2017 Corvette Grand Sport "Ties" Porsche 911 GT3 RS in Amazing Hockenheim Test

After we saw the track-focused, naturally aspirated 'Vette nearly tieing the Rennsport Neunelfer in a track fight held at the Virginia International Raceway last fall, the time has come to see the two duking it out on the rear-engined coupe's home turf.

To be more precise, the Grand Sport has now been tested by Sport Auto, with the Chevy being put through its paces on the Hockenheimring. At the end of the run, the stopwatch showed 1:08.7. Oh, and you should keep in mind that this is the seven-speed manual, not the eight-speed auto incarnation of the car.

Since the GT3 RS can handle the same task in 1:08.5, it's easy to understand the quotes we used in the title above. So yes, the Zuffenhausen animal is about one blink quicker on the short version of the German track.

Whenever discussing such matters, it's worth mentioning the price difference between the two machines - while the Porscha kicks off at $189,760, the Grand Sport comes with a starting price of $79,930.

Before anybody goes too deep down the financial rabbit hole, though, allow us to remind you that the GT3 RS is the kind of machine that can bring a profit after miles and (s)miles of ownership.

Returning to the Corvette lap, notice that the 6.2-liter beast asks its driver to cope with plenty of oversteer moments. Unlike the Z06, thought, the Grand Sport can be handled once it reaches the limit. And this is one solid argument for choosing the 460-pony version over the 650 hp one. But that's another story for another time.