IT’S HARD NOT TO ADMIRE CHEVROLET AND THE team behind the Corvette. First they make the controversial switch to a mid-engine platform for the eighth-generation Stingray in search of greater performance and dynamic polish – a big gamble for a car that sells in vast numbers to a mostly conservative, traditionalist crowd. Next they set about tackling the Porsche 911 GT3 with the hardcore Z06 version by channelling the Ferrari 458 Speciale. Just like the Porsche, the Z06 benefits from a bespoke, motorsport-derived engine. However, this one is a 5.5-litre flat-plane-crank V8 modelled on the staggering Speciale engine and developing 670bhp at 8400rpm. Incredible. The car’s pretty good too, as John Barker discovered in issue 310, where he was moved to say ‘at times it feels like you’re driving a race car on the road, except few race cars have such absorbency’.
And now there’s this, the Corvette E-Ray – a four-wheel-drive supercar that takes elements of the relatively plush Stingray and the sharp, track-focused Z06 and combines them with a Porsche 918 Spyder-style hybrid system to deliver huge performance. Chevy claims 0-60mph in 2.5 seconds and independent sources have borne that out. Add two-tenths or so to account for the weird 1ft rollout used for US acceleration tests. Even so, it’s massively potent.
Yet despite the potential of this car, its clever mixed-material chassis and the complexities of the hybrid system, the E-Ray costs from just $106,595 in its home market.
