The C7 Corvette is a fantastic sports car. Being the last Corvette offered with a front engine design, it lends itself well to the modifications many enthusiasts are familiar with. While the C7 performs well in many areas there’s always room for improvement. For those wanting to take their Corvette to the drag strip one of the first upgrades that comes to mind is switching from the factory hard tires to a bias ply slick or drag radial. For maximum tire grip it would be beneficial to run either of these tires on a 15-inch rear wheel. Unfortunately the C7’s stock brakes and rear suspension setup does not allow the fitment of the wheel commonly found on drag cars. Enter BMR Suspension and their C7 Corvette 15-inch wheel conversion kit.
A key to launching hard with the C7 is reducing wheel hop caused by the factory stamped steel control arms and rubber bushings deflecting under load. This issue can intensify when using a sticky drag racing specific tire. To combat this issue, the BMR C7 control arms are manufactured from heavy-duty 1.25-inch DOM steel tubing and CNC laser cut 0.125-inch steel plate. They are assembled using single-adjustable chromoly self-lubricating rod ends instead of bushings to create a control arm that provides more strength, reduced deflection, improved articulation, and overall better performance. On the drag strip, this equates to more consistent launches on the starting line that are repeatable.
Additionally, the BMR control arms allow the use of a 15-inch wheel for optimum performance. The conversion kit includes BMR’s adjustable toe rods to further reduce deflection under hard launches with sticky tires. These toe rods are manufactured from 1.25-inch billet aluminum with right- and left-handed threads and chromoly rod ends for easy adjustability while on the car and superior strength over the OEM toe rods.
The second part of the 15-inch wheel conversion are the BMR C7 racing spindles. Made from 6061 billet aluminum, these spindles have an improved strength-to-weight ratio over the factory units. They are a direct bolt-on replacement for the C7 Corvette and can retain the use of factory GM ball-joints as well as the OEM parking brake. Completing the conversion kit is a disc brake package by Carlyle Racing to provide clearance for the smaller diameter wheels. The brake package can be ordered with either solid or drilled and slotted rotors. The four-piston calipers are from Wilwood and are designed to clear 15-inch wheels.
For more information and to get your C7 Corvette launching harder and more consistently, visit the BMR Suspension site.