There is absolutely no denying that Corvette is rocking it with ‘America’s sports car,’ as opposed to the dismal performance of GM’s sixth generation pony representative.
Today, the story revolving around Chevrolet’s performance section, which includes four entries, is one of extreme highs and lows. For example, the $26,100 Camaro and its sixth-gen peers like the Convertible, SS, and ZL1, could not be more ashamed of themselves – last year they could not even come close to the S550 Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger foes. At the tip of the pyramid, meanwhile, the Corvette is thinking that switching to a mid-engine lifestyle was probably the best decision it took over the past 70 years or so.
And while the 490/495 C8 Stingray represents the brunt of sales, Chevrolet now has another couple of assets up its sleeve. One has already started deliveries – aka the 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06 with its 670-horsepower FPC V8. And another that is eagerly awaiting to prove its daily driver (even in inclement weather) abilities, the first-ever eAWD hybrid Corvette E-Ray. With 655 hp on tap, it is extremely close to the $15,300 Z06, including in terms of pricing – not just performance.
Most likely it is going to be an epic showdown the first time we see a 2023 Corvette Z06 and a 2024 Corvette E-Ray duking it out against each other on the quarter mile, but even base C8 Stingrays think that they can trump the mid-ten performances touted by Chevrolet for its bone-stock Z06 and E-Ray. Alas, they can only do so with a little help from the aftermarket realm – if they want to be covered in prepped tarmac glory. And there is no need to take our word for granted, as we have the curiously jittery example of a 1,200-hp C8 Chevy Corvette Stingray that decided its twin-turbo V8 is better than any Z06 or E-Ray when trying to dip into the nines.
YouTube vlogger Brink of Speed loves the C8 Corvette (he owns an outrageous Z51 Stingray) and of course, he joined JoTech Motorsports and their twin-turbo C8 for a day of testing and tuning at the Texas Motorplex (aka “where speed was born”) in Ennis, Texas, just 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Dallas. There were a lot of other feisty rides at the dragstrip that day, so this is not an exclusive Corvette feature, even if there were other representatives of the breed. Instead, if you do not want to enjoy all the shenanigans, one needs to jump to the 7:07 mark for the initial presentation of the C8 and then to the 9:29 mark for a couple of almost-botched attempts – the fuel system kept cutting right at the start, unfortunately.
Alas, the monster C8 did reach its stated goal of dropping from the tens into the high nines. Additionally, at the 13:33 mark, there was also a 1,240 wheel-hp Lamborghini Huracan Performante with a JoTech Stage 3 kit and tune that showed the feisty burgundy Corvette how it’s done – by way of a 9.25s pass and a necessary parachute deployment! Cool, right?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News