2023 Chevy Corvette Z06 Teased Ahead Of Its High-Flying October Debut With 600+ Horsepower

So, we have two agonizing months to wait for the big reveal. Still, the company provided a brief teaser of the vehicle blasting around some famous race tracks, including Circuit de la Sarthe and the Nürburgring. The latter is the “holy grail” destination for manufacturers to tests their high-performance vehicles, so it makes sense that GM would spend thousands of hours testing there.

With that said, the new Z06 is rumored to feature a 5.5-liter flat-plane-crank V8 engine that produces a very uncharacteristic exhaust note, for a Corvette. Instead, it sounds more like a Ferrari at full wail, which seems entirely appropriate given its newfangled mid-engine configuration. According to early reports, while the 6.2-liter V8 in the standard Corvette produces just shy of 500 horsepower, the Z06 will boost that number to nearly 620 horsepower. Power will still flow to the rear wheels via a strengthened 8-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Interestingly, if the horsepower figures are accurate, the incoming Z06 would be down on power compared to the previous generation with its supercharged 6.2-liter V8 thumping out 650 horsepower. However, we’re confident that GM engineers have dialed in the engine, transmission, and suspension tuning to blow the doors off the C7 Corvette Z06 around the ‘Ring despite the power deficit.

Compared to the standard Corvette, the Z06 has a revised front fascia with larger air intakes and fenders. There are also wider fenders out back, four centrally-mounted exhaust tips, and a much larger wing. We’d imagine that there will be some interior updates as well, but we’ll likely have to wait close to its late-October reveal for those details.

The current 2021 Corvette Stingray has a base price of $60,995, while the previous generation Corvette Z06 retailed for $80,900. So we’d expect that the 2023 model will cost at least that much, perhaps even cresting the $85,000 mark.