GM’s track alignment for the C8 Corvette burns tires faster and unevenly, but how much faster?
General Motors smartly designed the C8 Corvette to be easy to set up for track duty in a number of ways, as it obviously understood that’s precisely where the car truly shines. Many owners are taking advantage of this, particularly the latest Corvette’s track alignment settings, which are provided via the owner’s manual. As any reasonable person might imagine, these settings are optimized for the track (hence the name) and that’s clearly stated in the manual. But what would actually happen if you leave your C8 Corvette in track alignment and then drive it on the street? Well, we’re curious to know, and luckily, MotorTrend did it for us.
MT notes right off the bat that leaving the C8 Corvette in track alignment will cause its tires to wear faster and unevenly, so it’s obviously not something that you’d really want to do, unless you work for or invest in a tire company. In this case, the long-term tester was put in track alignment with 1,979 miles on the clock, and once MT hit 11,589 miles, it says the car’s Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires were “down to the cords.”
For a nearly $2k set of tires that’s warrantied for 15k-20k miles, that’s not particularly great, as leaving the car in track alignment quite literally shred 30-60 percent of the rubber’s life span. But the excessive negative camber called for in the track settings also ensured that the insides of the tires were severely worn, reaching an unsafe state that’s difficult to even see given how low the C8 sits to the ground.
Of course, this may all seem quite obvious, but we wouldn’t blame someone for wanting to leave their C8 in track alignment for a while, particularly if they hit the track on the weekend and drive sparingly during the week. After all, paying a shop to do an alignment costs money, but then again, so do tires, so perhaps it’s best to change these settings back when the car is going to be driven on the street for any lengthy period.
Photos: Chevrolet
Keyword: This Is What Happens When a C8 Corvette Is Left in Track Alignment