Chevy's Menacing 2023 Corvette Z06 Bares All Ahead Of October 23 Launch
From what we can tell, GM's designers didn't mess too much for the design formula of the standard Corvette Stingray (which we think is a good thing). The changes are functional, with additional aero surfacing along the upper front fenders, a revised front bumper, and larger rear intakes for the mid-mounted engine. The Z06 also receives a new wheel design and what looks to be a better-integrated rear spoiler and centrally-located exhausts (as seen on the test mules).
As for the engine, the naturally-aspirated 6.2-liter small-block V8 is being tossed in favor of an all-new 5.5-liter flat-plane crank V8 engine. The engine's sound probably won't be to the liking of diehard Corvette fans, but we think that the music it makes is simply glorious (listen to engine at full tilt in the video below). However, it will be hard to argue with the performance, as the all-new V8 in the Corvette Z06 will produce over 600 horsepower compared to around 500 horsepower for the Stingray.
Power will make its way to the rear wheels with a fortified 8-speed dual-clutch transmission, and we'd expect that performance will be stunning. The Stingray can already hit 0-60 in around 3 seconds, and the Z06 should obliterate that figure. And since everyone and their grandma uses the Nürburgring as the holy grail of sports car performance metrics, we'll be eager to see just how many seconds the new Z06 shaves off the time of its C7 predecessor.
We'll have to wait until the late October debut to get official pricing for the 2023 Corvette Z06, but expect it to be priced higher than the $80,900 entry point for the previous generation.
