It Might Take a Little While
In an interview with Muscle Cars and Trucks, GM President Mark Reuss discussed the C8 Corvette’s electrical architecture and addressed concerns that the C8 Corvette would be unable to be tuned. This isn’t a huge deal for some buyers, but Corvettes often receive upgrades from their owners and some people will want to increase power numbers and make adjustments to the ECU.
Reuss said, “We are going to do everything we can to protect our customers from a cybersecurity standpoint.” That’s what will keep the Chevy V8 so difficult to tune. It’s the encryption on the engine’s ECU. Basically, Chevy wants to ensure its customers stay safe and the engines are not tampered with by black hat hackers.
This means the tuning community could have an extremely hard time with the C8 Corvette. “I don’t wanna cut anybody out from an aftermarket standpoint, but we have to pick and choose who are the good guys,” said Reuss. That sounds like Chevy has decided to side with security over customizability.
However, it’s important to note that Chevy has never openly shared ECU information with tuners. The tuners and tuning companies themselves find a way to work with the system and alter the way the car operates. It might take a few years, but we’re confident the tuners will be able to crack the encryption at some point.
This was the case with previous General Motors vehicles, including the C7 Corvette. So, if you’re a tuner, don’t worry. Either you can spend your time figuring out GM’s new ECU or someone else will. Once that’s cracked, it’s off to the races.
