Corvette Technology: Active Noise Cancelling

Corvettes have always been at the forefront of American engineering and design. They have engines that have repeatedly produced power well beyond what their displacement would suggest. They have had multiple suspension configurations and new technologies added to produce the best handling sports car possible. However, one of the most significant, yet controversial, technologies to emerge through the Corvette brand is one that was introduced at the very start of the C7 generation.

Known as “Corvette Active Noise Canceling,” a complex system was designed to use all versions of the audio system that came with each C7 combined with a 14-liter enclosure built into the rear bulkhead of the car to make driving quieter and less fatiguing. One of the picking points about the C6, especially the performance models like the Z06, was that road and tire noise was pervasive. This was often translated by the human ear into being “white noise,” which causes fatigue and drowsiness after even a small amount of exposure.

Utilizing a system of small microphones, the active noise canceling system that came standard on every C7 from the base model through to the ZR1 was based on a concept in physics known as destructive wave interference.