Le Mans. Sebring. Daytona. Detroit. All conquered by the C8.R race car in its pursuit of racing glory. And now, that same technology comes to the streets with the all-new Corvette Z06. Purpose-built to dominate the track, its flat-plane V8 is capable of 670 horsepower making it the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 in production, and will take you from 0 to 60mph in just 2.6 seconds! When compared to the Corvette Z8 Stingray, the Z06 is more aggressive, delivers more power and it is, of course, faster. The work on the Z06 was intensive, but in the end, the car offers improved aerodynamics from front to rear. According to Chevy, the Z06 is the most capable track car it has ever offered, and it seems that people already understood that, as the first unit was sold for $3.7 million at a recent auction.
Chevy paid attention to every little aspect of the car, so everything from the shape of the hood to the height of the rear wing was designed to help with the aerodynamics. First of all, the Z06 is wider than the Stingray – in fact, it has the same width as the C8.R racecar. Then, there are side inlets that will help grab more air; the extractor bezels are placed lower and are wider than on the standard Corvette, and even the taillamps were moved outward in order to enhance the width of the car. Chevrolet also needed to remove more air from under the car, and it did that with the help of the wheel openings. Special attention was paid to the rear wing. It is lowered in the center to help with the visibility, but it is higher in the corner, because this is where the air is the cleanest, and it helps improve downforce.
And then we have the optional Z07 package that adds an extra carbon-fiber aero package, FE7 suspension with specific Magnetic Ride Control 4.0 calibrations, and Michelin Sport Cup 2R ZP tires. With this update, the Z06 can pull 1.22 g on a 300-foot skidpad and achieve as much as 734 pounds of downforce at 186 mph.
The engine found under the hood is just as impressive. The C8 Z08 dropped the supercharged engine from the previous C7 Z06 and went with a 5.5-liter naturally aspirated V-8. It delivers a total of 670 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque – numbers that make it the most powerful naturally aspirated production engine in the world.
The 2023 Corvette Z06 will go into production this summer, and the first units will be delivered shortly after. While for the moment we have no information on the prices, we expect the Z06 to start at around $100k.
