While the early (pre 17) C7 Z06s were prone to going into limp mode after extended abuse, people blow it way out of proportion. Most "failures" - going into limp mode - occur on days where its >90 degrees out, and usually on later sessions in the day. Main issue was high IATs pulling timing, the reduced timing causing the EGTs to increase quite a bit, which heats up the rest of everything under the car. A lot of the "issues" owners are reporting can be addressed easily if the car is going to be used as a track car - if you can afford a 80-100k mass produced street car, it should be easy to spend another 1500-2000 to make the car well suited for extended track abuse.
For 17, GM added larger bricks in the LCAC which seem to help quite a bit. Ive noticed a drastic drop in IATs under boost and the intercooler is effective much longer before heat soaking.
FWIW: My thoughts come from years of work as a mechanical engineer specializing in engine simulation and predictive performance analysis (all the background work that leads to the initial head/cam/manifold/etc.. design) as well as doing calibration engineering for emissions compliance. Ive had these cars out on extended track days with basic modifications and the only time i had an issue was on a 95+ degree day on the last session of the day. Never had a stock car go into limp mode (10+ track days in a 15 Z and a handful in a 17 Z at Gingerman). Only way i can see it happening on a stock vehicle (after looking at coutless datalogs) is if the owner had a long drive to track where he got the car hot, got to track, shut car off to tech and get ready, then went out for a session immediately after the car was heat soaking.
My shop specializes in Corvette performance. One of my customers has a 2017 Z06 with A8 trans. Stock, the car made 547/552. After ported heads, a cam i designed for the car, upper and lower pulleys, larger heat exchanger expansion tank, 3200 stall converter, E85, and methanol, the car made 802/796 on my stingy mustang dyno (typical LS7 Z06 makes 410-415 on my dyno vs the typical 440-450 you see on dynojets). The owner of this car takes it to the drag strip nearly every weekend and has yet to have any issue of any kind with "limp mode" or over heating. This same car has also completed SCCA/NASA events at Gingerman, Mid Ohio, and the NCM Track in bowling green, all without issue.
For 17, GM added larger bricks in the LCAC which seem to help quite a bit. Ive noticed a drastic drop in IATs under boost and the intercooler is effective much longer before heat soaking.
FWIW: My thoughts come from years of work as a mechanical engineer specializing in engine simulation and predictive performance analysis (all the background work that leads to the initial head/cam/manifold/etc.. design) as well as doing calibration engineering for emissions compliance. Ive had these cars out on extended track days with basic modifications and the only time i had an issue was on a 95+ degree day on the last session of the day. Never had a stock car go into limp mode (10+ track days in a 15 Z and a handful in a 17 Z at Gingerman). Only way i can see it happening on a stock vehicle (after looking at coutless datalogs) is if the owner had a long drive to track where he got the car hot, got to track, shut car off to tech and get ready, then went out for a session immediately after the car was heat soaking.
My shop specializes in Corvette performance. One of my customers has a 2017 Z06 with A8 trans. Stock, the car made 547/552. After ported heads, a cam i designed for the car, upper and lower pulleys, larger heat exchanger expansion tank, 3200 stall converter, E85, and methanol, the car made 802/796 on my stingy mustang dyno (typical LS7 Z06 makes 410-415 on my dyno vs the typical 440-450 you see on dynojets). The owner of this car takes it to the drag strip nearly every weekend and has yet to have any issue of any kind with "limp mode" or over heating. This same car has also completed SCCA/NASA events at Gingerman, Mid Ohio, and the NCM Track in bowling green, all without issue.
