Update: Official 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Performance Stats Are Incredible

Cars, News I By Bradley Iger I October 01, 2014

When it comes to high performance news, the recent crowd favorite Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat has been hogging a lot of headlines for the last few months – and for good reason. But while the Challenger makes for a great muscle car, if you’re looking for the most distilled high performance available, it’s more likely to be offered from a platform designed to be a sports car from the ground up. The C7 Corvette is such a platform. When GM announced that the new Z06 would be the most powerful GM production car ever produced, and that a new eight-speed automatic transmission that offered shifts as fast as Porsche’s PDK gearbox was going to be along for the ride, expectations were high. But to look at the performance figures revealed by General Motors today, it looks like they might not have been high enough.

Let’s start with the Z06’s 0-60 sprint time. Equipped with the eight-speed automatic, the Z06 will hit 60 mph in 2.95 seconds, placing it among all-wheel-drive supercars like the Porsche 911 Turbo S and the Nissan GT-R – some of the fastest-accelerating cars on sale at any price. The seven-speed manual gearbox is predictably a step or two behind at a still-brisk pace of 3.2 seconds.

Quarter mile times are equally impressive, with the automatic-equipped Z06 doing the deed in 10.95 seconds and the manual-equipped car completing the 1320 in 11.2 seconds, with both versions hitting 127 mph through the traps.

Of course, the Z06 isn’t just about straight line speed – these cars are really made to tear up a road course. To that end, the new Z06 posts the shortest braking distance of any GM production vehicle ever tested at 99.6 feet. In terms of cornering, the new Z06 provides 1.2 g lateral acceleration – beating the Corvette’s previous best of 1.13 g. This equates to a Corvette Z06 that’s a full second faster around GM’s 2.9-mile Milford Road Course than the C6 ZR1.

All performance stats were accomplished with Z06 coupes fitted with the Z07 performance package, which adds Brembo carbon ceramic brake rotors, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, and aerodynamic aids that provide more downforce than any production car ever tested by GM.

Performance junkies still have a few months to save their nickels and dimes, as the 2015 Corvette Z06 coupe will go sale in in early 2015 starting at $78,995, while the ragtop Z06 is set to land in showrooms in the second quarter of next year, priced at $83,995.

Check out the press release below for some additional details, and keep an eye on the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 overview page for updates as we have them.

New eight-speed automatic enables 2.95-sec. 0-60 time, 10.95-sec. quarter-mile

DETROIT – The performance of the all-new, 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 establishes it as one of the most capable vehicles on the market – and one of the few to achieve sub-3-second 0-60 performance and a sub-11-second quarter-mile time.

“The Corvette has long been known as America’s sports car,” said Mark Reuss, General Motors’ executive vice president, Global Product Development. “With the capability of the new Z06 rivaling the best performance cars in the world, we will also be America’s Supercar.”

The Corvette Z06 accelerates from a rest to 60 mph in only 2.95 seconds when equipped with the all-new, available eight-speed paddle-shift automatic transmission – and achieves it in 3.2 seconds with the standard seven-speed manual transmission.

A quarter-mile sprint takes just 10.95 seconds with the eight-speed automatic and 11.2 seconds with the seven-speed manual. With both versions, the Corvette Z06 hits 127 mph at the end of the quarter-mile.

When it comes to braking performance, the Z06 can stop from 60 mph in only 99.6 feet. That’s the best braking performance of any production car GM has ever tested. Additionally, the Corvette Z06 achieves 1.2 g in lateral acceleration compared with the Corvette’s previous best 1.13 g.

The new Z06 is also the fastest production car ever tested at GM’s 2.9-mile Milford Road Course, beating the record set by the Corvette ZR1 by a full second.

All test results were achieved with Z06 coupes fitted with the Z07 Performance package, which adds Brembo carbon ceramic brake rotors and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. The Z07 package also features the most aggressive aerodynamic package available on the Corvette Z06, which delivers the most downforce of any production car GM has ever tested.

“The defining aspect of driving the Z06 is seamless integration of power, technology and aerodynamics,” said Tadge Juechter, Corvette chief engineer. “As a result, the Z06 delivers ferocious acceleration, tenacious handling, and high-speed stability that few cars can match.”

It is the first Corvette Z06 with a supercharged engine – SAE certified at 650 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque – and the first with an available eight-speed paddle-shift automatic transmission. Performance-enhancing Magnetic Ride Control and Performance Traction Management are standard, and the award-winning, industry-first Performance Data Recorder is available.

The 2015 Corvette Z06 coupe goes on sale in in early 2015 priced at $78,995, while the Z06 convertible goes on sale in the second quarter, priced at $83,995.

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