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New Models
AUTOS: Corvette Racing Breeds Sonic Design
GM engineer/race driver takes experience and instincts gained on the track to complement the creation of an appealing subcompact car.
John Buttermore, lead development engineer for the Chevy Sonic, has been highly succcessful racing Corvettes in SCCA's Touring 1. (Photo: Chevrolet)
John Buttermore manages to live in two worlds that seem diametrically opposed – as the driver of a high-performance Chevrolet Corvette in Touring 1 competition and the lead development engineer for the economical Chevrolet Sonic subcompact car.
But they are two sides of the same coin, Buttermore says, each complementing the other to create better performance and durability. Sonic might never be a Corvette race car, but there is something of the Vette in it.
In other words, Buttermore is living proof that racing improves the breed. The winner of a gold metal in the recent SCCA National Championship Runoffs – he’s been a metal winner for each of the past six years – the 32-year-old GM engineer said his specific job of validating ride and handling for the Sonic is enhanced by the knowledge and experience he gains on the race track.
“It does actually work pretty well for someone in my line of work,” Buttermore said. “I think that a lot of better race drivers you see have good vision and good hearing and are very tactile and can feel what the car is doing at all times, and that absolutely translates directly into what I do for performance and tuning for the street car.
“Just the analysis skills, taking a race car and making it go fast really compares to making a street car that does a lot of things competently. The race car, what it teaches you is to be comfortable at high limits, which is good for a street car. You have the driving skill set to be able to drive at limit but still have that extra mental processor left over to be able to feel what the car’s doing and what it wants.”
Buttermore compared the cost constraints of creating an inexpensive subcompact car with the rules of racing that restrict competition-car designs.
“We have basically a cost book (for the Sonic) for what we can do with this car and still come out at a price that we can sell fairly for the manufacturer to make a profit,” he said. “And in racing, there’s a rule book that tells you exactly what you can or cannot do to your car. And just as in racing, we find ways around the costs structure. It’s a really good parallel there.
“The heart of engineering is doing as much as you can for as little as possible. Racing, you see that play out as you try to maximize everything in the rule book. Same thing with costs, to try to find ways that are inexpensive and creative that gets you the performance, the premium feel and perception that you want without having to spend a lot of money.”
Buttermore has been involved with the development of the Sonic, which Chevy touts as the only subcompact car currently made in the United States, since 2007 when he started work on the car’s platform at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds in Michigan, later becoming the lead development engineer.
Buttermore pointed out that his Sonic team is made up of experts in every area of car design.
“I’m the lead of a team of specialists,” he said. “My job is ride and handling, so I have that specific skill set, but to do an entire car, you have to surround yourself with a great team, and we have a really great team working on the Sonic.”
But they are two sides of the same coin, Buttermore says, each complementing the other to create better performance and durability. Sonic might never be a Corvette race car, but there is something of the Vette in it.
In other words, Buttermore is living proof that racing improves the breed. The winner of a gold metal in the recent SCCA National Championship Runoffs – he’s been a metal winner for each of the past six years – the 32-year-old GM engineer said his specific job of validating ride and handling for the Sonic is enhanced by the knowledge and experience he gains on the race track.
“It does actually work pretty well for someone in my line of work,” Buttermore said. “I think that a lot of better race drivers you see have good vision and good hearing and are very tactile and can feel what the car is doing at all times, and that absolutely translates directly into what I do for performance and tuning for the street car.
“Just the analysis skills, taking a race car and making it go fast really compares to making a street car that does a lot of things competently. The race car, what it teaches you is to be comfortable at high limits, which is good for a street car. You have the driving skill set to be able to drive at limit but still have that extra mental processor left over to be able to feel what the car’s doing and what it wants.”
Buttermore compared the cost constraints of creating an inexpensive subcompact car with the rules of racing that restrict competition-car designs.
“We have basically a cost book (for the Sonic) for what we can do with this car and still come out at a price that we can sell fairly for the manufacturer to make a profit,” he said. “And in racing, there’s a rule book that tells you exactly what you can or cannot do to your car. And just as in racing, we find ways around the costs structure. It’s a really good parallel there.
“The heart of engineering is doing as much as you can for as little as possible. Racing, you see that play out as you try to maximize everything in the rule book. Same thing with costs, to try to find ways that are inexpensive and creative that gets you the performance, the premium feel and perception that you want without having to spend a lot of money.”
Buttermore has been involved with the development of the Sonic, which Chevy touts as the only subcompact car currently made in the United States, since 2007 when he started work on the car’s platform at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds in Michigan, later becoming the lead development engineer.
Buttermore pointed out that his Sonic team is made up of experts in every area of car design.
“I’m the lead of a team of specialists,” he said. “My job is ride and handling, so I have that specific skill set, but to do an entire car, you have to surround yourself with a great team, and we have a really great team working on the Sonic.”
The Lyonheart K
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