Bureau Report: X8181zz3
Type: Summary Transcript of C5 Team Meeting
Covert recording //1213n9b.01.96 File No. 011.659trans Agent ID No. 0001.31214-0001 Status: Limited Access

Summary:

C5 Team met recently to discuss the vehicle's architecture, design and structure and touched upon several topics including vehicle packaging, human factors, door construction, damage-resistant plastics, noise and leaks, and crashworthiness. The limited-access meeting was recorded and the transcript is documented here.

 

Analysis:	C5 team's approach to vehicle packaging is called zone coordination.
Team member 1:	"If you're designing a car like the Corvette, you need some way to partition the car that is different than if you were putting together a station wagon."
Analysis:	Which meant that when the team focused on human factors, it was not from the "coffee cup" standpoint, but from more of a performance-related point of view.
Team member 1:	"Our cockpit encompasses many of the requirements we need to address for high-speed driving, such as foot/pedal relationships, and designing the windshield surround and the instrument panel in coordination with vision requirements. The Corvette buyer has unique requirements in these areas."
Analysis:	In the years since the basic design of the C4, GM has amassed a great deal of experience in door construction.
Team member 2:	"What we've learned from all of our cars that we've designed since C4, particularly the Camaro/Firebird program, is to incorporate the concept of the tubular impact steel beam."
Analysis:	Without giving up strength, the round-section beam saves weight, has a little more flexibility, and is less sensitive to misalignment and stress, ultimately enhancing quietness as well. In regard to damage-resistant Sheet Molded Compound (SMC) and other plastics, one team member summarized the benefits:
Team member 3:	"Plastic gives you the ability to mold certain shapes that you couldn't stamp in steel. It gives the designers more freedom to come up with a door that would enhance the shape of the vehicle."
Analysis:	Regarding progress made with noise and leaks, a C5 team member points to experience ...
Team member 4:	"What we've learned from other vehicles has formed the fundamental basis for doing the doors on the Corvette; we didn't have to go through the same learning curves on the C5."
Analysis:	Crashworthiness is the answer to the question of how you manage the energy of impact during an accident to provide a safe environment for the occupants. The high-performance nature of C5 demands components that are strong, yet lightweight. But crashworthiness was not a subject for compromise.
Team member 4:	"Right from the beginning, we had the ability to say to the release and design engineers, "We have only so much crush space. We must have rails that crush efficiently. The basic infrastructure of the car has to be able to absorb so much energy. We've got to design those rails of material and gauge what will manage the energy properly, so that the air bag doesn't have to do all the work. The structure must do its part."
Team member 3:	"You want to make things stiff, but you don't want to make things too stiff. You want a world-class sports car, but you don't want a 4,000-lb. sports car. You want a harmonious design that is light and nimble, but still has all the refinement. That's what we think we've accomplished."