THE Z06 ISN'T HARD TO FIND IN THE MULTI-storey car park; it's low, wide, festooned with wings, and looks like it's been coloured in with a highlighter pen. I expect the searing hue to be called Acid Drop or Ballistic Banana but apparently Chevy calls it Accelerate Yellow. Hmmm. Turns out that most of the Corvette colour names are similarly lame: Rapid Blue, Red Mist, Silver Flare... Which is a shame because the rest of the Z06 is a riot.
It was a bold decision by Chevrolet to make the C8 Corvette mid-engined after seven generations and almost 70 years using the classic front-engine, rear-drive layout.
It's almost as if the bosses looked at the looming electrified future and thought, well, it's now or never. Turns out that the real reason the C8 went mid-engined is the Z06, though the inevitable ZR1 version, with around 800bhp, will also benefit.
The entry-level C8 Stingray picked up multiple awards, most of them from American magazines it's true, but in one way that makes them more valid, given how revered, finely developed and successful the C7 Corvette was. We too were impressed when we tested a right-hand-drive Stingray over here (evo 303) because while it has the heart of a traditional muscle car a rumbling, 6.2-litre, pushrod V8 making 475bhp - in terms of dynamics, quality and general finesse it proved more European than any previous Corvette.
So the £82k Stingray aligns with the Porsche 911 Carrera and the Z06 squares up to the 911 GT3. And this is where it gets interesting: the Z06 is powered by a 5.5-litre V8 but it's an all-new, naturally aspirated, flat-plane-crank V8 that revs to 8600rpm and delivers 670bhp. It's called the LT6, or Gemini, and it's the world's most powerful naturally aspirated production V8.
Denne historien er fra June 2023-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra June 2023-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Cupra Formentor Abt
It's farewell to the original Cupra Formentor with an Abt-tuned run-out package. It's a quietly excellent car; just a shame about the price...
Renault Sport Clio 200 Turbo
This misguided departure from the French brand's hot hatch heritage saw the Clio fall from grace
REBIRTH OF AN ICON
The Kalmar 9X9 is a modernday reinterpretation of Porsche's game-changing 959 supercar, with a carbon body and up to 917bhp. And evo is helping to develop it
Volkswagen Golf GTI
The underachieving Mk8 GTI gets a shot at redemption with the new, revised Mk8.5 version. Is it the leap forward it needs to be?
BEST BUYS
FAST FORDS FROM THE CORTINA TO THE ESCORT AND THE FIESTA, Ford is responsible for some of the most popular cars in British history. But alongside these everyday machines it has also produced a stream of desirable driver's cars.
HY AND DRY
The switch to electric power means an early exit for Hyundai N's brilliant ICE hot hatch duo. We go for a farewell drive in the 120 N
SEXY BEAST
The Vanquish name is back for Aston Martin's latest seriesproduction flagship, with a stunning new look and simply brutal performance from an 824bhp twin-turbo V12
THE JOY OF DRIVING
From mastering the everyday commute to unlocking the full potential of your performance car, our new series will help you become safer, more confident and ultimately more skilled behind the wheel
TINY DANCER
You haven't seen a Mini dance like this before, but then you haven't seen a Mini with a 4-litre M Power V8 under the bonnet and rear-wheel drive. Introducing Vini...
LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO
Grandaddy to the Temerario and the car that transformed Lamborghini was the brilliant, V10-engined Gallardo. We get reacquainted with a Lambo legend