Photo: Chevrolet
Many among us are still regretful over the discontinued Shelby GT350, but fret not. The all-American FPC V8 will come back next year in the guise of a 5.5-liter unit in the Z06, which will be premiered this fall.
After countless rumors, leaks, and camouflaged prototypes, GM has finally confirmed the flat-plane setup that will help the Z06 rev beyond 8,000 rpm. Expected to deliver 617 horsepower and a little more torque than the small-block LT2 of the Stingray, the LT6 sounds like an Italian supercar of sorts.
GM engineers have benchmarked the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 against the Ferrari 458 Italia, which is probably the best yardstick available for a flat-plane crankshaft V8 that doesn’t rely on forced induction. To whom it may concern, the F136 F engine in the Fezza outputs 562 horsepower at 9,000 revolutions per minute and 398 pound-feet (540 Nm) of torque at 6,000 rpm.
With one more liter of displacement and more contemporary technologies, it’s obvious that General Motors will surpass the 458 Italia on paper. The dual-clutch transmission, which is most likely an evolution of the TR-9080 used in the Stingray, also promises to shift better than the Getrag 7DCL750.
Don’t get your hopes up for an old-school manual, though because GM couldn’t care less about this option. Developing a stick shift or modifying the Tremec TR-3160 of the GT350 for the mid-engine Z06 would cost a lot, and the Detroit-based automaker’s investment wouldn’t pay off because the take-up rate for manual boxes is going south for every sports car out there.
Expected in removable-top coupe and retractable-top convertible guises, the brand-new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 will cost more than $80,000 before options. For the sake of reference, the 2019 model year Z06 used to retail at $80,900 while the supercar-shaming ZR1 was originally sold for $119,995.
GM engineers have benchmarked the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 against the Ferrari 458 Italia, which is probably the best yardstick available for a flat-plane crankshaft V8 that doesn’t rely on forced induction. To whom it may concern, the F136 F engine in the Fezza outputs 562 horsepower at 9,000 revolutions per minute and 398 pound-feet (540 Nm) of torque at 6,000 rpm.
With one more liter of displacement and more contemporary technologies, it’s obvious that General Motors will surpass the 458 Italia on paper. The dual-clutch transmission, which is most likely an evolution of the TR-9080 used in the Stingray, also promises to shift better than the Getrag 7DCL750.
Don’t get your hopes up for an old-school manual, though because GM couldn’t care less about this option. Developing a stick shift or modifying the Tremec TR-3160 of the GT350 for the mid-engine Z06 would cost a lot, and the Detroit-based automaker’s investment wouldn’t pay off because the take-up rate for manual boxes is going south for every sports car out there.
Expected in removable-top coupe and retractable-top convertible guises, the brand-new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 will cost more than $80,000 before options. For the sake of reference, the 2019 model year Z06 used to retail at $80,900 while the supercar-shaming ZR1 was originally sold for $119,995.
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