Up next in 10
CORVETTE TODAY #180 - Meet Corvette's Performance Integration Engineer For E-Ray, Cody Bulkley
0 views
Jul 11, 2025
On this episode of CORVETTE TODAY, you'll meet one of the fresh, new shining faces of the Corvette team. Cody Bulkley (pronounced Buckley) is the Performance Integration Engineer for the new Corvette E-Ray. Now, you're probably saying to yourself, "What is a Performance Integration Engineer?". Cody explains that when he sits down with your CORVETTE TODAY host, Steve Garrett. Plus, Cody is the guy who did that awesome "Cyclone Spin" in New York City's Rockefeller Center on January 17th, 2023 when the Corvette E-Ray debuted. Cody's excitement and enthusiasm for the new E-Ray is blatantly obvious in this episode of CORVETTE TODAY...it makes me want to buy one! You can also see the video of the Cyclone Spin on this new episode of CORVETTE TODAY!
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Music] Welcome to Corvette Today, the podcast
0:06
that talks about everything Corvette with your host Steve Garrett, MC and DJ at one of the largest Corvette weekends
0:13
in the country, Corvette Funfest, president of the Corvette Club of Kansas City, Missouri, and radio disc jockey at
0:19
the number one radio station in Kansas City for over 40 years. Here's Steve Garrett.
0:28
Thanks for listening and watching Corvette Today, the show that talks about everything Corvette and the only
0:34
current podcast dedicated to Corvette. I'm your host, Steve Garrett. I appreciate you tuning in. Corvette Today
0:40
is brought to you by Wheelcraft. Want to dress up your Corvette with bright chrome or black chrome wheels? Learn
0:45
about their advanced PVD chrome finishing. They can refinish your wheels or offer a wheel exchange for most
0:50
models, and it comes with a 5-year warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com today or
0:56
call 833-639-4231. You can listen to Corvette today on all
1:01
podcast platforms. You can also listen on your smart device. Just say, "Hey Google," or "Alexa, play the podcast
1:07
called Corvette today and you're connected." Be sure and visit the updated Corvette Today website. It's
1:12
corvette.com. You can also access everything there, including the Corvette Today merchandise
1:17
store. You can also join the Corvette Today Facebook group there and sign up for Corvette Today emails,
1:23
notifications, and updates at corvette.page. And if you like YouTube, you can
1:30
subscribe to the Corvette Today YouTube channel. See all Corvette Today episodes on YouTube. And be sure and patronize
1:36
our flagship sponsors of Corvette today. Aerolari wheels, a true 4-in wheel with over 20 different unique styles to
1:43
choose from for your C8 and widebody versions of the C7, C6, and C5 Corvettes. It's an amazing value
1:50
starting at only 23.88 for a set of four fully forged wheels. And use the promo
1:55
code CT111 and get $100 off your purchase. Visit aerolari.com. That's a r
2:02
o l a r i.com and use the promo code ct111 for your $100 discount. And Soul
2:09
Performance Products developed and manufactured in the United States. The Soul Performance Products exhaust
2:15
portfolio has been tailored to elevate the experience of the world's most exciting sports cars, including the
2:20
latest generation of the Corvette. Soul Performance Products at sulp.com.
2:26
The official performance exhaust of Corvette today. Also, mid-enginecvet forum.com, the forum that focuses on the
2:32
new mid-engine C8 Corvette. Meet a lot of Corvette enthusiasts like yourself at mid-engine Corvette Forum.com. And a
2:40
shout out to Corvette Forum and Canadian Corvette Forum.com. Welcoming Corvette enthusiasts from around the world. My
2:46
guest on Corvette today is one of the fresh new young faces at General Motors. He's Chevrolet's performance integration
2:52
engineer for the -ay and he specializes in the e all-wheel drive chassis control
2:58
integration. Plus, he's the guy that did the famous cyclone turn in the -ay when
3:04
it debuted at Rockefeller Center's ice rink on January 17th of this year. His
3:09
name is Cody Buckley. Cody, welcome to Corvette today. Hey Steve, thanks for having us. It was
3:15
great to meet you at Bash and I'm excited to be here today. Well, thanks for taking time to be on the show, Cody.
3:20
First of all, let's talk about your upbringing, buddy. Where did you grow up? Tell me about your family and did you come from a car family?
3:27
Sure thing. So, I grew up in central Oregon, specifically Redmond, Oregon, which is in the heart of the state in a
3:33
beautiful high desert. If you can envision the most epic, beautiful back roads, stunning mountain shots, great
3:41
rally roads, epic scenery, that's where we grew up. you know, an awesome place to have a Corvette to spend your
3:46
pastime. My family, they were a big car family. We always grew up reading car
3:51
magazines, going to car shows. My dad used to talk to me about cars and how all the components function in the
3:58
vehicle. Growing up, as the youngest of three boys, we always were trying to find ways to have fun at the house.
4:04
Well, one cool thing is my family had an apple orchard at our property and my dad had this John Deere tractor that he
4:10
would use to weed eat and go around and spread sod around. Well, we saw it a different way. We saw that as a lap time
4:16
device. So, we would just take that and we would go rally it through all the trees in the orchard and lap time each
4:23
other. And really, that just got the spirit of racing and enthusiasm for cars and having fun, which is some of the
4:29
character that you'll see in the -ay, just how fun it is. Well, I had a lot of fun like that growing up with my
4:34
brothers rallying through the orchard and we may have spilled a little bit of weed kill there once in a while. My dad
4:40
wasn't too thrilled about the grass, but we had a great time doing it. You know, we didn't have too many sports cars
4:45
growing up. He got one when I was in high school and that ship sailed for me and that's when I became a Corvette
4:50
believer at heart. That's cool. Now, you mentioned your dad. I know he was a strong influence on you. Talk about your father and the role
4:56
he played in your life and in your career. Yeah, sure thing. I could speak hours about what he's done for me in a
5:02
positive way, but in short, he's a great and bad influence on me. He's been a great influence as far as supporting me
5:09
for racing, supporting my career, supporting me through college, giving me great advice, but he's a bad influence
5:14
because he keeps getting me to buy more tires, go racing. But we have an awesome dynamic and we love to spend time at the
5:20
racetrack and talking about Corvettes. You know, I really couldn't be where I'm at without the support of my parents
5:26
going through college and helping me get there and keep me motivated over the years and supporting me while, you know,
5:32
they all live in Oregon and I'm in Michigan. So, being able to still stay in touch and allow me to go across the
5:38
country and live my life and career with General Motors has been a pretty special experience. Absolutely. Now, during your school
5:44
years, when did you discover you were a car guy? And was Corvette the go-to car for you? Like most people that would
5:51
listen to this podcast, I grew up burning tires off of Power Wheels, playing with Hot Wheels, reading
5:57
magazines, drawing cars, pretty much just dreaming of the new poster child
6:02
car that we all loved. For me, that was always the Corvette. My dad had magazines around from Car and Driver,
6:08
Road and Track that always had really the fourth and fifth generation cars were the iconic ones when I was growing
6:13
up, right on the tail of when the C5 got released. And I remember at a very early
6:18
age around third grade for me, I remember drawing Corvettes in school and knowing like I want to work on Corvettes
6:25
someday. Like that's the car. I was certain of it. It's very obvious too that the brainwash came from my parents
6:31
who loved Corvettes. You know, at that time my dad didn't have one, but he loved Corvettes and it was always that
6:37
was the car. There was no question it was Corvette or nothing at that point. That's cool. That's really cool. Now,
6:42
what did you study in college, Cody? And talk about your college experience. When I went to college, I started with a lot
6:49
of computer background and depth from high school. So, I was always into the technology side of it. So, Cody has
6:56
myself has um either a tech side or an automotive side and I really like both.
7:01
I love technology, cell phones and stuff like that and I love cars and driving them, getting behind the wheel. I wanted
7:06
to merge the two together. So what I did by doing that was I found a school
7:12
Oregon Institute of Technology which is on the south side of the state that really is a hands-on experience. They
7:18
offered several degrees that were very exciting. The first one I got was computer engineering technology and then
7:24
embedded systems engineering technology. So those are hands-on in that computer engineering field and then I was able to
7:31
tailor that experience into the automotive world. So for me, when I would go to do projects and work through
7:37
tasks each day in class, I would always relate them to car parts. For example, we had to write a controller one time. I
7:44
wrote an engine controller in class. So I was always narrowing what I was learning to be towards the automotive
7:49
field because I knew I wanted to work on Corvette. And if you think about it, riding the wave when I was in college, I
7:55
knew that the computer influence in cars was going to skyrocket. And if you look
8:00
at where we are today with how many controllers are in cars, I could have went the mechanical engineering path, but I knew that there was something
8:07
special when you look at the computer integration and the embedded control systems in cars that that was going to
8:12
be the new hot ticket. And honestly, I think that's a pretty special path to getting into the automotive industry. So
8:18
that's what I studied there. Going through experiences, it was fantastic. I went to a pretty small school, a really
8:25
close group with the professors and really was focusing on working hard getting these degrees so that I could
8:30
eventually go to General Motors. That was always the goal for me and tailoring my studies towards the automotive
8:36
industry throughout my experiences. That's so cool that you knew exactly what you wanted to do at such an early
8:41
age. And like you said, your goal was always to work at General Motors and more specifically on the Corvette,
8:47
right? Yeah, that's very accurate. And that goes back all the way high school, middle school, etc. If you'd always ask
8:53
like a young kid, what do you want to do when you grow up? I actually did answer that I wanted to work on the Corvette.
8:58
It's kind of ironic that that's where I'm at today because I stuck with that passion. So, anyone that's listening, if
9:03
you've got a passion that you want to follow or a dream, you can do it. It's true. And that's what I did is I stuck
9:10
with it and I started day one of college saying, "I want to work at General Motors on Corvette. What path can I take
9:15
to get there?" And that's what I did with the computer engineering, embedded systems engineering, and tailoring all
9:20
my classwork and all the projects to be towards automotive industry. That was all a plot for me to be able to get an
9:28
interview with General Motors. And yeah, I always wanted to work on Corvette. So, no surprise that I ended up there.
9:33
That's so cool. At least you knew what you wanted to do going right into school and you focused on that. You got in, you
9:38
got out, and now you're at General Motors. That's right. That's cool. Well, buddy, let's take our first break. When we come back, we're
9:44
going to talk about your college experience and your job at General Motors. That's coming up next on Corvette Today. We all know that wheels
9:51
make the car. Wheelcraft's PVD chrome finish in bright chrome or black chrome will take your Corvette to new levels,
9:58
and it comes with a 5-year warranty. Durability is defining feature of the Wheelcraft finish. Their PVD chrome is
10:03
superior to traditional chrome with a finish that is brake dust resistant and cleans effortlessly with soap and water.
10:09
Wheelcraft offers factory wheel exchange for select C4 through C8 models. Or they can apply the PBD finish to your current
10:16
wheels. No matter what generation you own, Wheelcraft will transform the look of your Corvette. With every Corvette
10:22
comes a unique story. And Wheelcraft has embraced his idea. When you purchase your new set of wheels, you receive a
10:27
lifetime membership to the Wheelcraft Pit Crew, granting you access to your own page on Wheelcraft's website, where
10:33
you can post pictures and tell your Corvette story. Visit our website at wheelcraft.com or call 833639-4231.
10:41
Arrive in style with Wheelcraft. Car Capsule brings you the official multi-awwardwinning Corvette SC1
10:48
showcase. It's the ultimate form of protection, preservation, and presentation for your Corvette. No dust,
10:54
mold, or mildew. This officially licensed GM product features all eight Corvette flag logos, Corvette branding
11:00
on the panels, a carbon fiber look and feel, and interior chip onboard lighting. Plus the Intella Charge
11:06
battery charger with the fan backup system. It takes only 5 minutes to inflate and it won't collapse when you
11:12
open the doors or during a power loss. It's a freestanding drive-in driveout operation. See it at carcapsule.com or
11:19
call 2199459493.
11:24
The radiator grill store offers protection for your C8's front radiators and side intakes. They also carry front
11:30
strut tower covers to prevent rusting and pooling water. All with do-it-yourself installation. Get 10% off
11:36
your total purchase with promo code ct10. See the full line of products at radiator grillilstore.com.
11:44
Are you ready to take your Corvette to the next level? Look no further than Classic Trim Customs as the number one
11:50
supplier for American Hydrocarbon. We've manufactured some of the most impressive Corvette parts on the market. From
11:55
engine bay panels to splitters and side skirts. With over 30 years of experience in hydrographics, we've perfected the
12:01
technique and use only state-of-the-art materials and equipment to ensure the highest quality and precision. Visit our
12:07
website at classicgrimcustoms.com or give us a call at 305258-3090
12:13
to learn more about our products and services. Whether you want to create a showstopping ride or just add a touch of
12:18
personalization, the sky is the limit with Classic Trim Customs. Let us help you create the Corvette of your dreams.
12:27
You're listening and watching Corvette Today with Steve Garrett. Thanks for checking out Corvette Today
12:34
on podcast and YouTube. It's the only current podcast dedicated to Corvette. Corvette Today is brought to you by
12:40
Wheelcraft. Summer's here and so is Car Show season. You want your Corvette looking its best. Dress it up with
12:46
bright chrome or black chrome wheels. Visit wheelcraft.com and learn about their advanced PVD chrome finishing.
12:52
They can refinish your wheels or do a wheel exchange. and you get a 5-year warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com today or
12:59
call them at 833-639-4231. I'm your host, Steve Garrett. With me
13:05
today is Cody Buckley. Cody is the Chevrolet performance integration engineer for the -ay. In this second
13:11
segment, we're going to talk about Cody's College and how he got into General Motors. First, Cody, you
13:16
participated in Formula SAE, which is really, really cool. Talk about that and
13:21
what that meant to you. Formula SAPE is a program that collegiate students can
13:26
do where you compete against colleges all over the world building a three4 scale race car. So like think of a
13:33
Formula 1 car and then take a fourth of the dimensions off. And that's what this car is. And it has a very strict rule
13:39
set that each college has to follow in order to be able to compete against each other. So it's a cutthroat environment
13:45
where you're trying to develop the best race car as students while you're learning against all the big schools in
13:51
the world. And for me, this was the ultimate ticket as a resume builder to catch the attention of General Motors in
13:58
this example. And for anyone that's going to college wanting to work in the automotive industry, you know, Formula
14:04
SAPE is where you start. So for us, we were a very, very small school, limited resources, and what that did was it was
14:11
honestly a blessing for us because it allowed creative thinking on how to design, manufacture, and build a race
14:17
car. We knew that you could develop a pretty basic car that did all the functions and you can check all the
14:22
boxes and you can go to competition and do average. But that wasn't us. We wanted to go so far into left field that
14:29
we had a radical car that no one had seen before. And we wanted to introduce technologies and advancements that would
14:36
catch the attention of employers so that us as college students could get jobs. So for our program, we developed an
14:44
active aerodynamic system. The importance of what that is is that we developed this in-house. We developed
14:49
the mechanical aerodynamic elements. We developed the controls software and we
14:54
even went down to the PCB level for the hardware so that every single aspect of it was truly designed by students. That
15:01
was one of the first that's ever come out because we didn't outsource anything. the aerodynamics, the entire
15:06
development of the system, the testing of it, all of that came back to us and that truly was pure as far as what we
15:13
had learned as far as the employers sake. They could tell that we weren't influenced by any outsource consulting
15:19
and that was a big deal. You know, we had a turbo on the car, we had carbon fiber suspension components, big
15:24
aerodynamic elements, really fast race car. So, you can think about what it means to build a race car and then bring
15:31
it up to that level of performance. That's one of the most fun things I've ever done. So, I got to improve my
15:36
subjective performance. So, what we do at General Motors in my job now is we have to drive the cars, write down the
15:43
motion and the experiences we have, and then we have to relate that back to engineering and metrics and how to solve or improve the performance. Well, what
15:49
Formula SE did for me was not only did it allow us to prove that we can build a race car, follow the rules, and follow
15:55
engineering principles, but it allowed us to improve our subjective evaluation skills, which is critical for my day job
16:02
today. So, for example, with the aerodynamic system, we would make a tweak to the way the control system
16:08
worked, when it was opening the flaps, when it was closing the flaps, what it was doing midc corner, and we could
16:13
drive the car, improve my driving skills, which is fun because I wasn't paying for the tires. And then you could relate that back to the way the control
16:19
system worked and how we wanted to tweak it. Little did I know how critical that was for my day job. I think for anyone
16:26
that's going through college, Formula SE is one of the most memorable experiences because you break a lot of stuff.
16:32
There's a lot of questionable engineering practices, but really it's what makes you as an engineer brings that character in. It was a great
16:37
experience. Man, that sounds like so much fun. Cody, what are your degrees from Oregon Tech then?
16:43
So, I went to two schools for college. one for undergrad, one for grad school. Oregon Institute of Technology or Oregon
16:49
Tech is where I went for undergrad. What I got there was a computer engineering technology degree, a bachelor's in that,
16:56
a bachelor's in embedded systems engineering technology, and then an associates in software engineering
17:01
technology. And really, I only needed one of those to get a job. But I knew I wanted to get the most background and
17:08
depth though that when someone looked at a resume, they looked at, hey, I was the captain for a year on formula. I did
17:13
this, this, and this. and I had three degrees from the school that it was enough to catch the attention from a
17:19
recruiter. And then while at GM, fast forward a couple years was my grad school experience where I went to the
17:25
University of Michigan Dearborn and got a graduate of engineering degree in automotive systems engineering.
17:31
Wow, that's really fascinating. Now, talk about getting into GM right after school because when you started at GM,
17:37
you started working on Corvettes in the chassis control systems, right? So, getting into GM was a hilarious
17:42
story. When I was in undergrad, my dad was taking me to an IMSA Corvette race
17:48
at Laguna Secikka. You know, we would travel around to watch the race cars. One of the passionate father-son things we would do. Well, we drove his C6 Z-51
17:56
down there and had a great time. We went and watched the race and we signed up for the Corvette Corral, which people on
18:02
this podcast would be familiar with, and there was a dinner with the Corvette team and we're like, "Oh, that's cool.
18:07
You know, we should do that." Yeah. Well, in classic Buckley form, we were 30 minutes late. Not even close. And
18:12
because of that, we were able to come up to the front and they're like, "Oh, you guys, you know, you missed it. You know,
18:18
you're not even close." And they said, "Well, the only spots left are up front by Tad and Josh Holder." I'm like, "Ah, sweet."
18:24
So, I sat right next to Josh and his wife and we spent the whole evening telling awesome stories about our
18:31
personal experiences at the time for me in Formula SE and burning all my dad's tires up in his Corvette that he
18:36
probably didn't realize and having fun in his car. and then hearing Josh's side on the program team and you know making
18:42
that connection. You know, you can't make this up. My best advice is to show up late and go to dinner and sit right next to the chief and the executive
18:48
chief. Pretty awesome experience. So that's how I made that personable contact to Josh, but I still had to
18:54
graduate and I had to go through the formal process that everyone does, but he told me how to do that. Him and Taj
18:59
got me in touch with the careers.gm.com, which is still active today. And this is another funny story because I had no
19:05
idea the levels at General Motors. So, I saw a bunch of jobs that had computer engineering or embedded systems, you
19:11
know, relating to my background. Well, I just spam applied to all of them. And I had no idea that they were like what we
19:16
call level seven, level eight jobs, which is 10 years of experience more. And here I am a brand new college grad
19:21
applying for these jobs that you need a ton of experience. So, clearly underqualified. But the recruiter called me back explaining that to me and I
19:27
joked with them and I said, "Hey, I got you to call me, right?" And they loved that and then the ship sailed and they hired me. I was pretty stoked about
19:33
that. While starting at General Motors, I started in a rotation program that they offer, which is brilliant for new
19:40
college grads to gain crossf functional exposure through the entire General Motors portfolio. So, we've got, you
19:45
know, engineering development, engineering design, manufacturing, validation, vehicle testing. There's so
19:51
much that you could tailor your portfolio of what you want to do. And for me, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I want to be a chassis controls
19:57
engineer on Corvette. And I was lucky enough, you know, obviously Josh and those guys have a lot of help in getting
20:03
me to the right people and getting me to understand the right path, how to get there. And in my second rotation, I
20:08
worked in the virtual chassis controls lab. What this lab does is it takes a
20:13
controller. For example, for me, it was the new electronic brake boost unit in the C8. So that eBoost is what we call
20:20
it. If you think about the C7 and down, they used a hydraulic traditional style vacuum assisted brake booster. That went
20:27
away on the eighth generation and we went to this fully electric boost system. And we needed to be able to test
20:33
that thoroughly to make sure that it was safe for a vehicle and verify performance. I was able to get assigned
20:39
to that program in 2017 time frame. And this is very early days where you couldn't even talk about what you worked
20:45
on. The Corvette was so put in a corner away from everyone, the C8 that is. and the brake boost system. Effectively what
20:52
we're doing is we're stimulating that real controller with inputs thinking that it's in a vehicle. So effectively
20:57
the eboost thought it was in a real vehicle and we're able to run it through a bunch of tests that can verify
21:02
performance and feature functionality. Getting a couple years of exposure there and learning and getting to know the
21:08
program team that allowed me to get the analytical background of chassis controls. So I was able to learn the fundamentals of stability control,
21:14
traction control, and ABS brakes. And then I was able to get a job in my
21:20
current role, which is the chassis controls integration, which still works on those same systems, but now in the
21:26
vehicle. So instead of working on them virtually, now I work on them physically and do the testing on the
21:32
That sounds good. And those are great stories, buddy. Talk a little bit more kind of in layman's terms about what a
21:38
chassis control systems integrator does and how it relates and makes Corvette so much fun to drive. What a chassis
21:45
controls integration engineer does is they act as the voice of the customer regarding the chassis control systems.
21:51
So antilock brakes, traction control, stability control. We drive the vehicles and we test out the features, the
21:57
functions and the performance. And then we have to validate that everything's working like we want it to and the
22:02
performance is good. So when we find issues, we follow up on those and we verify that everything gets fixed, that
22:08
the systems are safe. And the fun to drive part of it really comes in with the -ray as having so much tractive
22:15
capacity under the car. So you start with the mid engine that's got unbelievable amount of traction because
22:21
the moving the mass to the rear and then you add this electrified all-wheel drive system. Now, we get to have so much fun
22:28
with the car because even driving on a spirited back road, you feel the car having so much grip and so much torque
22:34
and the immediiacy that the way the car drives, you don't even need to break the law to have fun in the car. Pulling into
22:40
traffic is now fun and it never gives this experience like you've felt before. So, what we do is we work through those
22:47
systems and make sure that the performance is where we want it to be. And on the -ay, that meant integrating
22:52
in this brand new all-wheel drive system. So what we did on a day-to-day basis is we just verify that that system
22:59
is functioning with all the rest of the car. I get to work with some of the most brilliant engineers at General Motors
23:05
doing so. That's so cool. Let's talk a little bit more about how you got started with -ay Cody. How did you get that job and all
23:12
the development thereof? When I got the current role I'm in, the -ray was just in its very infancy time
23:18
frame. We didn't really have a chassis controls person that was taking it on from a holistic standpoint. When the
23:25
team was working through the development, they were finalizing the Stingray of the Z-51 and they were working on this brand new beautiful LT6
23:32
flat plane crank engine, a lot of the resources were set aside to make sure that that program was a success. So,
23:38
early on when I got my job in Circa 2019, the current role I'm in, I was assigned to monitor the chassis controls
23:45
integration of the Eallhe drive on the -ay. And really for me, what stood out with that was I had my hand raised as
23:51
high as it could be to work on this program because this car didn't have the history like the other variants had. So
23:57
for example, a Z06, that's a track car and it's been that way for a very long time. Nobody knows what the E-Ray is. So
24:04
that means I was going to be able to share some creativity, work on a brand new system that was very stimulating as
24:09
far as comprehending how the system was going to integrate. And I was super excited. So, as you can imagine, I was
24:15
raising my hand very high to get the opportunity to work on this car. And then from there, we were working on an
24:20
early phase of development. We call it the mule phase. And that's actually, for a fun fact, that was the first time we
24:26
did a cyclone in the vehicle. But that was really awesome, right? Getting to drive an all-wheel drive Corvette for the first time. And driving it in the
24:33
snow and not getting stuck, getting in and out of a driveway. These were monumental things that we were able to
24:38
be a part of and very passionate and excited that I got to take on this role. That's awesome. That is fantastic. And
24:44
we're going to talk a little bit more about that in segment number three. Let's take our final break, Cody. When we come back, we're going to talk more
24:51
and we're going to talk about the Rockefeller Center. Coming up next on Corvette Today.
24:57
Are you ready for a better insurance policy without the Corvette tax? With agreed value protection, the value of
25:03
your collector vehicle will never change. Plus, you'll save money. Get a quick quote at ncm insurance.com.
25:10
Hey honey, are you awake? M I am now. I can't sleep. Since turning 50, I keep
25:16
dreaming of a red door and a blue door. Somehow knowing there are only choices for retirement.
25:21
Okay. Through the red door, we outlive our money. We have to rely on our kids. We're stuck on a fixed income. It's
25:27
terrifying. Yeah, that would suck. But through the blue door, our money outlives us. We retire on our terms. Our
25:34
kids stay our kids, not our caretakers. We make work optional. Yes, that's much
25:39
better. That's what I want, too. But what do we do? We call True Wealth and Company at 913-6538783.
25:47
They specialize in helping successful people make work optional. They're our fiduciary blue door personal wealth
25:52
managers. Hey, where are you going? It's 3:00 a.m. I can't sleep. I'm going to check out
25:57
True Wealth and Company online at retirewithtr.com. That blue door is going to be our retirement.
26:02
9136538783. Visit us online at retirewithtr.com. Investment advice offered through True
26:08
Up and Company LLC, a registered investment adviser in the state of Kansas. Vetfinders.com is the internet's
26:13
original Corvette classified ads website with classified ads starting at just $25. And every ad runs until your
26:21
Corvette is sold. If you're in the market for a Corvette, vetfinders.com has over 500 Corvettes for sale from all
26:28
around the USA and Canada and covering all eight generations. Visit vetfinders.com, the internet's
26:34
destination for buying and selling Corvettes. That's ve tfinders.com.
26:41
When you want to buy a Corvette or any Chevrolet for that matter, get yours from Hendrick Chevrolet Shauny Mission
26:47
located in Kansas City. Hendrick Chevrolet is the largest Corvette dealership and showroom in the Midwest.
26:52
With a knowledgeable sales staff and Corvette sales specialists on hand, they'll help you build the Corvette of
26:57
your dreams. and they ship nationwide. With Corvette certified master mechanics on site and a huge parts department with
27:03
over 24,000 parts and $2 million in inventory, Hendrickk Chevrolet is well equipped to take care of your every
27:09
need. From sales to service to collision repair, Hendrickk Chevrolet has you covered. Visit cheviusa.com or call
27:16
913841550.
27:22
You're listening to the Corvette Today podcast with Steve Garrett. Thanks once again for listening and
27:28
watching Corvette Today, the show that talks about everything Corvette. Corvette Today is brought to you by
27:33
Wheelcraft. Summer's here and so is car show season. You want your Corvette looking its best. Dress it up with
27:39
bright chrome or black chrome wheels. Visit wheelcraft.com and learn about their advanced PVD chrome finishing.
27:45
They can refinish your wheels or do a wheel exchange and you get a 5-year warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com today or
27:52
call them at 833-639-4231. I'm your host Steve Garrett. With me is
27:58
Cody Buckley, Chevrolet's performance integration engineer. In this third and final segment, we're going to talk more
28:03
about the -ray and its debut at Rockefeller Center. Cody, this e all-wheel drive system is new for the
28:10
-ay. Talk about how the all-wheel drive system makes a difference for the customer and what someone driving the is
28:17
going to feel. The one thing you're going to feel while driving the E-Ray is that torque immediacy. You're going to
28:22
get blown back into the seat from how fast the car propels to 60 miles an
28:28
hour, propels out of the corner, or propels out of a snow road as you're trying to get out of a bad condition.
28:34
So, the E-Ray really brings this new drive experience. When you take the base mid-enine cars that are rear wheel
28:40
drive, we've got that awesome mid-enine vehicle dynamics, but this car is different. This car feels different to
28:46
the customer and it provides a different drive experience to the car. So, for example, driving the e-wheel drive
28:52
system brings you the ability to drive on roads that you never would think of before. If you look at in the past, most
28:58
Corvette drivers would be terrified of driving in the snow, on gravel, in the wet even. And this car just begs to do
29:05
that. So, it brings this character that really promotes the car to be driven. And it's exciting to do it. And you
29:12
don't need to break the law. You've got this torque immediiacy that right when you tip into the pedal, it just throws
29:18
your head back, it feels like you're driving this big block V8 underneath you that really just wants to go. So, when
29:24
you look at examples for driving in low grip conditions, the all-wheel drive system is able to learn the tire
29:31
capacity at each corner and adjust the all-wheel drive balance. What that means is, let's say you're driving home from
29:36
work and it's in the fault and oh boy, it's snowing. How am I going to get home? Well, in the past, you'd be really
29:42
worried. maybe trying to park the car under a covering and wait out the snowstorm. In the -ray, it promotes you
29:48
to go out in the snow and it promotes you to go have fun. And that confidence that you get behind the wheel of that
29:53
near 50/50 all-wheel drive balance. That way, that torque split can propel you through those conditions, it gives you
30:00
that confidence behind the wheel that no Corvette has been able to do in the past on low grip surfaces. So, when you're
30:05
going up a mountain back road, you know, you're still in a Corvette, so you got to be mindful of ground clearance, but
30:11
it's going to give you a whole new perspective of driving in the snow that no other Corvette's been able to match in the past. And it's fun. That's the
30:17
thing is you're going to go through that and you're going to say, "Oh, I'm throwing rocks up on the side of the car. That's not good. Man, that was fun.
30:23
I want to do that again." And really, that playful all-wheel drive balance comes in because it's able to learn and
30:29
adjust the way that torque delivers in the car. It's always doing the right thing for the surface at hand. So, if
30:35
you're driving on an asphalt pad, a closed down drift pad, and you're wanting to get the car sideways, and
30:40
have fun with it. It's going to have a different all-wheel drive balance than it would driving up a snow pass or on a
30:46
gravel back road. And the neat thing about this is the way the integration works is it feels natural to the driver.
30:52
The main mission that we got from the program team was this car needs to have digital systems that feel analog. What I
30:59
mean by that is it needs to feel natural to the driver where they don't have to think about it. We want the car to feel
31:05
just like a normal car would. Even though you've got two disconnected powertrains working together via
31:10
software communication, we did an exceptional job of making the car feel as one connected natural flow while
31:18
driving. It's really special. So, a couple examples there are when you look at the traction control system. We now
31:24
have control for each wheel of the car and that's new for Corvette obviously with the front driven wheels, but the
31:30
all-wheel drive system and the traction control are in two different modules and they need to work together. So, we spent
31:35
a lot of time in development making those interfaces and the performance work where they're not stepping on each
31:41
other's toes the way that the torque's being delivered to the front axle and the traction control system is managing the torque. That's the positive torque
31:48
side of it. So the fun pedal when you get a tip into the throttle and get sideways. But there's also the other aspect of the car. It's a P4
31:54
architecture from a hybrid standpoint. And what that means is we have to recover energy naturally. There's no
32:01
plug-in. So we have to do heavy brake regen, coast regen, that type of energy
32:06
recovery systems that are very creatively integrated so that the anti-lock brake system can still recover
32:12
full energy. So, for example, when you're driving on snow, the regen energy on the front axle is enough, that torque
32:19
is enough to lock the wheels in certain conditions. So, the ABS control system has to be able to balance brake pressure
32:26
and regen torque on the front axle so that you still have that stable brake stop and turnability that you used to
32:32
while driving on low grip surfaces. And then when you're on a racetrack and you're on a high grip surface, well,
32:38
guess what? we can barrel in all that regen and still manage the breaking through a corner so that you're
32:44
capturing as much energy as possible. So, we had to think through all of those brand new interfaces that never existed.
32:51
Really, we had to have so many whiteboards on this car because nothing existed. We had to go back to the whiteboard so many times, get these
32:57
interfaces sorted out and verify that the performance is doing what we want. And that was one of the critical parts
33:03
about the -ray in this integration domain is just making sure that all of these control systems work together in
33:09
harmony so that it's an awesome experience for the driver and they get the confidence that we want.
33:14
That's amazing. You know, it makes me want to buy an -ay and it's a true four-season allyear car then. Isn't it?
33:20
It really is. And you know, if you look at what we've done with the car in all the media that we've shown so far, we
33:26
truly have taken this car on low grip surfaces, driven it through ice, driven it through snow, and really it showed
33:33
off the plethora of capability that this car has, and it takes the Corvette to that new four-season capacity. Whether
33:40
you're on a racetrack, whether you're on the low grip surfaces, whether you're canyon carving, and all of that comes to
33:47
the centerfold of the car, which is that brand new Michelin Pilot Sport allseason
33:52
4 plus tire that is bespokly designed with Michelin for the -ay. This tire
33:57
brings that allseason name to a whole new level. We did all of our snow development and ice development with the
34:04
allseason. We don't even recommend winter tire car unless if you're in a export market that forces us to go that
34:10
direction. So, we're telling people to drive these things on all seasons. And guess what? That tire can pull nearly a
34:16
G of lateral capacity, which means it's great for canyon carving going all around on the best roads across the
34:22
United States. And this tire really just takes it to a whole new level. And we're beyond excited for the customers to
34:27
experience it on the Ray. When you combine this brand new allseason tire with the eall-wheel drive electrified
34:34
system, you get a Corvette that can take you places like none other before.
34:39
That's amazing. I can't wait for this car. Now, Cody, the -ray debuted on the exact same day, which is January 17th,
34:46
that the first Corvette debuted in New York City 70 years ago. That seemed like a stroke of genius to me. Was that your
34:53
idea? That was very creatively and strategically placed on that date. I call it Trevor's awesome idea. Trevor
34:59
Tomkins with our communications team. He was able to identify that New York was obviously where the Corvette was
35:06
revealed 70 years ago on that date. We couldn't miss that date by a day. We had
35:11
to have it exact, right? So, we had to do something exactly on that date downtown New York that would blow the
35:17
minds of people across the world. And really, if you look at what we did, the Rockefeller Center is at the heart of
35:22
New York City. And we wanted it to be that way. We wanted to be right in the front of everyone. and show off this
35:28
brand new vehicle and celebrate 70 years of Corvette along the way. Let's talk about that Rockefeller Center
35:34
debut because the logistics of that had to be mind-boggling. Debuting the -ray on the ice rink there at Rock Center had
35:41
to be so much fun, but there's a lot of logistics that went into that, right? Yeah. The the logistics is really what
35:47
consumed all of the time for this. When you step back and you walk through the bash presentation that I did, which was
35:52
a pretty nice way of walking through this piece by piece, you look at when everyone was at home enjoying their
35:58
vacation with the holidays. Our team was working overtime trying to make this happen. So, the first thing was, you
36:04
know, the communications team said, "Hey, we want to use downtown New York. Well, we got to find somewhere to go."
36:10
Trevor jokingly was like, "What about the Rockefeller Center?" And we all looked at it and we're like, "That'd be cool. What are we going to do there?"
36:15
And I remember joking with Trevor like I think we can drift that you know and that was the point where I said hey
36:21
we've got this maneuver you know in our back pocket that we found which we'll talk about the cyclone being like something that would be really neat to
36:27
show off to customers like I think we can drift that downtown New York. So we're both like ah you know the
36:33
integration team was pretty skeptical like no way the Rockefeller is never going to let us do this. And we heard it from Trevor like no we're green light
36:39
like no way like they're going to let us put a Corvette there. And then we're like oh boy how do you get a Corvette down there? There's not a driveway into
36:45
this thing. Well, it's New York City. Apparently, you can just rent a huge crane close down the streets and you can just the car down. We thought along this
36:52
way like, ah, no way. It's never going to happen. We get past that hurdle and like, oh my gosh, we have a crane. The
36:58
city's going to let us do it. How is this possible? And then halfway through there, we're like, we should probably test this to make sure we can do this
37:04
maneuver. So, we went to our Northern Michigan test facility, and this was early December time frame, and we set up
37:11
on an ice field. We've got a beautiful snow and ice facility up there and we set up cones the exact dimensions of the
37:18
Rockefeller Plaza and we were able to try out a bunch of things. Try some launches, try some drifting and what we
37:24
found out was, hey, this the cyclone that's the top ticket, but you can't really see the drama. Ice is boring
37:30
visually because you don't really see what's going on from the dynamics of the wheels. And that's when we said, man, we
37:36
need snow. So, we brushed over some snow from a snow field up north. And we were able to throw up snow all over the sides
37:42
of the car, all four wheels spinning. It was magical and beautiful, and we needed that to be what people saw on live TV.
37:49
And the team was amazed. Wow. Downtown New York, you can just rent a company that brings 53 foot trucks in of ice and
37:57
converts it into snow. And that's what we did. So, we got past that step. So, let's step back. We've gotten approval
38:02
to use the Rockefeller. We have a way to get the car down there and we can make snow. Oh my goodness, we're going to be
38:07
able to do this. And that's really when it became real. It was to the point where we really needed to make sure this
38:13
was going to be a success for General Motors and for the Corvette brand. And what's awesome about this whole thing is
38:18
it really went to plan. We didn't have a lot of hurdles. There was some small quirks, you know, making the snow, the
38:24
machine was getting clogged up. We were running through those type of things. We found that the ice was grippier than we had thought because when we got there,
38:30
we didn't have them Zamboni. So, all the aggregate was still there from the cute kids skating around all day. That was a
38:37
huge benefit. And then getting the vehicles down with the cranes. That was a pretty risky thing, right? Like, can
38:42
you imagine if that would have failed? A car falling off, that would have been horrible. So, thankfully everything went
38:48
very safe. Went right to the plan, and the cars got down there. We had two cars down there to practice with overnight.
38:54
As you know, we started at 1000 p.m. the night before and pulled an all nighter practicing. Everything really went to plan. We found that we actually wanted
39:00
less snow than we initially thought. So, that was good. You know, things to figure out that we wanted to get the
39:06
surface exactly perfect. And I tell you what, the first time that we practiced that cyclone, oh my goodness, downtown
39:12
New York while everyone was sleeping. What a magical experience. You know, this wasn't on live TV. This was overnight and it was in the practice
39:18
car, but we knew we were going to be able to do it and we would be able to get something so special for the
39:24
customers of the Corvette and enthusiasts of the brand that we were going to shock the world. That was so cool. And this cyclone turn,
39:30
I've watched this over and over and over. This has got to be like a first in automotive history because the -ray
39:37
spins on its center axis, not from the front wheels, and spins around on the front wheels like a donut, right?
39:42
Yeah. That's what's so cool about the -ay. Circling back to our winter test facility back in 2019, we had our mule
39:50
vehicle, which is an early development that we built up like a Frankenstein to be able to test all these systems early
39:57
on. One afternoon after the testing was complete, we turned traction and stability control off. And we're like,
40:02
well, this thing's allhe drive. It should be able to do something different than a Z6. Let's see what it can do. And we were in a back snow field off in the
40:08
corner where no one's watching and we just went full throttle, turned the wheel. The passenger and I were just so
40:14
confused. We're like, "What the heck was that?" You know, like we're trying to figure it out from an engineering perspective. We're like, "Well, it
40:19
didn't really rotate on this axi. It didn't rotate on that axi. It rotated at the center of the driven torx and we're
40:25
like, wait a minute." And we back the car up and we look at our tracks and we can see that the marks in the snow. The
40:30
car was completely in place from a top view perspective. It was spinning upon itself. And that's when we knew, you
40:35
know, through the development of the E-Ray, we were joking with the program team like, "Man, this car is pretty special at winter. Can't wait for you to
40:40
drive it. We've got this new maneuver we want to show you." I don't really remember where the cyclone name came from, but it fits. You know, it's not a
40:47
drift, it's not a donut, it's a cyclone. You know, it sits in place and it spins. But the neat thing about this was at
40:53
winter test over the years, of course, we did this all the time after that every year going back, you know, all the way through the winter test development.
41:00
Cyclones were natural as part of the test process there. But we would only do a couple of them, laugh about it, you
41:05
know, go and bring the car back in the garage. What we did at the Rockefeller Center was nothing like I've done
41:11
before. the amount of spins that we did there, 20 spins in a row, that was to the next level. We really just wanted to
41:17
show something so special to the world that I think a adrenaline kicked in
41:23
because if you think about it, again, you might not do that with all the walls going on. But that was something that we'd never seen before. We went from a
41:29
full battery, full state of charge on the front axle all the way down to our vehicle dynamics buffer, which is where
41:35
we limited on purpose so that you don't run out of all-wheel drive for vehicle dynamics in one maneuver. You know, that
41:41
was pretty incredible to be able to do that. And to be able to do it such an awesome way in front of so many people
41:48
live for the world to see. Really shows that the -ray is different. It's awesome and it's ready to conquer the world.
41:54
Buddy, I was watching that and I looked at that thinking, "Oh my gosh, look at that. That has never been done before."
42:00
That was simply mindboggling. It was so cool. Cody, I can't wait for the -ay, which is slated to come out at the end
42:06
of the year. There's a lot of firsts with this car. first time with all-wheel drive. It's the first hybrid. Any
42:12
closing thoughts about the E-Ray that you want to convey? Yeah, really for me, I'm obviously biased, but I love this car. It's so
42:18
much fun to drive. And really, if you're listening to this podcast and you're on the fence about the E-Ray and if it's
42:24
right for you, I just want you to give it a chance because when you drive this car, the experience you're going to have
42:29
behind the wheel is magical. I just want everyone to know that this car, it's a Corvette at its soul, and this
42:35
electrified addition to the car only makes it better. Those 0 to 60s are repeatable over and over again. And who
42:41
doesn't like that? That torque immediiacy that you get from the front axle and the way that this car can react
42:47
on a racetrack, the way the all-wheel drive can help you from a vehicle dynamics perspective. And driving on
42:52
those conditions, everybody can relate to when they took their sports car out and they hit a road that they were worried about either from snow or too
42:58
much water. This car is meant for that. You know, it's the car that you can truly drive across the country. That
43:04
grand touring experience. It's super comfortable. It's blistering fast and it is the brand new Corvette to the
43:11
portfolio, the 2024 Corvette. Buddy, I can't wait for this car. You've got me all excited about this thing. I
43:18
can't wait to see it here at the end of the year. Cody, thank you so much for taking the time to be on Corvette today.
43:23
This has been absolutely fantastic. Thank you for having us. It was a blast. Thanks for listening to Corvette Today.
43:29
And please be sure to tell your family, friends, and other Corvette enthusiasts about the Corvette Today podcast. And
43:35
thanks to our sponsors, Wheelcraft. Want to dress up your Corvette with bright chrome or black chrome wheels? Visit
43:40
wheelcraft.com to learn about their advanced PVD chrome finishing. They can refinish your wheels or offer a wheel
43:46
exchange for most models and it comes with a 5-year warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com today or call
43:51
833-840-5334. Soul Performance Products at
43:56
soulppp.com. The official exhaust of Corvette today. Truealth & Company at retirewithtr.com.
44:04
Also, Aerolari wheels. Get $100 off your purchase with the new promo code CT111
44:09
at aolari.com. And Hendrickk Chevrolet in Kansas City at chevusa.com.
44:16
You've been listening to Corvette Today with Steve Garrett. If you'd like to contact Steve with any thoughts on the
44:22
podcast or ideas for guests on Corvette Today, you can email him at stevegared
44:27
djgmail.com. That's stevegared djgmail.com.
44:34
Garrett has two Rs and two T's. Or connect with Steve on social media on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using
44:41
Steve Garrett DJ. Thanks again for listening to Corvette today.