Pictured on a Colorado runway at nearly one mile above sea level, the red 'Vettes in the featured clip are different in many respects. Not only did they launch nearly a quarter of a century apart, but the C5 and C8 are poles apart in terms of engine and transmission technologies.
First and foremost, C5 designates the fifth-generation Corvette. Offered between the 1997 and 2004 model years, the front-engined sports car introduced the LS family of small-block V8 engines to the General Motors roster. The LS1 hiding under the hood of this example of the breed originally produced 345 ponies and 350 pound-feet (475 Nm) from a displacement of 5.7 liters.
Driven by Roman Mica of The Fast Lane, the C5 rocks a four-speed automatic designed and produced by General Motors. Made from a type of fiberglass bonded with resins, the fifth-gen Corvette also boasts traverse-mounted composite leaf springs made from fiberglass.
Purchased by the peeps at TFL for a cool $14k, the C5 is joined on the track by a far more expensive C8 that stickered for $82k. The most obvious difference from its front-engine predecessor is the midship layout, and the second most obvious is the design of the headlights. The C5 and Lotus Esprit were the final series-production cars to feature pop-up headlamps. Hidden lamps became extinct due to safety regulations. The Ares Design Panther ProgettoUno briefly revived them in 2019.
Another big change over every single generation of the Corvette before it comes in the guise of a dual-clutch transaxle, which shifts quicker than a torque-converter automatic. Even the 6.2-liter small block, internally referred to as LT2, is tremendously more powerful and torquier due to nearly 25 years of advancements. Part of the reason the LT2 produces 495 horsepower and 470 pound-feet (637 Nm) of torque with the optional sports exhaust is the adoption of direct fuel injection, a trait shared with every other fifth-generation small block.
The C8 is undoubtedly quicker in a straight line on paper alone, and the same applies on the unprepped surface of the runway on which the 'Vettes duke it out. The C8 also launches like nobody's business due to more weight hanging over the rear axle, minimizing wheel spin.
With Kase van Rees behind the wheel, that Stingray clocks a very impressive 12.8 seconds at 113.1 miles per hour (182 kilometers per hour). Roman makes do with 15.55 seconds at 99 miles per hour (159.3 kilometers per hour) in the C5. Even with a bit of cheating from Roman, the rolling start race concludes in favor of the C8.
Last but certainly not least, Roman and Kase also performed an emergency braking test. Does it come as a surprise the C5 stopped in 112 feet (34.1 meters), as opposed to just under 95 (28.9) for the eighth gen?
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. Full profile
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