There are two models on the lips of every 'Vette enthusiast: the Z06 and the E-Ray. While the latter is the most technologically advanced variant of the car yet, not to mention the first electrified one and the first one to feature all-wheel drive, the former is pretty much a track-ready beast.
But how quick is it actually against some of the fastest and most exciting vehicles out there? For this, Motorsport Magazine put an experienced driver behind the wheel of the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 C8 and set it loose at the Magny-Cours (Club), a lesser-known racetrack located in France. At the end of the hot lap, the stopwatch indicated 1:15.23. So, what does this mean?
That it is slightly faster than the 991.2-gen Porsche 911 GT2 RS, which did it in 1:15.91. The 992 GT3 RS did it in 1:15.96, and the Ferrari 488 Pista in 1:16.06. Other blue-blooded machines that the new Z06 managed to beat against the stopwatch were the McLaren 765LT Spider, Lamborghini Huracan STO, and Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica. These completed the course in 1:16.51, 1:16.89, and 1:17.35. The Mercedes-AMG GT R did it in 1:18.92, a hair slower than the previous-gen Z06 (1:18.48.). As for the king of Magny-Cours Club, that is the McLaren Senna, with a stunning 1:14.93.
This is a truly impressive achievement for the C8 Corvette Z06, which may behave like a real supercar but costs only a fraction of that price. The MSRP accompanying it for the 2023 model year is $105,300, and the Corvette E-Ray will become available from $104,295. The most affordable member of the C8 family is the Stingray, which kicks off at $64,500.
The bowtie brand turned to Ferrari to develop the flat-plane crank V8. They bought the engine of a 458 from eBay to learn its secrets, and they came up with a 5.5-liter unit that steams out 670 horses and 460 lb-ft (624 Nm) of torque. The Euro-spec, aka the one put to the test on video below, is less powerful, with 636 hp and 439 lb-ft (595 Nm). The mill is capable of being revved up to 8,600 rpm, and it works in concert with a dual-clutch eight-speed automatic transmission and rear-wheel drive. The spec sheet reveals that the naught to sixty miles an hour (0-97 kph) takes 2.6 seconds, and the car pulls 1.22 lateral Gs.
If you are one of those petrolheads who would rather have some fun in a straight line and not between the apexes, then you should know that the Z06 is a 10-second car, and that's without any tuning whatsoever. In fact, it can complete the quarter mile in 10.6 seconds. The E-Ray is one-tenth quicker, and it has 655 hp to play with from its LT2 6.2L V8, shared with the Stingray, and an electric motor that sets the front wheels in motion.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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