Go-faster models have been part of the Chevrolet Corvette story for almost as long as the car has existed, the first Z06 competition package having launched way back in the early 1960s. Since then we've had ZR1s, Grand Sports and more besides; some have been better than others, for sure, though the reputation forged means there's always a great deal of excitement whenever a new fast Corvette is on the horizon.
This looks like being the next, a C8 with a giant rear wing and said to be sporting super wide 345-section Michelin Cup 2 tyres at the back. Logic would suggest it's a Z06, a successor to the 650hp supercharged "Big Nasty" that memorably joined the C7 Corvette range back in 2015. With almost 150hp more than its predecessor.
It would be daft to suggest a similar gain this time around - not least because that would give a Corvette the best part of 800hp - but the tell-tale signs of a performance-orientated Chevrolet are plain to see. Or rather, we expect them to be plain to see. Those disc coverings could well be hiding carbon wheels, they fill the arches more convincingly than a regular Corvette, and the heavy cladding looks to be disguising bodywork of more intent than a standard C8. The front end even looks to have hood window, a la C6 ZR1, even though the engine is now in the middle.
All familiar and as expected, then. Only there are some discrepancies. Some have suggested that the C8 Z06 will use active aerodynamics (which would negate the need of a large, fixed wing) and also that it would use a centre-exit exhaust, where this mule quite clearly has its quad of pipes in the bumper. The alternative to this being the Z06, therefore, is that it's the rumoured Corvette E-Ray hybrid, a model that will pair the Stingray's LT2 V8 with batteries and an electric motor.
Two very interesting possibilities, then, for the future of the Corvette, though with precious little in verifiable information to go on. Both would make viable (and valuable) additions torange, and it seems likely that both hybrid and supercar-baiting Z06 will join the range at some point in the future. Whatever this C8 turns out to be, we can expect to see it for the 2022 model year. Hopefully a right-hand drive Corvette might be here by that point, too...
Images: S.Baldauf/S.B.Medien
1 / 6