GM Tech That isn’t Available on the Flagship Corvette (and Whether We’d Even Want it if it Were Offered)

Since its debut in 1953, the Corvette has always been the showcase for the state of the technological art at General Motors, making it the de facto flagship for GM and the American automotive industry at large. America’s Sports Car pioneered the Magnetic Ride Control that can now be found on high-end performance vehicles ranging from the Audi R8 to the cross-town rival Ford Mustang, to almost every modern Ferrari. It was the first mass-produced car with a titanium exhaust system like the legendary McLaren F1. It was the first American car to feature a major body panel composed of carbon fiber, the first domestic to offer Enzo-spec carbon ceramic brakes, and, along with its tire partner, Michelin, it was the originator of the factory semi-slick rubber option.

Throughout the years, Corvette this tech has trickled down to more mainstream offerings within the General’s portfolio, but in recent years, with more of GM’s R&D budget focused on efficiency than ever before, we’re seeing more new technologies forgo the Corvette all together to a debut on another less-rambunctious model. What follows is a list of such technologies and whether or not they’d be a good fit for the Plastic Fantastic (even if it isn’t super accurate, it’s a real nickname, and it still sounds a lot better than “21st Century Composite Materials Fantastic”).

1. Quadrasteer – This isn’t a recent example, but it deserves a mention! For a brief window from 2002-2005, customers of GM’s bread-and-butter Sierra, Silverado, Suburban, and Yukon XL large Trucks/SUVs had an innovative four-wheel steering option that made their barges turn like economy cars.
   
   Why we want to see it return for Corvette duty: The C8 Corvette is longer, wider, and, most importantly, heavier than the C5s of the Quadrasteer era. Overseas, the most hard-core portions of the also ballooning Porsche 911 range and AMG’s Nürburgring-slaying GTs utilize rear-steer as a means of cheating the physics that come along with the size of modern sports cars. Tighter cornering = lower lap times = why isn’t the Corvette team already using this!?
   
   
2. Bespoke Customization (à la Celestiq) – After decades of teasing a true return to its “Standard of the World” roots with gorgeous, showstopping concepts like the Sixteen, Ciel, and Elmiraj, Cadillac finally put a crown jewel sedan on the market for 2024 with the all-new “Celestiq” EV. The Celestiq is a polarizing vehicle, to say the least, but even if you find yourself in the camp that resents the $340,000 because it isn’t a 1,000-horse V16 monster with a classic side-opening bonnet (and Quadrasteer!), there’s no hiding from the fact that it’s infinitely-customizable interior is the stuff of dreams! Throw in an endless array of exterior hues, and you can color us jealous!
   
   Why the Corvette deserves the same bespoke treatment: The C8 Corvette has the largest palette of exterior colors and the nicest interior materials in the model’s history, but it still deserves more! You might have noticed that Corvettes have gotten kind of expensive, and with a $200,000+ ZR1 inbound, that statement is about to become even more accurate. The ‘Vette has always played in rarified air when it comes to performance, but now that it is pushing its MSRP into the high-roller’s suite as well, it is time for Paint to Sample! This famed Porsche option lets people spec any color they want – for a price. Now that GM is doing similar things with an electric Cadillac, the Bow Tie brand’s halo model needs to be dealt in.
   
   
3. Super Cruise – General Motors’ more appropriately named competitor to Tesla’s “Full Self Driving/Autopilot” allows certain GM vehicles to steer themselves, including automatic lane changes, on more than 200,000 miles of approved roads in the US and Canada.
   
   We’re torn on a Corvette x Super Cruise mashup: Our kneejerk reaction is that hands-free driving doesn’t belong anywhere near a sports car. Upon further review, though, the ‘Vette is also a grand tourer with countless owners who drive them across the country each year. With that in mind, we’ll submit a final verdict of “it should be an optional extra.” Drivers of GM’s best car should have the ability to select an RPO for GM’s industry-leading semi-autonomous tech, don’t you think?
   
   
4. Spool-Valve Dampers – Speaking of driving across the country, the aforementioned “MagRide” suspension makes the Corvette – and all other adaptors – excel on road trips and road courses – a true best-of-both-worlds solution! BUT the reason we said “most” Ferraris also use the Corvette-pioneered magnetic setup is that the most track-focused ones (including their prized F1 race cars) swap those dampers out for Multimatic’s Dynamic Suspension Spool Valve (DSSV) technology.
   
   The same is also true at General Motors, where the two “most focused” track cars ever produced are actually Camaros – which doesn’t really sit well with us here at Corvette Blogger, where the fact that at least two Corvettes are faster doesn’t quite make up for our favorite car’s unwillingness to go all-in like the Camaro team did with the ’14-’15 Z/28 and the 2018-’24 ZL1 1LE, not to mention the way the ‘Vette’s biggest rivals from Germany treat their vaunted “RS” models.
   
   Last Chance for a Z06X: We’ve been obsessed with the idea of a stripped-down, aero-maximized version of the Z06 since we first saw the Z06X concept in 2011. We envision the X as an all-out track monster – think Corvette version of the Viper ACR – to sit above even the Z07 (which can still be, and usually is spec’d for maximum luxury) in the track hierarchy. With the current Z likely standing as the final naturally aspirated Corvette, it is the perfect candidate for a true GT3 RS killer. Along with “added lightness” and more extreme downforce, DSSVs would be the perfect point of differentiation/anchor for such a package. Let’s make it happen, Corvette Team!
   
   
5. The 55-inch Display – The facelifted 2025 version of the LT4-powered Cadillac Escalade V was recently spied in the wild. It noticeably features a squinty new expression and standard 24-inch wheels, but the headliner of its covert mug shots was a new dash setup that combines the gauge cluster, center screen, and the area facing the passenger into a single, massive, delicately curved touch-sensitive screen.
   
   Is it right for the ‘Vette? You can chalk us up as undecided on this one. On the one hand, it looks pretty cool, and we would enjoy shaming all other manufacturers’ in-dash TVs, but on the flip side, we’re also pretty pro-button around here – though not necessarily in their current “Great-Wall” configuration. In the end, we probably lean toward more screens in cars being a net negative, so we’ll leave this tech for the Escalades of the world.
   
   
6. Ultium Batteries – GM’s big bet on electric vehicles revolves around its Ultium battery architecture. This flexible platform can underpin everything from small cars to trucks, where it maxes out at 200-kWh and, thus far, makes as much as 1,000 HP and all of the torque.
   
   Hard Pass: While the hybrid E-Ray might be the first “electrified” Corvette, its regenerative 1.9-kWh electric motor isn’t a part of the Ultium family, which is the key to its desirability. As impressive as the engineering behind Ultium is, it can’t currently be hybridized, and regardless of how much power/acceleration it is capable of, we don’t see any future where we could accept a Corvette that doesn’t at least partially incorporate the lovable imperfection of an internal combustion engine. Calling EVs “appliances” is becoming a bit of a cliché, for good reason. Sports cars are emotional machines, and it is hard to get emotional about something that makes no noise, doesn’t shift, and is mechanically and operationally indistinguishable from its competitors – those characteristics might work for cordless drills and even sound ideal for luxury cruisers but they don’t mesh with the essence of the Corvette.

And that’s our list! Chime in with your thoughts and any tech that may have slipped our minds in the comment section below. As always, thank you for reading and long live the Corvette!

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