Cars of Technology

     You couldn’t buy one of these Corvettes from your local Chevrolet dealer. You had to be approved by GM to buy one of these C5 Corvettes. Then after you were approved you had to go to the parts counter to place your order for the car. When your Corvette was finally delivered most of the car arrived in boxes. Oh, you had to drive to Flint Michigan to pick up the rolling chassis.     These were obviously no ordinary Corvettes. These were Corvette race cars.  From 1999 to 2001 you could buy your Corvette race car directly from Chevrolet, or more correctly from the Service and Parts Operations division of GM.          You didn’t really buy a complete Corvette. You bought a rolling chassis complete with a drivetrain, a bunch of body panels and any number of small parts. The body panels arrived in cardboard boxes. Actually in 1999 they arrived a few weeks later since there were some logistical problems.  When the C5 was int...

Thanks to the Department of Defense and NASA we have an entire family of chemical surface treatments that can be applied to various engine components. Our tax dollars have made all of this possible.              Most of the cutting edge developments in both F1 and NASCAR the past few years have been in ever more sophisticated coating technology. Even after all these decades coatings remain as the cutting edge of engine technology.             These coatings are not just about reducing friction. C oatings won’t make a measurable power difference unless the motor is turning over 6,500 rpm. Thermal barrier coatings and dry film lubricant coatings though don’t need to be spinning high rpms to be beneficial.              High tech coatings will though make a difference in three areas.        Increased thermal efficiency of the engine   ...