[VIDEO] Why the C7 Corvette Needs Cadillac’s New CUE Infotainment System

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[VIDEO] Why the C7 Corvette Needs Cadillac's New CUE Infotainment System

With the C7 Corvette under development, we’ve taken a sudden interest in the pipeline of future products coming from General Motors. So after we watched the demo video of the new Cadillac CUE infotainment center and the futuristic customizable gauge cluster, we’re holding out hope that the next generation C7 Corvette will benefit from similar technology.

Back in September, Popular Mechanics published an account of writer Colin Mathews prowling Detroit during the Woodward Dream Cruise looking for the scoop on the C7 Corvette. One of the “insiders” he talked with made a comment specifically about the C6 Corvette’s instrument cluster and nav/radio unit. “That’s ancient GM technology” she was quoted as saying and hinted that the next generation would be vastly superior.

Well queue the future because the Cadillac CUE (Cadillac User Experience) is very much the next generation infotainment center that the C7 Corvette needs to have. The touchscreen nav and natural-speech voice recognition are very reminiscent of the last smart phone technology and the CUE’s customizable gauges allow for the driver to have their choice of layouts. All really cool stuff but there is so much more.

Check out this video of the new system in action and then tell us if this is the kind of technology that should be available on the C7 Corvette:

Technology like this in the C7 would accomplish multiple goals. First, it addresses the constant harping on the Corvette’s interior as cheap and inferior. Secondly, it targets the younger buyer demographic who wants performance AND the latest in-car entertainment experience. Finally, the technological leap in the cockpit would go along way to prove that the C7 isn’t merely just a C6.5 upgrade as some have suggested.

We’re very interested in hearing from other Corvette owners. Would you like to see a system like the CUE in the C7 or something more traditional? Use the comment form below and let your views be heard.

CUE will debut in 2012 in the Cadillac XTS and ATS luxury sedans and SRX luxury crossover. Here is the official press release of the Cadillac CUE infotainment system.


Source:
InsideLine.com

Related:
Popular Mechanics Searches Detroit for C7 Corvette Clues
C7 Corvette Mule Captured by Spy Photographer
Inside Line: C7 Corvette to be Offered with a 7-Speed Manual Gearbox

 



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16 COMMENTS

  1. I’m in my mid-thirties and own an ’06 C6 Coupe. I am on pins and needles waiting for the C7. Originally I was planning on modding my current car rather than buying something else when my extended warranty runs out, but with many of the quotes and tid-bits of information coming out of GM on the next Vette, I just might have to move to a C7. This system going into the Caddies is just one of the many things GM needs to do to make the C7 a game changer. If they can equal or best Audi’s interior fit and finish, that would be awesome. If they can give us direct injection, cylinder deactivation, variable timing, better gas mileage and still more power, that would be great. If they can somehow get the power down better so it’s usable (read AWD) that would be incredible. Dual-clutch paddle shifter? Only if it outperforms the manual, please! Launch control on all models would be cool. And make all models wide-bodies. Did I forget anything?

  2. I think we can all agree that the C7 has plenty of room to go as far as improving the interior (Chevy has already taken a step in the right direction with the 2012 model) but this would be overkill. The Corvette is known throughout the world as America’s Sports Car for a reason: pure 100% USA muscle and adrenaline. The Corvette is already one hell of a toy on its own and does need any new fancy “iToys” to help it out. Plus, I’m pretty sure there would be a lot more Vette’s getting into serious accidents if they had this thing in it. I drive my C6 Corvette with my eyes on the road, my hands on the wheel, and my foot on the gas; I’m not worried about how cool my navigation system is.

  3. The C7 definitely needs something similar to this technology available as an option. Like you guy’s said in the article this would attract a lot of younger buyers. If I were designing the new C7 I would make this an option that a person could order even on a 1LT, or 1LZ Corvette. The reason why I would do that is because many younger buyers like myself might not be able to afford to step up into the 2LT-4LT, or 2LZ-3LZ option packages but they are definitely going to want this exciting new system. With that said, I don’t know if I would make this a standard feature on the C7 because there are a lot of older guys like my Dad who buy Corvettes and a system like that would be hard for them to figure out. Therefore, I would probably have something that is still more high tech than the current system, but still user friendly for the older crowd available as a standard feature.

  4. I prey and am confident this will be on the C7. The Corvette represents the best of GM. @Crepr12 . . . wow that was an exceptionally small minded statement.

  5. This is nice equipment for luxury cars, and something like it would be good for the next Vette but, two points:
    1) What the next Vette really needs is a re-geared dual-clutch trans and coil-over suspension. Never mind heroics about manual shifting, watch Jim Mero fighting the gearshift as he’s trying to blast around the Nordschleife in both Z-06C and the ZR-1. It’s obvious he would have saved at least a few seconds keeping his hands on the wheel. No missed downshifts with a D/C trans either…
    2) I truly hope drivers of this car watch the road, not the screen!!
    Thanks for the updates. Vette is #1!

  6. @Crepr12 & Joe – The Corvette is known throughout the world as ‘not as good or desirable as European sports cars’. GM needs to make huge strides forward in several areas if they are ever going to be a serious competitor (in sales) outside of the U.S. Few people outside of the U.S. consider it a dream car. I own a C6 and even I don’t consider it a dream car. It’s my sports-car-on-the-way-to-my-dream-car car. I would love for GM to produce a car that could be a dream car. This CUE thing isn’t just a gimmick, it’s how everything will be in the near future. If GM can build a world class car, and have to leave behind some of their existing geriatric customers in order to expand total sales, so be it.

  7. My thoughts mirror a lot of the preceding statements on the new upcoming C7.
    I know the new generations coming up have been conditioned and trained on
    all the new technology in our world today. GM keeps focusing on attracting new
    younger customers to the corvette to widen their marketability, adding a new
    technology platform could leverage their recruitment. New technology would
    help as long as performance does not become a second priority!! There are
    many older vette owners like myself that do not make their only vette a
    dedicated race car but are still involved in autocross, HPDE or lapping and
    do not need all the high technology. Also just as speed costs money, so
    does more refined technology and I am not sure the thirty or forty something
    customers (enough of them to make it profitable) that have families can
    afford the price tag that the new C7’s will demand.

  8. GM’s CUE technology is a giant step toward making our cars operate like smart phones. Corvettes sell because they combine a great look with serious world class on-road performance. Electronic user gimmicks are better suited to tuner cars, and maybe Cadillacs. Price is what keeps most buyers (young and old) from new Corvettes. Want to sell more cars to a younger market? Don’t beef up the car’s cost with features that are irrelevant to the vehicles personna.

  9. I totally agree with you Al ! The Corvette is already a profitable car for GM. Now it seems that they are intent on adding more “stuff” to it to justify yet another price increase.There is room for high end , high feature Corvettes I agree (as we’ve seen with the $100K + ZR1), but where is the visceral , honest SPORTS CAR? What is the C7’s mission? Fast luxury like an AMG Benz, or gut wrenching feeling-at-one-with-the-car performance? It seems to me that it’s resolutely headed towards the likes of Aston Martin, Jaguar, et al. Hopefully there will be many options so that everyfan / potential buyer can order up their version of what Corvette means to them.

  10. Small mind and a BIG wallet FSLIV….So I’ll keep my money and YOU can purchase a Ivette…

  11. This is very slick but also very distracting. Since it is touchscreen, there is no tactile feel to the ‘buttons’. You must pay alot of attention to where you are pressing. Difficult to do while driving.

  12. I could see a simpler version of this as a base instrument cluster and the higher end functions being options. Many folks could care less about GPS and all that other crap so please give us a choice.

  13. Too far over the top for a performance car. This gadgetry will distract from the corvette experience and place us in silly land. The glass cockpit is supposed to enhance the driving experience, not replace it. Let this stuff stay at the game screen. I’d rather drive.

  14. I hope they upgrade the technology 10 fold! Chevy has been missing the boat until recently so I hope the C7 has something that every other sports car does not!!

  15. I have an 89 C4 & an 07 C6, both white.
    After seeing the CUE system; the daughter may get the 07, I NEED a C7 with the CUE system.
    The 89 C4 stays with me.

    The C7 (artic white of course) could just end up being the new hotness. C’mon with it.

Comments are closed.