[VIDEO] The Corvette Z06 and C7.R Design Seminar from the 2014 NCM Bash

Corvette Design Team Members Kirk Bennion and Ryan Vaughan hosted the C7 Corvette Z06 Design Seminar at the Corvette Museum’s Bash. There was also a discussion and slides showing the evolution of Corvette Racing’s identity from C6.R to C7.R as well.

Kirk handled the presentation duties first and after a brief intro, he went right into the Corvette Z06 showing differences between both the Stingray and the Z06 as well as the Z06 Coupe vs the Z06 Convertible. He said that all four Corvette models (Stingray Coupe/Convertible and Z06 Coupe/Convertible) were on the design table at the same time to make sure all the elements worked on both the standard Stingray and the widebody Z06.

Kirk goes through the three stages of aerodynamics available on the Z06 and talks about the flow of air around and through the car. We also see pics of a Z06 clay model inside the wind tunnel. The Z06 creates more downforce than has ever been measured by a production car inside GM’s wind tunnel.

Kirk also talks about the design of the C7.R race car which was also developed side-by-side with the Z06.

Corvette’s Interior Manager Ryan Vaughn then took the podium and he went into what’s new for Corvette in 2015. Some of the different changes for Stingray include a design change to the automatic shifter which now shows the words “Eight-Speed” on it. A new eSLD gauge screen shows the wheel slip which automatically adjusts as you drive. Ryan jokes that while the gauge is really cool to look at, you need to keep your eyes on the road.

The Z06 gets a unique flat-bottomed steering wheel with a Z06 logo. As the Z06 is a supercharged car, there is now a boost gauge on the gauge. Ryan also showed off the embossed Z06 on the GT seats. The Z06 will also get two unique interior colors – Dark Gray and Twilight Blue. The Twilight Blue is only availabe on 3LZ packages. One other change is that on 2LZ/3LZ interiors, the color of the interior wraps around the driver side only whereas the passenger side console stays black.

The last part of the seminar was hosted by Dennis Finos who designed the new C7 logo. His other specialty was helping create the identity package for the Corvette Racing team. With the changes from C6 to C7, the new logo and script design needed to be updated. Dennis shows different Corvette Racing and Jake logos that were considered as well as the final logos chosen. He also showed many other updates which include everything from the race car transporters, pit and driver suits as well as the new inflatable paddock.

Here is the design team’s seminar from the 2014 NCM Bash.

Following the presentation, the three designers held a question and answer session.

Related:
[PICS] The 2014 National Corvette Museum Bash
[VIDEO] What’s New for the 2015 Corvette
New Atlantic and Pacific Corvette Design Packages Offered on 2015 Stingray Models