The C7 Does not Fit!

[jwawhite]

Visited my local Corvette Dealer and noticed two things. With the drivers seat in the rear most position, I cannot stretch my legs. When looking directly out the front window, my vision is just below the upper crossover of the window frame. In the C5 my straight ahead vision is almost at the center and I think I may have more headroom.

its a beautiful car but it doesn't fit my body.

 

[catbert]

Apparently. one size does not fit all.

 

[jrose7004]

I can tell you without a doubt that I fit in one really well and look good in there too!

 

[67vet]

If the Corvette does not fit - you must aquitt.

 

[6 Shooter]

Yep, they're a tight little package...

​

 

[jwawhite]

It started with the C 6

Was over at A&A Corvette, a shop that "upgrades" Corvettes and leg room discussion came up. The legroom in the C6 was shortened from the C5 length. Looking into t a bit more, the body of the C6 is shorter and yet the wheelbase is longer than the C5.
It is a deal breaker for me to move up to a C7, I need to stretch my legs once in a while while driving. I like my C5 too.

 

[ckohlman]

Driver legroom in 2016 Z06

I am 6-3 and I have more than adequate legroom in my 2002 6 speed convertible. I jumped at the chance to take a 2016 Z06 automatic coupe home over a weekend and returned it Monday morning deeply troubled by the lack of legroom in it. My knees hit the bolster under the dash and I cannot straighten my legs like I can in my 2002.

I researched the driver legroom stated on Chevrolet's website and it says that legroom hasn't changed since the C5 (~43" +/- .5"). It certainly has changed or I have missed something in the procedure to move the seat back.

My 2002 has more legroom than my 2012 Suburban and 2009 Buick Enclave. I have no problem with my knees hitting the bolster. I can even stretch both legs (35" inseam) straight out beyond the pedals which is terrific on long drives on the Interstate with the cruise engaged. The 2016 Z06 is way too cramped for my taste as I like to stretch out a little. I am really surprised AND disappointed. I drove a 2014 when it first hit my dealer's floor and I thought it had plenty of legroom or maybe I was just to excited about the rest of the car to notice that the seating resembled a American Airlines coach seat.

BTW, in case you were wondering, the 2014 and 2016 Z06 did not have the seat upgrade. They both had the base model seats. The seat upgrade is just too uncomfortable for me for normal non-track driving.

Further research on the Forums here surfaced some chatter about disconnecting a wiring connector behind the driver seat that will provide an additional 2" of legroom. Excited about this possibility, I posed it to my dealership's owner and service manager who escalated the question through Chevrolet. The response (it took a month) was that the circuit mentioned in the forums has something to do with regulating the velocity at which the driver air bag is deployed in a frontal collision and it wouldn't be a good idea to disconnect it for safety reasons and possible liability issues when the car changes owners. I suspect there would be no problem with the seat all the way back but may be a huge problem for a subsequent short owner who is sitting closer to the steering wheel when the airbag is deployed thinking the seat is all the way back. (This is my speculation and conclusion and not Chevrolet's. They were not very specific at all.)

I would really like to hear other tall drivers' thoughts as this issue is preventing me from buying the 2016 Z06. Maybe someone else has figured out the secret here. My dealer and I are stumped while Chevrolet has been of no significant or effective help in explaining the problem and/or solution.

 

[korvettekarl]

Reminds of why you see very few tall fighter pilots. You have to strap one one these cars on. The only time I am happy to be 5'9" tall.

 

[jwawhite]

Thank you Ckholman

For responding to my observation about leg room. I / we have it good in the C5. Reminds me of the time I picked a friend up for lunch. I thought it would be fun to remove the T top, it was a great day but turned out to be fortuitous....
His torso appeared to be longer than his legs and it looked like his head was over the windshield.....I don't think he noticed. So we of long legs need the legroom!

I also love the OD automatic (happy wife/auto transmission) it lowers the revs while we're cruising either up to San Francisco or a right to Las Vegas, on cruise control of course.

I notice Motor Trend's car of the year is the newly designed Camaro....but it looks like the big V8 only comes with a stick.. they also state a driver has more vision out the car windows. I may check out this new car, some of the Corvettes upgrades are also in this Chevrolet. This Camaro is rated above the BMWs!!

 

[jwawhite]

Wait a Minute

Sat in an Artic White one the other day....new observation? I can stretch a bit, it just requires a bit more finesse. GT seats.

But, I neglected to check out frontal viewing through the wind shield, oh shucks, I'll have to go back and check it out.

 

[Tom Martin]

C7 seats

One of the fairly recent issues of VETTE magazine had the same question asked of the tech guy and he gave the answer to that problem. You move the seat rails back.