The all-American Chevrolet Corvette may have always played second fiddle to real, blue-blooded sports cars from Europe. First was the introduction of last year’s 2013 Corvette Stingray and now the North American Motor Show arrival of the power-crazed follow-up, the Z06, the working man’s sports car, looks set to fly the stars and stripes higher than ever; no doubt accompanied by the traditional Marine Corps war cry of, ‘Oorah, Oorah…’ echoing off the walls at the Cobo Centre at the NAIAS in Detroit.
The most notable feature that eclipses a standard Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is the addition of a supercharged V8 engine under the Z06’s serpentine bonnet. With a puffer on board Chevrolet say the Z06 is the “most track-capable Corvette ever”, as well as the fastest, and it trumps the regular Stingray LT1’s engine, which produces 339 kW & 624 Nm of torque; rather convincingly. Mighty impressive claims considering the previous generation Corvette ZR1 could pulverize most European supercars in the power stakes, despite costing half the price. The new Corvette Z06’s European supercar mincing credentials come in the form of an all-new supercharged 6.2-litre ‘LT4’ V8 engine that rattles cages to the tune of 466 kW and certifiable 861 Nm of torque.
This certainly out-Oorahs the 462 kW & 823 Nm of torque of the previous ‘LS9’ V8-powered Corvette ZR1 and while Chevrolet hasn’t announced performance claims for the Z06 just yet, we’re certain it will better the 3.8 second 0-100km/h sprint the ZR1 is currently capable of; especially when you factor in the Z06’s new 8-speed paddle shift automatic tranny or the 7-speed manual with Active Rev Match. As far as traction goes, the Z06 has bigger wheels and rims at the rear (20-inch wrapped with Michelin Pilot Super Sport Cup rubber) but don’t expect that to contain the fury from beneath the engine bay.
Much like any Corvette that’s gone before it, we expect this thing to spin on demand. With the first Corvette Stingray customer cars only arriving now, and a few already making online headlines by finding themselves shiny side down in a ditch already, American customers will still need to wait about a year before the full-fat Z06 model starts to make landfall.
