THE Z06 REVISITS ROADS THAT BIRTHED IT
HISTORY’S ULTIMATE CORVETTE GETS BORN AGAIN.
How did the Corvette become the new Corvette Z06, Chevrolet's most accomplished sports car, the one I imagine racing back in time to 1953 to blow creator Zora Arkus-Duntov's mind?
Stick a map pin-red, naturally-in Detroit and a second in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where General Motors has built more than 1.1 million Vettes since 1981. Even fanatics wouldn't know to stick a third pin in Julian, California, population 1332.
It's an apple-growing, former gold-mining town between the Volcan and Cuyamaca Mountains, barely an hour east of San Diego.
It's here that I'm holding on, desert wildflowers ablur, as Aaron Link hangs a left off Route 78 and ascends Yaqui Pass Road in the mid-engine Z06.
"The base Stingray isn't as composed," Link says, as the Z06 leeches onto pavement in an Oscar-level bid for Best Understatement.
Link is among the hottest GM hotshoes, a former Corvette lead development engineer who is now global vehicle performance manager. With multifarious roads and shifting microclimates, Julian and its environs have become GM's de facto winter home for developing cars like the Z06.
Computer simulations have erased some tuning trial and error. GM's Milford Proving Ground in suburban Detroit envelops 140 miles of roads and one notoriously torturous road course. But there will never be a substitute for a genuine dotted line.
"There are real-world situations and surfaces we have to see to put the final five percent on the car," Link says. "The beauty is, within an hour's radius of Julian, there are limitless roads to choose from."
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Denne historien er fra June - July 2023-utgaven av Road & Track.
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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MR. CALIFORNIA
MEET THE MAN WHO PUT THE STATE ON THE MAP AS THE LEADER IN THE FIGHT AGAINST VEHICLE EMISSIONS.
RESIDENT ALIEN
THE CZINGER 21C LOOKS LIKE IT ARRIVED FROM A DISTANT PLANET. INSTEAD, IT COMES FROM CALIFORNIA, WHICH IS KIND OF THE SAME THING.
FUNNY FACE
THE CURIOUS CASE OF CALIFORNIA-DIAL WATCHES.
THE PROBLEM WITH ROBERT WILLIAMS
TOWARD THE END of our third interview, Robert Williams gives me some advice about overcoming creative blocks. “Phrase it as a problem,” he says. “
Quiet Riot
In the Ioniq 5 N, Hyundai makes the case that an EV can tamp down racetrack noise without sacrificing capability.
The Sound and the Fury
A legal feud over booming decibels put California's most historic roadracing circuit in jeopardy.
HOLLYWOOD'S GREATEST STUNT DRIVER
CAREY LOFTIN WAS THE KING OF THE SCIENTIFIC WILD-ASS GUESS
OFFLINE
THIS BURBANK BOOKSTORE IS A REPOSITORY FOR THE WORLD OF AUTOMOTIVE INFORMATION NOT ON YOUR PHONE.
THE COURSE OF HISTORY
The West Coast tracks where modern racing was born.
TANK WARFARE
WHAT IF THE WHOLE CAR WERE A GAS TANK?