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2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Drag Races 750-HP McLaren 600LT, It's Very Close

A dignified member of the Sports Series that McLaren discontinued together with the Super Series in early 2023, the 600LT is one hell of a white-knuckle ride. Based on the 570S, the long-tailed supercar was produced for roughly 12 months.
2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 drag races McLaren 600LT 14 photos
Photo: DragTimes / edited
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The actual numbers for the coupe aren't public knowledge, but we do know that fewer than 750 units were delivered in the United States. The carbon-clad 600LT in the featured clip is one of them, and it's even wilder than the bock-stock 600LT.

Not only does it flaunt a stupidly loud exhaust, but in combination with a tune, it belts out in the ballpark of 750 horsepower. By comparison, the 600 in 600LT represents metric ponies, converting to 592 horsepower in old money. Peak torque, however, is a bit of a mystery. When it left the assembly plant in Woking, it had 457 pound-feet (620 Nm).

Tipping the scales at roughly 3,100 pounds (1,406 kilograms), the British supercar is a rear-drive affair with a dual-clutch transmission. Chevrolet also uses a double-clutch gearbox in the eighth-generation Corvette Z06, albeit with one additional forward gear. The Bowling Green-built American supercar is a little heavier as well, clocking in excess of 3,600 pounds (1,633 kilograms). This particular example of the breed also benefits from a few tasteful modifications, namely a Fabspeed exhaust connected to a pair of sports cats.

The resulting output isn't known, but it certainly makes a little more than the advertised 670 horsepower and 460 pound-feet (624 Nm). To this day, the C8 Z06 boasts the world's most powerful naturally-aspirated V8 engine. Series-production engine, that is. The LT6 that drives the rear wheels of that 'Vette also happens to be the world's largest FPC V8 lump, dethroning the 5.2L Voodoo of the S550 Shelby GT350.

With the nitty gritty behind us, care to guess which of these incredible-sounding cars is quicker in the quarter mile? Brooks Weisblat of DragTimes and his buddy Eric are much obliged to answer that question with a total of three races.

The Z06 launches harder on all occasions, and the 600LT comes into its own the closer it gets to the finish line. That's not exactly surprising because a twin-turbo V8 is a different animal from a free-breathing V8. The first race concludes in 10.4 seconds for the Corvette and 10.5 for the McLaren, with the Macca recording 131 miles per hour (211 kilometers per hour) as opposed to 128 mph (206 kph) for the Corvette.

Second time out on the drag strip is pretty much a repeat of the first race, although with slightly worse elapsed times: 10.7 and 10.6 seconds. The final race, however, sees the 600LT redeem itself with a 10.471-second run at 132.52 miles per hour (213.27 kilometers per hour). The Z06 posted 10.533 seconds at 128.41 miles per hour (206.65 kilometers per hour).

The simple fact a near-stock Z06 can hang with a more powerful and far more expensive 600LT in this particular scenario makes the Corvette a properly impressive machine, more so if you remember that the Corvette Z06 is about handling rather than straight-line performance.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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