem to be optimal. With more than three lobes, there isn’t enough time to fill the pump. There’s also not a lot of room to add more lift, and if there were coil bind causing the plunger to bottom out, that force will transfer directly to the camshaft.

We asked Lee how much power was left in the factory fuel system. He told us that the limit is the DI pump, not the in-tank pump. Because the factory tune has to keep emissions components longevity in mind, they enrich the air/fuel ratio a bit, meaning there’s some “cushion” beyond the current 650hp rating, although there’s not a whole lot of room for a factory tune to eke out more power. However, he knows there are ways, adding “the aftermarket will do what the aftermarket will do.” By the way, the folks at Lingenfelter are already privy to the part number of the LT4’s Stanadyne direct-injection fuel pump.

When posed with the same question, Jordan Lee told us there’s still some power to be had: “I think there’s more in that supercharger.” John Rydzewski, who admitted that some early iterations of the LT4 were producing around 680 lb-ft of torque, was also free to admit where to find more power: “Open up the exhaust system and work with the camshaft.” If it weren’t for the stringent emissions requirements, “There’s a lot of room to move around on the camshaft.”

650 HP AND BEYOND

With the 707hp Challenger claiming the bragging right for the baddest supercharged V8 from the Big Three, Chevrolet fans might be looking for a hint at more to come to retake the throne. Just keep in mind that the 650hp LT4 is what happens when Chevrolet needed to replace a 505hp engine. Chevrolet had every right to call this car the ZR1, yet it didn’t. What do you think Tadge and his team are working on now?


Steve Kiefer’s not new to engines or the Corvette; he worked for Pontiac 30 years ago and built the LS7 that’s in his current car as a part of the Corvette Engine Build Experience.

STEVE KIEFER

Our visit at GM’s Powertrain facility in Pontiac, Michigan, included some face-to-face time with Steve Kiefer, vice president of global powertrain for General Motors. Keifer started working for GM in the very same building 30 years ago. Back then, he was focused on fuel efficiency and emissions on four-cylinder Pontiac engines. He’s now responsible for GM’s engine and transmission development around the world.
We asked Kiefer how GM plans to keep the small-block alive, and he reminded us that it has remained competitive because engineers keep reinventing it and adding new technology. The challenge, Keifer said, will be to keep pushing the envelope in efficiency. In low-volume niche applications, it will continue to have tremendous performance, while the high-volume engines will deliver efficiency. “There’s good life for the small-block,” Keifer said.

“By the time we’re done with this upgrade, this company will have the best powertrain development facilities on the planet, by far.” — Steve Kiefer

What Keifer was most excited about was the upcoming changes to GM’s Global Powertrain Engineering Headquarters in Pontiac, Michigan. The huge facility is already home to a vast array of engine dyno cells, tilt stands, and about 3,800 employees—and more are coming. In early 2013, GM announced plans to expand the facility to house the majority of their racing development. Almost every form of motorsports that GM competes—Cadillac in Pirelli World Challenge Series, C7.R, COPO, NASCAR, everything but IndyCar, really—will be under one roof.

Keifer would like the change to make the whole facility feel more like a race team. GM has long been rotating its race team engineers into the teams that develop the next generation of production engines, and moving the race development and production engine development together will allow more opportunities for engineers to cycle through the race program. While it won’t be a requirement to work on a race team, the program helps GM draw talented engineers to their programs. “I really want to see a lot more of our young engineers cycle through racing,” Keifer said. “Imagine getting hired right out of school and getting the opportunity to travel around the country with a race team.”

In case there aren't enough on the roads in your area to make the case, Corvette Blogger reports that at last weekend's Corvettes at Carlisle show, General Motors showed a graphic putting the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray production run at 37,288 units. That is about equal to the last three years of the C6 Corvette – combined – and includes Premiere Editions, regular retail sales, and "exports and captured fleet cars that were sellable units" according to Corvette product manager Harlan Charles. Coupes and convertibles equipped with the Z51 package outsold their base versions, and Torch Red narrowly beat Arctic White as the exterior hue of choice.

While that number ranks 14th on the all-time annual production chart, it's a very strong showing in the "modern era," going back 30 years to the introduction of the C3. In this millennium it's only beat by the first year of C6 production in 2005 at 37,372 units (when black was the best selling color and the Z51 only reached 40.8 percent of sales), and the third year of C6 production that hit 40,561 units (black was still the best color and 65.5 percent of buyers checked the Z51 box). Before that, you'd have to go all the way back to 1985 for a higher number.

The second year of C6 production declined even with the introduction of the Z06 – we'll see if the C7 Stingray's enhancements for the 2015 model year and the sales help of the bonkers yet absurdly reasonably priced Z06 can prevent that.

The Corvette Stingray is bringing the first video and telemetry system into a car. Performance Data Recorder allows drivers to record their scenic drives or track experiences while capturing real-time performance data, then watch video playback and analyze their technique and share their drives on social media. See how Corvette Racing drivers, Tommy Milner and Ron Fellows take on the PDR track challenge.

General Motors announced that it built 37,288 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray models during the 2014 model year, yet another a testimony of the latest Vette’s commercial success.

Corvette Product Manager Harlan Charles revealed at the Corvettes at Carlisle show that the figure includes exports and captured fleet cars that were sellable units. While 37,288 Corvettes built during one model year is not an all-time record, it’s still an impressive result.

It’s the third best production number in the new millennium, exceeded only by the 37,372 Corvettes build during the 2005 model year and the 40,561 units build during the 2007 model year, right before the onset of the financial crisis.

GM’s bankruptcy even led some voices to talk about the Corvette’s demise after the C6’s end of production, but fortunately for car enthusiasts that wasn’t the case. The Corvette is now as strong as it has ever been, and that’s a good thing.

GM also released some data about 2014 Corvettes, which include customers’ preferences such as colors and options. For example, the most popular model was the Z51, accounting for 56 percent of Corvettes ordered. Of all Z51s sold, 36 percent had the Magnetic Selective Ride Control system.

Another interesting statistic is that 65 percent of all Stingrays were fitted with the 6-speed automatic, with the rest of 35 percent featuring the 7-speed manual. The most popular color was Torch Red (19 percent), followed by Arctic White (17 percent) and Black (16 percent).

Scroll down for the complete 2014 Corvette Stingray production stats.

Models:
41% Z51 Coupe – 15,431
30% Base Coupe – 11,134
15% Z51 Convertible – 5,680
14% Base Convertible – 5,043

Exterior colors:
19% – Torch Red
17% – Arctic White
16% – Black
11% – Cyber Gray
9% – Laguna Blue
8% – Crystal Red Metallic
6% – Velocity Yellow
6% – Blade Silver
5% – Night Race Blue
4% – Lime Rock Green

Interior Colors:
39% – Jet Black Leather
21% – Adrenaline Red
14% – Kalahari
8% – Jet Black Suede
8% – Gray Leather
4% – Brownstone
3% – Kalahari Suede
2% – Gray Suede
1% – Brownstone Suede

Popular Options by RPO and Percentage Built:
CFA Painted Top – 52%
CC3 Transparent Top – 26%
C2Z Visible Carbon Fiber Top – 13%
C2Q Body-Color Dual Roof Package – 6%
C2M Carbon Fiber Dual Roof Package – 4%
FAY Carbon Fiber Instrument Panel Trim – 20%
UY4 Navigation – 82%
MYC 6-speed paddle shift with automatic – 65%
FE1 Suspension – 43%
Z51 Suspension – 21%
Z51 with Magnetic Ride Control – 36%
NPP Performance Exhaust – 84%
J64 Red Calipers – 44%
J6E Yellow Calipers – 7%
QX3 Chrome Non Z51 Wheels – 64%
QG6 Silver Non Z51 Wheels – 28%
RQ1 Machine Non Z51 Wheels – 7%
Q7T Z51 Black Wheels – 48%
Q7E Z51 Chrome Wheels – 34%
Q7S Z51 Silver Wheels – 13%

If you are a Corvette fan, you must know that GM has replaced the six-speed auto offered on the 2014 model with an eight-speed automatic for the 2015 MY.

The all-new, paddle-shift eight-speed automatic transmission has advantages both in terms of performance and fuel economy.

With the new gearbox, the 2015 Corvette Stingray sprints from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds, 0.1 seconds faster than with the previous six-speed transmission. As a matter of fact, it is also faster than the model equipped with the seven-speed manual transmission, also by 0.1 seconds. The 8-speed auto Corvette also boasts a quarter-mile elapsed time of 11.9 seconds, a 0.1-second improvement over the six-speed auto.

In terms of fuel economy, the 2015 Corvette Stingray with the 8sp unit is EPA-estimated at 29 mpg (8.1 l/100km) on the highway. That's an improvement of 1 mpg (or 3.5 percent) over the previous automatic gearbox and is equal to the manual model’s rating. New eight-speed models are EPA-rated at 16 mpg (14.7 l/100 km) in the city and 20 mpg (11.7 l/100 km) combined.

GM says the greater performance and efficiency enabled by the Hydra-Matic 8L90 eight-speed automatic is due primarily to its 7.0 overall gear ratio spread, “which enhances off-the-line performance with a more aggressive first gear ratio – 4.56 vs. 4.03 on the six-speed – helping achieve the quicker 0-60 time.” The automaker also says it “delivers world-class shift times that rival the best dual-clutch design.”

This Chevrolet Corvette Stingray video review includes information about pricing, fuel economy, technology, interior space and driving dynamics.

2015 Corvette with 8-Speed Auto Does 0-60 MPH in 3.7 Seconds, Averages 29 MPG Highway

There are two kinds of supercars: those made by niche manufacturers and those made by mainstream ones. The niche supercars tend to be a rarer and more exotic sight, but some buyers opt for more mainstream supercars because, for one reason at least, they'll be more reliable. Right?

That's not always the case, as Car and Driver recently found out. The publication's Corvette Stingray long-term tester blew out its LT1 V8 engine entirely after only 6,000 miles, necessitating a complete replacement. Fortunately, it was under warranty, but it contributed to the 'Vette having to spend an inordinate amount of time in the shop – something you might expect from a small Italian manufacturer, for example, but not from one of the largest automakers in the world.

The problem apparently boiled down to metal debris from a bad oil filter getting into the lubication system, knocking out a con-rod bearing and totaling the engine block. GM is reportedly investigating the issue, which was just one of several problems C/D encountered with the flagship Chevy, but which haven't stopped our compatriots in Ann Arbor from enjoying the time they've had so far with the all-American supercar, or from taking it on long-distance road trips to Indiana, Chicago, even Virginia and New Jersey.

WHAT WE LIKE: From the crisp, new design, to the cozy, modern interior, to the excellent balance of performance and drivability, there’s not much we don’t love about our long-term 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51. Our car continues to turn heads and elicit cheers from passersby, even in its subtle Blade Silver Metallic hue. (The wailing exhaust note ensures we’ll at least be heard if not seen.) Many drivers have praised the Corvette’s relatively compliant ride and the comfort from the optional Competition seats, which make long voyages a treat, as well as its excellent brakes and flypaper-like grip. Our observed fuel-economy average has climbed to 21 mpg, too, thanks to greater amounts of highway cruising where the car’s Active Fuel Management cylinder-deactivation system and a slippery shape help it achieve an indicated 30-plus mpg.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: Our greatest displeasure has been the car’s downtime at the dealer for repairs (more on that in a second), but we have some day-to-day complaints as well. A few drivers have yet to bond with the Competition seats and moan about insufficient lumbar support, and others take issue with the occasional slowness of the MyLink infotainment’s operation. There is almost unanimous agreement that the seven-speed manual’s gates should be better defined. We’ve also noticed some notchiness with the shift linkage in the lower gears regardless of how careful we are with the clutch. Long stints behind the wheel are marred by significant road noise and footwells that can get overly toasty in city traffic.

WHAT WENT WRONG: For starters, the LT1 small-block V-8 introduced with the C7 lunched itself at 6000 miles, necessitating a complete replacement under warranty. Our forensics lab was unable to assist in dissecting the matter, but an investigation by GM pinned tentative blame on a piece of metal debris (likely from a bad oil filter) that worked its way into the oiling system and wrecked a connecting-rod bearing, which created even more debris that damaged the engine’s bottom-end. Given the LT1’s tight tolerances and high-performance design, it didn’t take much to upset its workings. We’ve heard of a few similar accounts throughout the Stingray community and GM says it’s aware of the issue and is analyzing its manufacturing process for a root cause. Our car was returned quickly and as healthy as new, but—just to be safe—we sent the car back to the dealer after 1300 engine miles for its first scheduled service at 7500 overall miles. The stop included an oil-and-filter change and inspection for $57.28.

The car returned to the dealer at 15,100 miles for an identical scheduled service, during which the side-airbag module in the passenger seat was also replaced under one of GM’s many recent recalls. Other maladies that befell our Corvette include a punctured rear tire at 13,000 miles—which required us to reshod the rear of the car with a pair of new run-flat 285/30ZR20 Michelin Pilot Super Sport ZPs ($905 for the pair from the Tire Rack)—as well as a sizable chip in the windshield that cost us $50 to seal up.

WHERE WE WENT: Most of our drive time in the Stingray continues to be local commuting, although it has embarked on a couple of trips to Indiana and a weekend in Chicago, after which the driver noted that he loves how “the whole car subtly rumbles to the small-block’s lumpy idle.” The grandest trek was a six-day, 1700-mile round trip from Ann Arbor to Virginia International Raceway and New Jersey Motorsports Park, averaging an impressive 27 mpg overall. Additional voyages surely will happen before the ambient temperature drops significantly and we have to dig out the car’s winter rubber.

Months in Fleet: 6 months
Current Mileage: 15,436 miles Average Fuel Economy: 21 mpg
Fuel Tank Size: 18.5 gal Fuel Range: 390 miles
Service: $115 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $1019