Corvette C8 Stingray Races Chevy Camaro ZL1, Loser Gets Absolutely Destroyed

Let’s do a deep dive on these two models, and this way, maybe we can figure out what happened. The Corvette C8 Stingray weighs almost 520 lbs (235 kg) less than a Camaro ZL1, which should absolutely come in handy during this type of race, even with the power discrepancy.

The Vette’s mid-engine drivetrain consists of a naturally aspirated 6.2-liter LT2 V8 unit, mated to an eight-speed Tremec L1L dual-clutch automatic. This engine is derived from the C7 Stingray’s LT1 V8 and produces 490 hp (497 PS) to go with 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) of torque—40 hp more than the previous generation Stingray.

By also adding the optional sports exhaust system, you gain another 5 hp and 5 lb-ft of torque, for a total of 495 hp (502 PS) and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm). On paper, this is supposed to be a sub-3 second car when it comes to 0-60 times (2.9 seconds officially), and according to Chevrolet, it can run a quarter-mile in just 11.2 seconds.

The Camaro ZL1 meanwhile uses a 6.2-liter supercharged LT4 V8 (just like the Corvette Z06 C7), with an output of 650 hp (659 PS) and 650 lb-ft (881 Nm) of torque. Chevy says that you can run a quarter-mile in 11.4 seconds with a ZL1, so when we saw this silver example posting a time of 11.77 seconds, we certainly didn’t raise any eyebrows.

What did shock us was the Corvette needing 12.71 seconds to cover that same distance, at 110.1 mph (177 kph). That is extremely slow (pretty much a full second down on the ZL1), and while that massive rear wing certainly did nothing to help its straight-line prowess, we believe that driver error could have also been at play—perhaps the driver was inexperienced and changed gears themselves.

After its embarrassing defeat to the Camaro, this Corvette proceeded to take on an S197 Shelby GT350 and guess what, it lost again by a similar margin.