It goes without saying that the C5 Corvette is a driver's dream. The car is low, wide, aerodynamic and powerful. From the first time you ease into a turn the thought crosses your mind that “man… this thing is really glued o the road”. Likewise, the first blip of the throttle brings the LS1 to life with a smooth but quick acceleration forward. Pin the throttle and bang second gear and the tires are slightly overwhelmed. Hammer the throttle from a dig and the tires are instantly lit, particularly with the manual cars. It really is what you would expect in the pinnacle of American sports cars. Problem is, the lively LS1 plant and fantastic suspension can entice drivers to push the limits and, in some cases, exceed those limits. Its for this exact reason that Chevy equipped the C5 (not all of them) with an Active Handling system.

My Corvette is equipped with the Active Handling system. I should state that the Active Handling system is useful for situations other than that of extreme driving. It is also useful for wet road situations as well as road hazard avoidance and any number of other situations in which you might find yourself with the car heading in a direction you didn't originally intend. The Active Handling equipped cars are equipped with a set of sensors that detect the direction in which you intend to go, rear wheel traction and a number of indications relating to position versus steering to determine if the car has found itself in a precarious position. In such cases the system will use the gathered data to perform a combination of actions to right the car such as cutting throttle and/or applying brakes at the proper corner. Its not a fool proof system, but it is a good system and can save the car and owner from dangerous and costly situations.

Often times owners find the Active Handling system too invasive and wish to control the throttle and traction situation all on their own. For this purpose there are two options. One in which the traction control system is turned off and the Active Handling System is left engaged and one in which both the Active Handling system and the traction control is disabled. It should be noted at this point that Chevy recommends that neither of these options be used for street driven situations. With that in mind, lets get into how the systems are engaged, disengaged and how they work. Chances are, the Competitive Driving mode provides most owners with ample freedom to engage in all the tire smoking fun they long for. The nice thing about the Competitive Driving mode is that the traction control system is completely disengage and and the Active Handling system is still fully engaged. This means you get to control the traction situation out back with your right foot, but the Active Handling system is still going to work to keep the car going in the direction you intend. Think you are a pro? Take caution and completely disable both systems. This puts the car in the mode you are used to for a typical muscle car. The car is at the mercy of your left and right foot and your right hand.

With the general overview out of the way, lets take a look a the details of how to engage and disengage each of the modes. Two out of the three modes are perfectly intuitive (fully engaging and disengaging the Active Handling system, both traction control and Active Handling combined). Competitive Driving would go unknown to the casual observer, which is interesting seeing as how it is more safe than having both system disengaged.

Active Handling Engaged

Competitive Driving Mode Engaged

Active Handling Disengaged