Photo: Chevrolet
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but the C8 Corvette Z06 rumors are back along with the twin-turbo V8 codenamed LT7. Automobile Mag hopes for 800 horsepower and close to 700 pound-feet of torque based on “what our sources and experience tell us to expect.”
Let that sink in for a moment, then remember the difference between the Stingray and Z06 in output would be 305 horsepower if the LT2 is specified with either the sports exhaust or Z51 Performance Package. Compared to the difference between those two for the seventh-generation Corvette (460 and 650 horsepower), we wouldn’t be wishful thinking.
The report also makes a case for a 10-speed DCT instead of the seven-speed transmission in the Corvette Stingray. More doesn’t necessarily translate to better in a high-performance sports car, more so if you remember that General Motors already has a 10-speed transmission in the guise of a torque-convert automatic co-developed with the Blue Oval.
It’s also worth remembering the ‘Vette has never been about top speed or efficiency, meaning that seven makes more sense than ten going forward. “We’ve heard that the Stingray’s missing manual transmission option may turn up on the Z06’s option sheet,” and that sounds impossible. GM didn’t account for a three-pedal setup during the development of the C8, which started out life as a Holden ute fitted with Porsche's PDK transmission.
Automobile Mag also digs into the Corvette ZR1 – possibly re-branded Zora for the eighth generation of the breed. Expected “to come a year or two after the Z06,” the range-topping model has been rumored with a 1,000-hp hybridized powertrain and all-wheel drive since time immemorial. The Z06, meanwhile, could arrive late in 2021 for the 2020 model year.
So what did we learn from this report? Nothing much, but there’s sufficient evidence to confirm the twin-turbo V8 engine of the Corvette Z06. Just like the LTA (a.k.a. Blackwing) that Cadillac utilizes with 4.2 liters of displacement, the LT7 or whatever it will be called is supposed to be produced in Bowling Green at the Performance Build Center.
Let that sink in for a moment, then remember the difference between the Stingray and Z06 in output would be 305 horsepower if the LT2 is specified with either the sports exhaust or Z51 Performance Package. Compared to the difference between those two for the seventh-generation Corvette (460 and 650 horsepower), we wouldn’t be wishful thinking.
The report also makes a case for a 10-speed DCT instead of the seven-speed transmission in the Corvette Stingray. More doesn’t necessarily translate to better in a high-performance sports car, more so if you remember that General Motors already has a 10-speed transmission in the guise of a torque-convert automatic co-developed with the Blue Oval.
It’s also worth remembering the ‘Vette has never been about top speed or efficiency, meaning that seven makes more sense than ten going forward. “We’ve heard that the Stingray’s missing manual transmission option may turn up on the Z06’s option sheet,” and that sounds impossible. GM didn’t account for a three-pedal setup during the development of the C8, which started out life as a Holden ute fitted with Porsche's PDK transmission.
Automobile Mag also digs into the Corvette ZR1 – possibly re-branded Zora for the eighth generation of the breed. Expected “to come a year or two after the Z06,” the range-topping model has been rumored with a 1,000-hp hybridized powertrain and all-wheel drive since time immemorial. The Z06, meanwhile, could arrive late in 2021 for the 2020 model year.
So what did we learn from this report? Nothing much, but there’s sufficient evidence to confirm the twin-turbo V8 engine of the Corvette Z06. Just like the LTA (a.k.a. Blackwing) that Cadillac utilizes with 4.2 liters of displacement, the LT7 or whatever it will be called is supposed to be produced in Bowling Green at the Performance Build Center.
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