GM responds to the Z06 lap time on MT

Kinja'd!!! "Punk_Girl_98" (isabellamunos)
10/02/2015 at 11:04 • Filed to: None

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Something called a conservative ECU for emissions or something like that. Maybe one of ya’ll could put it in words I could understand lol. Click !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! if link doesn’t work.


DISCUSSION (29)


Kinja'd!!! georgechristensen > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 11:08

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GM engineers are in denial that they shit the bed badly with the Z06’s cooling.


Kinja'd!!! DoYouEvenShift > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 11:11

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New CTSV doesnt seem to be experiencing this issue with the same engine. Im guessing with the limited space for cooling in the vette vs the CTS, they had to be more conservative with the calibration.


Kinja'd!!! Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 11:13

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Except that doesn’t make sense. The CTS-V, which is held to the same standards as the Z06 when it comes to emissions and uses the same engine doesn’t go into limp mode when thrashed. This has nothing to do with conservative ECU tuning, it has to do with the cooling system in the Z06 being hot (literally) garbage.


Kinja'd!!! spanfucker retire bitch > DoYouEvenShift
10/02/2015 at 11:13

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The CTS-V is also making less power. Not a ridiculous amount less, but still less. That coupled with undoubtedly more room for cooling no doubt improves the situation for the CTS-V.


Kinja'd!!! Sam > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 11:17

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That sucks. You’d think they could ship it with an ‘off-road use only’, race programming for the ECU that doesn’t behave so conservatively. Hell, just have it void the warranty.


Kinja'd!!! Mattbob > Logansteno: Bought a VW?
10/02/2015 at 11:17

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it has to do with both. If the ECU wasn’t conservative as they say, it might just let you have full power and overheat your engine. So they are pointing at a one part of equation and calling it a feature instead of the other side which is a failure.


Kinja'd!!! McMike > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 11:17

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That conservative ECU setting is totally retarded.


Kinja'd!!! DoYouEvenShift > spanfucker retire bitch
10/02/2015 at 11:19

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Thats my theory too, waaay more cooling for the V. The Vette is a bit limited in space obviously.


Kinja'd!!! Punk_Girl_98 > Logansteno: Bought a VW?
10/02/2015 at 11:25

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Yeah the CTS-V had the same engine so the computer would be like that on both.


Kinja'd!!! Punk_Girl_98 > Sam
10/02/2015 at 11:26

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So if you buy a high performance car and use it like one, it could void a warranty?


Kinja'd!!! Punk_Girl_98 > georgechristensen
10/02/2015 at 11:27

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I still think that because the CTSV is the same engine.


Kinja'd!!! Punk_Girl_98 > McMike
10/02/2015 at 11:27

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Technically, that is what they said lol.


Kinja'd!!! MultiplaOrgasms > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 11:39

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Lol GM will never learn.


Kinja'd!!! SVTyler > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 11:41

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A lot of other manufacturers actually do that, for example using the Mustang’s factory line locks and the GTR’s launch control voids their respective warranties (there’s probably a few others as well, that’s just off the top of my head).


Kinja'd!!! StingrayJake > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 11:43

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In short, GM is so worried about their engines grenading that they made the ECU extremely conservative. I’m guessing that doesn’t give Z06 owners a warm and fuzzy feeling.


Kinja'd!!! TractorPillow > SVTyler
10/02/2015 at 11:55

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That's why you get a Porsche turbo S. The launch control doesn't void the warranty and you can use it over and over again. Granted the first step is to get loads of money


Kinja'd!!! You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 12:06

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The ECU is the Engine Control Unit. It is a computer that tells the engine when to inject fuel, how much fuel to inject, and when to light the spark plug among other things. To figure out how much fuel to inject it measures how much air is going into the engine by measuring the speed and temperature of the air moving through the intake. It also measures how much oxygen is left in the exhaust, the temperature of the exhaust and a whole bunch of other things. All this information tells the ECU how the engine is running and if it is having a problem.

When it detects a problem the ECU will reduce the power that the engine can generate to keep the engine from damaging any of the mechanical bits. It does this by adjusting how much fuel is injected and when the spark occurs.

Since the Z06 has a supercharger the ECU will also control a blow off or bypass valve. When the intake charge gets too hot the ECU will open that valve, adjust the amount of fuel injected and retard the timing. This will keep the engine from bending its metal bits, but it will cost it a lot of power.


Kinja'd!!! RallyWrench > McMike
10/02/2015 at 12:23

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Kinja'd!!! Sweet Trav > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 12:34

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Engine calibration and cooling systems are different between the Z06 and CTS-V.


Kinja'd!!! Sweet Trav > McMike
10/02/2015 at 12:34

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Did you make a pun there? I think you made a pun there.


Kinja'd!!! Punk_Girl_98 > StingrayJake
10/02/2015 at 12:37

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That is wrong considering they paid so much for one.


Kinja'd!!! Punk_Girl_98 > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
10/02/2015 at 12:39

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So what it seems is like the engine had some sort of problem and the ECM cut the power to try to save the engine. What the problem was then GM hasn’t said. It’s like they just confirmed that there was something else going on.


Kinja'd!!! BigBlock440 > SVTyler
10/02/2015 at 12:50

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Does the Mustang’s actually void the warranty though? I know they have the disclaimer that it’s for track use only and if you us it on the track you’re warranty’s void, but I don’t know if there was actual confirmation that using that feature voided the warranty.


Kinja'd!!! StingrayJake > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 12:58

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I agree.


Kinja'd!!! You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 13:26

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I just went and read the MT article on the test. It definitely sounds like there is a problem with this particular car. From their description the car never made power and showed up with toasted brake pads, so it had definitely been abused prior to MT getting their hands on it.

From Angus MacKenzie: “Kudos to GM for always manning up and putting its cars forward for the most grueling performance test in the business. So it was disappointing to see Big Nasty sidelined by a mysterious engine problem not even the GM techs on hand could figure out. And disappointing to also discover that a car supposedly specially earmarked for BDC testing had been sent to us with worn-out brake pads.” Oh yeah, the brake pads were in terrible shape. Had the Z06 been making full boost, one of us might have been in big trouble on 198.

If the GM techs on site couldn’t come up with a reason for the engine not making power anything I have to say is pure speculation. What is strange to me is that the engine would be so down on power and not have a CEL or any other malfunction indicator lit up. It does sound like the car showed up broken but wouldn’t bother to tell anyone what was broken.


Kinja'd!!! Mustafaluigi > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 13:31

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That post is from August. It is a response to the general overheating issue the Z06 was having. Not why it had a general lack of power at the last Motor Trend test. GM stated they had bad gas at MT, but it had the same gas as everybody else.

http://www.corvetteforum.com/articles/motor…


Kinja'd!!! WiscoProud > Punk_Girl_98
10/02/2015 at 15:30

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Couldn’t you make the case that the Z06 doesn’t actually have its advertised horsepower? If the engine retards timing regularly to protect the engine, can you fairly say it has that higher power level? To me, the rated HP should be the amount that’s achievable day-in, day-out, regardless of thrashing.

If the power is restricted to say 500hp after a track run, or highway run on a hot day, the fair thing would be to say it has 500hp, with a 650hp power boost or something.


Kinja'd!!! Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Sweet Trav
10/02/2015 at 16:15

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So it’s an air flow problem?


Kinja'd!!! SVTyler > BigBlock440
10/02/2015 at 16:48

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I remember reading somewhere that using the line lock feature anywhere Ford considered to be a ‘competitive’ environment (like a drag strip or circuit) would void the warranty though I can’t for the life of me seem to find a source confirming it.

edit: found it on the FP of all places

But what, exactly, is racing? Brian Cotter, global Mustang communications coordinator, wrote via email, “If you are using this feature in an actual race (ex. at a drag strip vs. your neighbor’s Camaro) this would create a problem from a warranty standpoint.”

Cotter further explained, “[T]here is nothing wrong with testing the capabilities of the Mustang in a non-race environment. You could, for instance, test your quarter-mile time on a closed-course. This would be permissible because you aren’t competing against any other car OR against a predetermined time, etc.”