I've been driving and enjoying our long-term 2002 Chevy Corvette Z06 for the last few days, but I have one significant gripe: The black plastic front spoiler (highlighted above in red) hangs so low it scrapes on everything.
And I mean everything. Every driveway in, every driveway out. Every speed hump up, every speed hump down. It'll even touch down on road dips or intersections than have any kind of elevation change.
It's obviously is meant to do that. That's why Chevy makes it out of flexible plastic, but it's hard to look cool when your car is crunching against the ground constantly. Pedestrians and other drivers look at you like you're a fool. A fool that just took out his front end. The only way to avoid it is to come to a complete stop and roll over the obstacle, and that only works about 50% of the time.
To this extreme, this problem is unique to the Vette. No other supercar I've driven in the last 10 years hits the pavement this often, and that includes our old long-term 1984 Ferrari 308.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 44,822 miles
bimmerjay says:
12:29 PM, 04/ 1/10
That long front overhang also has something to do with it. Long AND low is not a good combination.
wobbly_ears says:
12:49 PM, 04/ 1/10
"...No other supercar I've driven in the last 10 years hits the pavement this often..."
This HAS to be a bait for 1487!
dougtheeng says:
01:01 PM, 04/ 1/10
^^ its not necessary to bait 1487.
chavis10 says:
01:06 PM, 04/ 1/10
A lot of GM designs in the '90s were bottom feeders, meaning they got more air from underneath the front bumper than through the grille openings. You'll see similar plastic pieces on most GM cars of this era- obviously none ride as low as the Vette of course.
chavis10 says:
01:08 PM, 04/ 1/10
"That long front overhang also has something to do with it. Long AND low is not a good combination."
You consider the Vette's front overhang long? The car is roughly the same length as a 911 with a wheelbase about 10" longer. The 911, my friend, is car I would say has a long front overhang.
audisport says:
01:12 PM, 04/ 1/10
My old Trans Am had the same problem. It's there for a reason though.
crowb says:
01:55 PM, 04/ 1/10
+1 dougtheeng.
HAHAHAHA!
hybris says:
02:00 PM, 04/ 1/10
Lift Kit maybe?
*Ducks behind hard cover*
huyracing says:
02:29 PM, 04/ 1/10
nah, throw some bigger wheels on there, that'll fix it!
http://images.craigslist.org/3ka3pc3l7ZZZZZZZZZ97he8a53e68327710b2.jpg
stingray454 says:
02:29 PM, 04/ 1/10
This issue is unique to the C5. The C6 has much shorter front overhangs, and it doesn't scrape nearly as easily.
Scott, there is another way to avoid most of the scrapes besides just completely stopping and going very slowly: approach bumps and driveways at an angle, instead of head-on, and that usually prevents scraping. You get used to doing that when owning a C5. With some steep driveways, you MUST angle approach it, or you'll scrape the metal bars below the radiator (the aftermarket makes little wheels for these bars that roll the car along instead of scraping).
They designed that front spoiler to be easily replaceable too, and it's sort of a normal wear item. The center section is actually on a spring loaded hinge, designed to fold back and up when hit. You can replace all 3 pieces for about $80 when they wear out. Mine have held up well over 52k miles, despite daily scraping. Haven't replaced them yet.
bimmerjay says:
02:32 PM, 04/ 1/10
"You consider the Vette's front overhang long? The car is roughly the same length as a 911 with a wheelbase about 10" longer. The 911, my friend, is car I would say has a long front overhang. "
The 911 also has a larger rear overhang for obvious reasons. But who cares about the 911, we're talking about the Corvette. The lower you go on the overhang the shorter it has to be to avoid this problem.
hybris says:
02:55 PM, 04/ 1/10
@huyracing
Wow and I thought seeing Crown Vic's with 26" rims was bad but that's a full bore crime right there!
fundango says:
03:06 PM, 04/ 1/10
I was just thinking the other day how the 911 had long overhangs (front and rear), but somehow still looked good. But yeah, for practical reasons, the lower a car's ground clearance, the shorter its overhangs should be.
roadburner says:
03:27 PM, 04/ 1/10
This wouldn't even be an issue if it wasn't for all those anti-GM contractors building driveways and speed bumps designed to embarrass C5 owners...
chavis10 says:
06:11 PM, 04/ 1/10
"The 911 also has a larger rear overhang for obvious reasons. But who cares about the 911, we're talking about the Corvette. The lower you go on the overhang the shorter it has to be to avoid this problem."
It's called a point of reference. You said the Vette had long overhangs and I simply am saying, compared to what? 911, same length MUCH larger front overhang- apples to apples comparison. By the way, the length of the overhang has nothing to do with the scraping issue by the way. The issue is simply the airdam hanging low, period. As another point of reference, all mid engine cars of similar length have MUCH longer front overhangs as well. Since they don't have to breathe through their noses, the scraping is much of a concern.
chavis10 says:
06:12 PM, 04/ 1/10
Also, it's a bit weird how 1487 is on your minds' when he doesn't even comment. You guys are a bit paranoid, no?
slickersdrip says:
08:12 PM, 04/ 1/10
@chavis10-- It annoys me greatly how everyone preemptively attacks 1487. His comments are one of the more enjoyable aspects of the long term road tests... unfortunately I don't generally care about things like the Accord Crosstour's storage well (when my mom's CR-V, then Explorer and then Trailblazer [stereotypes, thy name is glory] all had the same damn thing), so at least dissenting opinion is worthy of reading. Plus, as I am more inclined to buy an American car, it's nice to see someone pointing out the benefits of US automobiles.
Concerning the Z06... I'd be willing to live with scraping on speed bumps with that engine. Worthy sacrifice. My '99 Z28 scraped, too, and the car still stirs magnificent memories for me.
firstwagon says:
08:41 PM, 04/ 1/10
Any reason you can't just take it off?
lmbvette says:
05:15 AM, 04/ 2/10
My C6 scrapped on every parking block and numerous elevation changes. It sounds horrible but you get used to it.
I can confirm Stingray's advice, just approach potential scrapers from an angle (if possible) as this does prevent the ghastly noise.
stingray454 says:
07:57 AM, 04/ 2/10
"Any reason you can't just take it off?"
Yeah, you'll get air lift under the car at high speeds. Keep it under 100, and you probably wouldn't notice.
c5z06er says:
08:18 AM, 04/ 2/10
You will also get less airflow into your radiator and have trouble with overheating. I have a 2003 Z06, and I live on a gravel driveway, and one day I ripped the whole air dam off. It was a few days before I got the replacement in, and the car ran noticeably hotter.
I agree that its a cheap and easy fix, and I don't mind it being there. Yes it scrapes sometimes, but you become good at recognizing what things you can drive over, what you should drive around, and what obstacles to take at an angle. Its not that big of a deal really. Plus, I really like having the air dam because I'd rather scrape it than something more important. Its almost like a warning system.
ptcdawg says:
10:56 AM, 04/ 2/10
no speed bumps on the open road....let the hammer down!!!!!!!!!!
firstwagon says:
11:16 AM, 04/ 2/10
thanks c5z06er and stingray454
I was curious if it served a real benefit or was just a trick to get an extra 1/4 of a mile/ gallon