Tenneco’s C8 Corvette Exhaust System Detailed

We told you last week about a youtuber removing the exhaust system on their 2020 Corvette, and we have to admit it sounded pretty mean.

Today, we’re sharing a story from the company that just happens to make that standard exhaust system for the new mid-engine C8.

Based on how technical 21st-century cars have become, we have to believe that Tenneco Clean Air, the company that provides the unique exhaust system for the 2020 Corvette, knows what’s best.

Listen to Patrick Guo, executive vice president, Tenneco, and president, Clean Air: “Corvette’s mid-engine architecture required creative technical solutions to accommodate the packaging and thermal requirements of the emissions system. We partnered with GM, combining our experience in system integration with Corvette’s engineering team to deliver technologies that help to enable a more efficient, high-performance vehicle with reduced emissions.”

Indeed, we’ve been told that the stock exhaust system is so well tuned that it’s going to be hard for tuners to add power to the C8 with an aftermarket system.

According to a release from Tenneco, the company provides up to four electronic valves for the C8 emissions system that work in tandem with the vehicle’s Active Fuel Management system for optimum efficiency and lower emissions. The valves open and close to control the Corvette’s exhaust sound as it switches between the two modes. The optional performance exhaust adds two electronic valves at the rear that provide greater acoustic differentiation, helping to create the Corvette’s signature sound.

Tenneco also provided thermal solutions to manage the high temperatures created by the mid-engine architecture of the C8, including the use of advanced, multi-layer heat shields designed to prevent unwanted heat transfer to surrounding components in addition to a new valve arrangement with decoupled design to reduce heat impact on the valve’s electronics.

“This innovative valve arrangement, with the actuator decoupled from the valve body, is a significant step forward in actuated valve design and, when combined with our latest developments in valve materials, enables use on mid-engine and other architectures with extremely high exhaust temperatures,” explained Dmitri Konson, Vice President Global Engineering, Tenneco Clean Air.

While we like to think of the Corvette as an all-American vehicle, it’s actually the efforts of teams from around the globe, with Tenneco’s effort led by Michigan and German product and engineering teams, with actual production in Smithville, Tenn.

Source:
tenneco.com

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