‘I think what I want to do with this car is put some stickier tires on it and take it to the Circuit of the Americas and beat the p**s out of them there.’ (John Hennessey, October 2023, while putting his brand-new fresh-out-of-the-trailer Corvette C8 Z06 Z07 through its paces at his company’s test track). No sooner said than done: last month, the same car, but with David Donohue at the wheel, set the track’s new record.
2:19.18 is the new bar raised by the famed racer in John Hennessey’s completely stock Corvette – the first video below shows the achievement. The conditions on the test day were 'unfavorable' (let’s stick to General Audience-rated language). The car could have done much better (Hennessey’s assessments, backed by some of the viewers with good knowledge of the track).
Still, the reinvented American icon (the Chevy, not its driver) absolutely nailed the speed trial in the head and made the most of the adverse conditions. This is what some $35,000 in options on top of the standard Z06 3LZ version got for the 1,845 buyers of the Z07 package of the 2023 Corvette Z06.
With the test telemetry in hand – lap times were logged via the GM Performance Data Recorder onboard the car – we can determine the average speed of 88.73 mph (142.8 kph) over the circuit’s 3.426-mile track (5.514 kilometers). The video shows a first-person point-of-view of the record run (along with some warm-ups). Based on the on-screen data, Donohue hit a 155-mph (250 kph) top speed at the end of the long straight.
Photo: YouTube/Hennessey Performance
Due to poor weather (the track was damp, and the temperature wasn’t a favoring factor, most probably – but that’s my personal estimate, based on visual references only), the car wasn’t able to perform at its prime. Still, with the aid of the Z07 track package and its carbon fiber wheels and aerodynamic add-ons (rear wing and ground effects), carbon ceramic brakes, Michelin Sport Cup 2R tires, and magnetic ride suspension, the bone-stock C8 did a pretty good job. (It helps – a lot! – to have an experienced racing driver in it when attempting to break records).
With the massive push from the 8,600-RPM flat-plane crank V8, David Donohue rolled up his sleeves (literally) and cracked the whip hard on the naturally aspirated LT6 powerplant. With 670 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque (679 PS, 624 Nm) on tap and sent to the rear wheels via the dual-clutch eight-speed Tremec transmission, the C8 Z06 Z07 put the COTA feather in its cap.
The Z07 Performance Package gives the Z06 a 2.6-second sprint from a standstill to 60 mph (97 kph) and allows 1.22 G-force lateral acceleration. The Corvette’s internal G-meter recorded a max of 2.1 for a fraction of a second in a tight turn during the fastest lap attempt.
John Hennessey got what he asked for in October (play the second video at the 3:35 mark) - at least for now. Hopefully, we’ll see the car again at the COTA - in good weather and on grippier rubbers. After all, records are among the very few things in life that only get better when broken.
After nearly two decades in news television, Răzvan turned to a different medium. He’s been a field journalist, a TV producer, and a seafarer but found that he feels right at home among petrolheads. Full profile
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