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Corvette Stingray gets optional Z06 components

If you've got a Corvette Stingray in the garage and have been tempted by some of the upgrades incorporated into the Z06, but can't quite bring yourself to trade up, Chevy has got some good news for you. The Bowtie brand has announced a series of performance parts derived from those in the Z06, but applicable to the base Stingray. The list of parts includes new cooling elements, prop shafts, brakes, suspension components, and underbody braces. They can all be fitted to Stingray models with or without the Z51 performance kit, and promise to raise the Corvette's game if not quite to Z06 levels, then closer to them. And for Z06 owners interested in gaining a bit more advantage, Chevy is offering a new Level 3 aero kit as well. The parts were demonstrated on upgraded 'Vettes at the Ron Fellows driving school at Spring Mountain. The school is also serving as technical partner and the track as the location for a new spec racing series built around the C7 Corvette. Dubbed the Michelin Corvette Challenge, the calendar is composed of fifteen half-hour races held in pairs over eight weekends, all on the six-mile circuit near Las Vegas. The cars to be used in the series will be close to showroom stock and feature many of the new Z06-derived upgrades, with Michelin racing slicks for dry weather and Pilot Super Sport tires in the wet. Perhaps most compelling of all will be the payment plan that will allow participating amateur racers to pay in installments across the season and take home their Corvette after the season's conclusion in December. New Z06 Parts Enhance Corvette Stingray Performance Broad range of chassis, suspension and aero components enhance capability 2015-11-02 PAHRUMP, Nev. – Chevrolet today and drivers from the Ron Fellows Corvette high-performance driving school at the Spring Mountain track demonstrated Stingray models enhanced with components from a new lineup of Z06-based performance parts. They're designed for 2014+ Stingray models, including Z51-equipped cars. "We've selected specific components from the Corvette Z06 and engineered them to fit the award-winning Stingray," said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. vice president of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. "These Z06 parts enhance the handling, braking, cooling and downforce performance of the Stingray." Ron Fellows, champion Corvette Racing driver, collaborated with Chevrolet Performance engineers on the all-new portfolio.

Is the skill of rev matching being lost to computers?

If the ability to drive a vehicle equipped with a manual gearbox is becoming a lost art, then the skill of being able to match revs on downshifts is the stuff they would teach at the automotive equivalent of the Shaolin Temple. The usefulness of rev matching in street driving is limited most of the time – aside from sounding cool and impressing your friends. But out on a race track or the occasional fast, windy road, its benefits are abundantly clear. While in motion, the engine speed and wheel speed of a vehicle with a manual transmission are kept in sync when the clutch is engaged (i.e. when the clutch pedal is not being pressed down). However, when changing gear, that mechanical link is severed briefly, and the synchronization between the motor and wheels is broken. When upshifting during acceleration, this isn't much of an issue, as there's typically not a huge disparity between engine speed and wheel speed as a car accelerates. Rev-matching downshifts is the stuff they would teach at the automotive equivalent of the Shaolin Temple. But when slowing down and downshifting – as you might do when approaching a corner at a high rate of speed – that gap of time caused by the disengagement of the clutch from the engine causes the revs to drop. Without bringing up the revs somehow to help the engine speed match the wheel speed in the gear you're about to use, you'll typically get a sudden jolt when re-engaging the clutch as physics brings everything back into sync. That jolt can be a big problem when you're moving along swiftly, causing instability or even a loss of traction, particularly in rear-wheel-drive cars. So the point of rev matching is to blip the throttle simultaneously as you downshift gears in order to bring the engine speed to a closer match with the wheel speed before you re-engage the clutch in that lower gear, in turn providing a much smoother downshift. When braking is thrown in, you get heel-toe downshifting, which involves some dexterity to use all three pedals at the same time with just two feet – clutch in, slow the car while revving, clutch out. However, even if you're aware of heel-toe technique and the basic elements of how to perform a rev match, perfecting it to the point of making it useful can be difficult.

Texas sues GM, saying it tricked customers into sharing driving data sold to insurers

Texas filed a lawsuit Tuesday against GM over years of alleged abuse of customers' data and trust. New car owners were presented with a "confusing and highly misleading" process that was implied to be for their safety, but "was no more than a deceptively designed sales flow" that surrendered their data for GM to sell. The suit contends that at no point was selling driving data ever even suggested as a possibility, putting GM in violation of the state's consumer protection laws. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking a jury trial and at least $10,000 per offense (every GM car sold in the state since 2015) and a hefty add-on of $250,000 in cases where the victim was over 65. Texas seems to be flying high after a recent $1.4 billion settlement from Meta over other privacy concerns. This may well be a way to solve any pending budgetary issues in the Lone Star State.