- 2023 Corvette Z06 Exhaust Isn’t Your Average Set of Pipes
- Pleasing Pitch
- Just Right
- Hear and Feel
- Smaller Increments
- Fine Tuning
- Different Levels
- Selling Point
2023 Corvette Z06 Exhaust Isn’t Your Average Set of Pipes
GM used some trickery to coax a fantastic sound out of the Z06’s LT6 powerplant.
Pleasing Pitch
By now, pretty much everyone knows precisely what the all-new 2023 Corvette Z06 sounds like, and it’s pretty darn amazing, to say the least. We can give much of the credit for that to the car’s LT6 powerplant, which utilizes a flat-plane crank design for a rather exotic sound. However, GM did some clever things with the C8 Z06’s exhaust to enhance its pleasing pitch as well, as the automaker recently revealed in this video.
Just Right
GM set out from the start to give the C8 Z06 an exotic car type of sound, something that admittedly has never come from any vehicle the automaker has produced. As such, it experimented with the car’s exhaust and came up with multiple sounds until it was just right, taking a bit of a Goldilocks approach in that regard.
Hear and Feel
The exhaust of the new Z06 goes into the tips – or the bezel – that’s part of the car’s fascia, which is designed to reflect some of the sound coming out of the exhaust back up towards the cockpit. The result is that the driver and passenger can not only hear these sounds but feel them as well.
Smaller Increments
There are also two sets of valves present in the Z06’s exhaust that change the sound of the vehicle on demand – the intake manifold valves and the variable exhaust valves, located on the exhaust itself. Each is capable of changing in two degree increments, which is a departure from prior systems where valves are either open or closed completely.
Fine Tuning
This allowed engineers to truly fine-tune the sound coming from the C8 Z06, getting exactly what they wanted at every RPM in every exhaust mode – Weather, Tour, Sport, and Track – each of which features totally unique tuning that was completed separately from each other.
Different Levels
When Weather is engaged, the valves are closed most of the time, resulting in the quietest operation. When Tour is activated, the valves open a little more, resulting in some sound, while Sport truly opens things up inside the cabin. Finally, Track is what GM calls “pretty loud,” though not overbearing for those that use it while driving around town.
Selling Point
Finally, My Mode allows owners to customize the C8 Z06’s exhaust sound to their own liking, and even keep it that way so that it’s already activated the next time they hop in the car. All of this is very interesting, but also unsurprising given the fact that the sound of the new Z06 is one of the car’s biggest selling points, of course.
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