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This C8 Corvette Thinks It’s a Cadillac Because of a Software Bug

Right before Chevrolet unveiled the mid-engined Corvette a couple of years ago, General Motors president Mark Reuss made an interesting statement about the electrical architecture of the eighth-gen sports car. “We are going to do everything we can to protect our customers from a security standpoint,” he said, referring to the unhackable ECU as well.
C8 Corvette with Cadillac start-up screen 59 photos
Photo: Jaysmizle on YouTube
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“Global B I think is going to be the standard of the industry in terms of the encrypted messaging that travels on our bus between modules,” added Reuss. “There's a clean side and dirty side to that,” and as you’re aware by now, the dirty side is that aftermarket companies can’t tune the bejesus out of the V8 engine with 6.2 liters of displacement and dry-sump lubrication.

Hennessey Performance Engineering of Texas is probably the most vocal tuner out there, dissing General Motors for locking out customers and third parties from extracting more horsepower and torque. Adding insult to injury, the electronic stuff in the eighth-gen 'Vette is buggy.

Take, for example, the Stingray in the following video. “My car did that demo mode thing. It erased all of my radio presents, and a Cadillac emblem comes up on the main screen. I’m not sure how that’s possible,” said the owner, who jokingly added that he owns “the world’s worst Corvette.”

Be that as it may, the Cadillac logo on the start-up screen isn’t exactly strange. General Motors once gave the Corvette a sibling in the guise of the XLR, which utilized one of the worst V8s ever produced. Northstar is how it’s called, and it has a DOHC valvetrain instead of pushrods.

Problematic head gaskets, an intrusive limp mode, excessive oil consumption, and carbon deposits in the cylinders were too much for customers and GM alike, hence the small-block V8 used by Cadillac nowadays. As for the LT2 engine of the Stingray, the biggest problem so far concerns the substandard valve springs that may fail even on sub-100-mile cars.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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