Chevrolet introduced the C7 Corvette during the 2014 model year. It made big waves after its debut due to its stark departure from the previous Corvette designs. Keeping the exposed headlamps of the C6, the C7 departed from traditional Corvette stylings with features such as:
- Angular taillights
- Quadruple-barreled tailpipes
- Rear spoilers
- Body creases and vents
While there were debates about the overall appearance change of this model, there is no questioning its power. The C7’s LS1 V8 engine produces 455 horsepower and accelerates from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.8 seconds. With such a powerful engine in the first edition, the C7 Corvette’s variants of the Stingray, the Grand Sport, the Z51, the Z06, the Z07 and the ZR1 improved on greatness.
The C7 is fittingly dubbed one of the greatest mass-market sports cars on the planet, so why is it so common to see owners modifying and upgrading these cars? Many C7 mods come down to aesthetics — blackout light kits and stickers are the most common. But true enthusiasts also incorporate new C7 Corvette performance parts to personalize their cars.
What to Upgrade on a C7 Corvette
Right out of the “box,” the C7 Corvette is a beast, but if you’re looking for where to start improving a C7 you can begin with mods that enhance noise, horsepower, and aesthetics. Performance mods will tend to require a bit more of an investment than appearance mods, but they are still an excellent choice.
Depending on how you use your car, certain mods may be better to start with than others. If you use your C7 as an everyday car, start with smaller mods to increase horsepower before going right into a supercharger kit. If you race or know you’ll want a lot more horsepower right off the bat, adding a supercharger kit will give you the horsepower you need.
Discover the best C7 Corvette modifications for performance and appearance below.
C7 Performance Mods
Performance mods are changes you make that impact the running and operation of your car. Every car comes with its own stock parts, but many car enthusiasts enjoy personalizing their vehicles to meet their own performance standards. That’s where these aftermarket performance mods come in. Choosing one or a few of these mods for your C7 can have drastic results on horsepower, torque, and handling. The following are classic C7 Corvette upgrades that make a great car even better.
Throttle Body
One of the top C7 Corvette mods is an upgraded throttle body. While nothing is wrong with the stock throttle body that comes with the C7, installing a performance throttle body is a popular modification for C7s. A throttle body controls the amount of air that enters your intake system and engine — you can’t get any more air into your engine than what can fit through your throttle body.
A ported throttle body decreases the airflow restriction from the standard model, allowing more air to enter the intake and combustion chamber. After installing an upgraded throttle body, you’ll see an improvement in acceleration response, as well as an increase of up to 15 to 25 horsepower. A new throttle body pairs well with a cold air intake and larger exhaust system to get enhanced performance out of your C7.
Cold Air Intake
Almost all cars can benefit from installing a performance air intake. Cold air intakes are one of the best C7 performance mods you can get because they function to increase airflow into the engine. Cooler air, being more oxygen-rich, creates a more volatile reaction within the combustion chamber. The results? Considerable gains in power and performance. The cold air intake brings more oxygen-rich air into the engine, so it’s able to run more efficiently and powerfully.
Cold air intakes are generally pretty affordable modifications, and they are simpler to install than many other engine mods. This performance mod is one of the best C7 Corvette upgrades you can make on a budget, and it will have a noticeable improvement on your car’s horsepower and performance efficiency.
Exhaust
After the throttle body and cold air intake, the exhaust is the third component in the trifecta of essential C7 Corvette upgrades. Whenever you increase the amount of airflow coming into your engine, it’s a good idea to increase the performance of your output system so you don’t run into issues with backpressure. Aftermarket exhaust upgrades render impressive improvements in horsepower and torque, as well as producing a sweet sound.
A high-performance option for a C7 Corvette exhaust upgrade is a system with long tube headers. Like their name suggests, long tube header pipes are longer and more spread out, which results in better distribution of the output gasses and gains in horsepower. Note that long tube headers aren’t always street legal, and they often come at a higher cost. An excellent alternative is axle-back exhaust systems — located behind the rear axle, this system provides significant improvements in performance that you can actually use on the street.
160- or 180-Degree Thermostat
C7 Corvettes come with a 212-degree thermostat. The thermostat regulates the car’s temperature by triggering the coolant to circulate through the engine when it reaches a certain temperature. A hotter running thermostat can yield better mileage, but it will reduce the available horsepower — however, running your car hotter than factory standards can quickly wear down the engine parts.
Conversely, running the car at cooler temperatures can increase the available horsepower and torque. While the manufacturer-recommended temperature is ideal for normal driving conditions, a 160- or 180-degree thermostat can keep the engine cooler under demanding driving conditions.
Supercharger
If you are dead set on getting the maximum amount of horsepower for your C7 Corvette, a supercharger kit will be a productive investment. Superchargers increase the pressure of the air flowing into your engine, which typically means you can get around twice as much air into your engine. More air equals more power, and a supercharger can boost your C7’s horsepower considerably.
Superchargers are one of the best C7 Corvette mods, but they are a significant investment. They’re priced in the thousands, and the install is rather labor-intensive. However, the results are positively addicting, and you won’t regret the investment. You can get the optimal horsepower increase for your C7 Corvette by adding other modifications that complement the increase in horsepower, like an upgraded exhaust system.
Tuning Programmers
If you want to get the most out of your C7, you can tune the car, so it’s optimized for the performance you want. Tuning involves changing your car’s engine control unit (ECU) configuration to conform to different operating standards. When you modify your C7 to increase things like horsepower and torque, a tune ensures you reap the maximum gains from your engine.
There are some great programmers out there to tune a C7’s ECU so you can get the most out of the modifications you make to your car. Some programmers even allow you to input custom tunes to make your car’s performance the best it can be.
Short Shifters
If you drive a manual 7-speed C7 Corvette, investing in a short shifter can be a fantastic upgrade. While there’s nothing wrong with the standard shifter in a C7, a short shifter reduces the angle the shifter shaft has to travel between gears. Doing so also decreases the distance your hand has to move while shifting.
If you’re racing or driving at high speeds, a short shifter can give you a decided edge by reducing the amount of time it takes to shift gears — and as any racer knows, even a millisecond saved can give you a huge advantage.
Aerodynamics Kits
An aerodynamics kit can increase the aerodynamics of your C7 even more than the stock body and spoilers already do. Aerodynamics is essentially the way things move through the air, and because wind resistance increases at high speeds, aero kits can help reduce the air’s resistance. They also function to increase the car’s downforce, which means it can slice through the air more efficiently at high speeds.
An aero kit usually includes things like front splitters, side skirts, rear diffusers, and spoilers. You can purchase each of these aspects individually, but to increase downforce consistently, an aerodynamics kit is an essential C7 Corvette mod.
C7 Appearance Mods
Some of the best C7 Corvette aftermarket parts are actually appearance mods. You might be surprised how much of a difference simple changes to the exterior of a car can make. Appearance mods include grilles, tints, stickers, and rims, which often don’t impact the actual functioning of the car. But, because it’s just as much fun to make a car look good as it is to make it drive well, here are the top appearance mods for a C7 Corvette.
Grilles
Grilles are one of the most popular appearance modifications for Corvettes. The grille is one of the most distinctive features of a car, and you can often identify certain car brands just by the pattern or shape of the grille. The function of a grille is to allow air to enter the engine compartment but installing a new one doesn’t add any performance benefits.
If you want to change or personalize the appearance of your C7, start with a new grille. They’re relatively inexpensive, but for the price, they can make a drastic difference in the appearance of your car. Popular styles of grilles include matrix, diamond, mesh and even shark’s teeth.
Engine Covers
Engine covers are like tuxedos for your C7, giving them a sharper look — hence why they’re called engine dress-ups. You can get almost any color engine cover, but most buyers match them to the other components in the engine or to the car’s paint color for a more seamless aesthetic. Chrome-plated, stainless steel and carbon fiber are some of the most common materials for an engine dress-up.
Blackout Stickers
The side marker lights on the rear and front of the C7 are yellow or red, but there are black stickers that fit over these side markers for those going with a blackout or another more focused color scheme. What’s great about these stickers is that when the lights aren’t lit, the light cover appears black, but when they are on, the lights shine brightly in the color they’re supposed to.
With this simple appearance mod, you can keep the sleek aesthetics you want while still maintaining the safety of the vehicle and passing inspections.
Window Tints
You can tint any car window, but a C7 with tinted windows looks so incredible. A window tint is a thin laminate film you apply to the window glass to darken the color. Tints help keep the interior of a car cooler, reduce harmful UV rays from entering the cabin and add extra privacy. Tints also protect interior features like leather and plastic from becoming too hot and degrading over time.
You can get different levels of window tint, from extremely dark to clear. Even if a car comes with tint, you can customize it to whatever your preferences are, as long as they are street legal. Most states have laws about what level tints you can have and where you can have them. Generally, tinting the whole front windshield is illegal in addition to being unsafe.
Decals
You can also dress up your car with decals that add color features and other design elements. Perhaps you want to rep your favorite sports team, or maybe you want to add racing stripes to your C7 — whatever your aesthetic preferences, decals can help you achieve them. They come in pretty much any color and style you want, and many places offer custom decals.
The best thing about decals is they aren’t a permanent commitment like paint color. If applied properly, you can remove decals without damaging the underlying paint.
How to Start Improving a C7 Corvette
Since C7s are a more recent generation of Corvettes, most don’t need many huge functional modifications. Depending on your preferences and the type of C7 you have, you might want to seek out a bit more horsepower, better handling, or an enhanced overall performance. If you’re thinking of starting modifications on your C7, do plenty of research on the prices of these mods — you definitely don’t want to cut corners when buying and installing mods for a car of this caliber.
Cheap or improperly installed modifications can have drastic impacts on performance. A bad tune can cause your engine to heat to high temperatures, damaging your capability for power, for instance.
Top Flight Automotive Is Your One-Stop Auto Shop
Top Flight Automotive has the largest product portfolio of Corvette parts anywhere. Whether you’re planning a full performance overhaul or just want a few simple appearance mods, Top Flight Automotive has the top C7 parts for you. Our experienced sales staff speaks fluent Corvette, so you can be sure you’re getting the right advice every time.
Shop for your C7 Corvette modifications at Top Flight Automotive and get everything you need in one stop. With our huge inventory of high-quality products, you don’t have to worry about checking 20 different shops for one part. We offer same-day shipping on most orders, so shop online today or contact us with questions about your C7 Corvette modifications!
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