Tunnel plate for C5

[ToolGuy]

Anyone have one of these?

Do you like it?

Did you have to remove the exhaust or can you work around it?

http://www.corvettegarage.com/produc...5-and-z06.html

[LLC5]

My question would be how would you ever notice the "extra rigidity" on a platform that is super rigid stock? Unless the vehicle is a heavily modified race car being driven by a professional racer, I doubt you would ever notice a difference. There are better ways to reduce noise and heat also.

[froggy47]

Improve the ride and performance of your 1997-2004 Corvette!

Since its release, the Tunnel Reinforcement Plate has been one of the hottest suspension mods for the C5 and Z06 Corvette. It has been proven over and over again to reduce the amount of torsional flex in the chassis.
Our plates are CAD designed and computer precision cut from 6061-T6 aluminum, and our 1/4” thick plate is two times the thickness of the stock OEM plate! The benefits of this added thickness is a much more rigid and stiffer tunnel plate, therefore reducing the amount of flex in the chassis and improving the overall functionality of the C5 suspension. Our plate is also Ceramic Coated to reduce the amount of heat transfer from the exhaust into the interior console.

The engineers at General Motors acknowledged the benefits of a stiffer more rigid tunnel plate and improved their original design and incorporated something similar into the new C6.


This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 11 November, 2004.

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I smell a marketing play much more than an improvement over original design.

Cad designed? It's a rectangle.

Thicker better? Why not 1/2 inch thick?

Proven over and over again? Show me the engineering tests & analysis.

Ceramic coated? Maybe, but I don't have a heat problem & if I did I'd wrap 5 bucks of header tape around the exhaust.

It's an easy mod & some guys just "have to" do something to the car & their seat of the pants test always notices an improvement.

:)

What do you guys think?

[ToolGuy]

Froggy47 read the C6 description on the same product, that one is more interesting!

[froggy47]

Originally Posted by ToolGuy

Froggy47 read the C6 description on the same product, that one is more interesting!

Ah ha,

Composite fiberglass thermal barrier

Well NOW YOU'RE TALKING!




PT Barnum sure had that one right.

[vettex2]

I don't know about the temps and stuff but 2 people I know that race, swear by them

This may be one of those items that gives you a little more than you think it will. I have the Elite Stainless Ceramic coated tunnel plates on both my 04 Vert and my 01 Z track car. The plates definetly reduce heat noticably in both cars. Extra rigidity - you can feel something, but its subtle.

[motorman]

i would guess if it works the C-6 ZO-6 would use something like this,does it?

Originally Posted by motorman

i would guess if it works the C-6 ZO-6 would use something like this,does it?

The C6 has the same plate, but the C6's plate is quite a bit thicker than the C5's. Some people have put C6 plates on their C5s. Neither stock plate has any ceramic coating though.

C5 plate is flimsy stamped metal
C6 plate is rigid but about 1/8th" think max
The aftermarket plates are 1/4" think and some are 3/8ths. You can get them ceramic coated and w/ thermal barriers.

I made my own 1/4" aluminum one over 2 years ago, but recently bought the thermal barrier from elite engineering to add to it.

Stiffens the car up and no more tunnel heat.