Here’s the short version of our review of the new Chevrolet Corvette Z06: It’s the best American sports car ever made.
How can we say this so definitively? What about the Ford GT? What about the Dodge Viper ACR? You know we’ve driven, tested, and tracked them, and they’re both great cars. And each is a Le Mans winner in its own right (though Corvette Racing has more wins than the two of them combined). The 2023 Z06 is better.
As much as there is to talk about with the C8 Z06, we must begin with the sacrilegious dual-overhead-cam, flat-plane-crank V-8 engine. No, it doesn’t burble like a cross-plane-crank V-8, because it isn’t one. It does, however, make more naturally aspirated power than any production V-8 in history. We’re talking 670 American ponies. Fair trade, we say.
Disagree? You won’t, not after the first pull to redline with the exhaust open. This isn’t the banshee scream of an Italian V-8 or the monotone growl of a modern turbocharged German eight-cylinder. The latest Z06 sounds like the angriest person you’ve ever heard screaming at the top of their lungs. It’s an unhinged war cry, all ragged emotion and zero conscious thought.
It’s also a happy accident. The Z06 was originally slated to have an exhaust
