THE ILLUSTRATED CORVETTE
Designer Series No. 262
VETTE (ISSN #0199-7890) Vol. 43, No. 04. Copyright © 2019 by TEN: Publishing Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Published monthly by TEN: Publishing Media, LLC., 1212 Avenue of the Americas, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10036. Periodicals
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
K. Scott Teeters has been a contributing
artist and writer with Vette magazine since
1976 when the magazine was titled Vette
Quarterly. Scott’s Corvette art can be seen
at http://www.illustratedcorvetteseries.com. His
muscle car and nostalgia drag racing art can
be found at http://www.precision-illustration.com.62 VETTE 19.0 4
Chevrolet calls the basic C6 suspension,
tuned for balance, ride comfort and pre-
cise handling. This is for the customer that
wants a Corvette because they like “driving
a Corvette” with 400 horsepower on tap
when they want a brief thrill; but aren’t inter-
ested in exploring the limits of tire grip.
The F55 Magnetic Selective Ride Control
was a $1,695 option with some amazing
technology. Magnetorheological dampers
use metal-infused fluid that controls the
viscosity of the fluid with a magnetic field
created by an electromagnet. This semi-
active suspension adjusts the fluid via a
computer to adjust damping rates based
on road surfaces down to the millisecond.
The active handling and antilock systems
were smarter and less intrusive.
And for the enthusiast that doesn’t
want to go for the serious big gun Z06,
but wants the most from their base
model Corvette, there was the $1,495 Z51
Performance Package. The Z51 option
has been around since 1984 with a start-
ing price of $600 with prices fluctuat-
ing through to 1990. Then from 1991 to
1995 Chevrolet offered the $2,045 Z07
Adjustable Suspension Package. The Z51
option was back in 1996 but consisted
only of stiffer springs and stabilized bars
for $350 from 1996 to 2003, then $395 in
2003 and 2004.
The Z51 was part of the C6 lineup from
2005 to 2009 and was a whole different
animal. Costing $1,495 in 2005, then $1,695
from 2006 to 2009, the Z51 package was
the most comprehensive Z51 package ever
offered, consisting of higher rate springs
and shocks; larger sway bars; larger cross-
drilled rotors (13.5-inch diameter on the
front and 13-inch diameter on the rear);
coolers for the engine oil, transmission and
power steering; higher-grip Goodyear EMT
tires and revised gear ratios for the six-
speed cars.
An integral part of the overall objective
of a smaller, lighter and stiffer C6 was the
body. For the body part of the C6, design-
ers wanted to improve the fit of the body
panels and reduce weight. For the broad
flat parts, such as the hood, doors, trunk lid
and tonneau cover on the convertible, SMC
(Sheet Molded Compound) was used. This
is a fiberglass mixed with resin that is com-
pressed into a mold, with a chemical reac-
tion and the heat from the compression
curing the part. For more complex shapes,
such as the front grille and the rear fascia,
PRIM (Polyurethane Material Reinforced
Reaction Injection Molding) was used. The
removable roof panel was made from poly-
carbonate, either transparent or painted.
But the major breakthrough for the C6
chassis was the all-aluminum chassis for
the Z06 and the ZR1. The basic chassis
design is the same except that the hydro-
formed side rails are made of 4mm 5745
aluminum alloy. The standard C6 steel
frame thickness was 3mm and weighs 502
pounds while the aluminum Z06 frame
weighs 392 pounds; that’s 110-pounds
lighter, or 22 percent lighter. The Z06
frame is 50 percent stronger in torsionaland bending stiffness. The Metalsa Metal
Fabricator, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, manu-
factured the aluminum frames, and then
shipped them to the Corvette Bowling
Green assembly plant. The engine cradle
and fixed-roof panel are magnesium; and
the floorboards are carbon fiber.
Everything tends to move upward in
the world of Corvettes. When the Z06
debuted in 2006, no one imagined that
the C7 base Corvette would ride on a C6
Z06-like chassis. VETTE