Project Corvette Stingray C7 Z51: Body Modification

Project Corvette Stingray C7 Z51: Body Modification

by Mike Kojima

In typical MotoIQ fashion, up to now, we have been working on Project C7 Corvette Stingray’s hard parts and underpinnings. Now it’s time to showcase some of the functional aero parts that Chevrolet Performance makes for the C7.

Typically aftermarket aero parts are lame; they don’t fit and have gaps. They require you to drill holes in your body panels for sheet metal screws. The carbon deteriorates in the sun and gets cloudy. Not so for these Chevrolet Performance offerings. They fit perfectly and are built to the same OEM durability standards as the car!

 

The first group of Chevrolet Performance aero parts is a rear spoiler, carbon fiber side skirts, a carbon fiber splitter and a functional belly pan for the car when using the splitter.

The belly pan is a great addition and a level of detail that is always totally missed by the aftermarket. It really helps the splitter work better.

 

The splitter is layed up from carbon cloth using a high-quality resin and then gel coated with a UV resistant layer like the roof of our car. There will be no chalking gel coat with this part after a year of sun exposure!

Splitters work by trapping the air hitting the front of the car between the top of the splitter and the front bumper fascia. The air when trapped loses velocity and the energy of the airstream changes to a build-up of positive pressure on top of the splitter as the velocity stagnates or slows down. This pressure differential is what gives downforce. A splitter is less draggy than other ways of trying to make front downforce like big airdams or canards.

 

The little winglets at the end of the splitter do more than look cool, they help the splitter’s effectiveness by reducing air spillover at the end of the splitter which increases the stagnation pressure at the ends of the splitter.

The winglets also make tip vorticities which work with the side skirts to help prevent air spillover from the sides of the car to the bottom that can create lift.

 

The Chevrolet Performance belly pan that comes with the splitter has these cool diffusers built into each side of into it.

The diffusers work with the splitter to help enhance the pressure differential between the top and bottom of the splitter and belly pan by giving the under nose of the car a lift spoiling shape.

 

3 comments

  1. Hey Mike, thanks for the putting this build together. Just picked up a 2015 Z51 Stingray LT3 and looking to improve it. If you guys have a build sheet / part numbers / links / etc, please share. Thanks much.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*
*