New Chevrolet Corvette Z06 review: a stunning American supercar

Verdict

Chevrolet modelled the Z06 on some of modern history’s best supercars, and it delivers. This is a big and ostentatious car for Europe, but the performance and engagement it offers rival those of just about any new car built in Europe or abroad. This is a stunning achievement in engineering, and with only one or two tweaks, could reach motoring perfection. 

If you were to list the Corvette Z06’s technical elements, you’d swear it was 2014 in Northern Italy. Peel back the vivid orange skin and you’ll find a naturally aspirated V8 petrol engine with a flat-plane crank, titanium connecting rods and an 8,600rpm red line, hooked up to a dual-clutch transmission mounted in the middle of an aluminium-intensive chassis.

All of these elements are reminiscent of a period in Ferrari’s recent past, when it created some of the all-time supercar greats, so why not take inspiration from the best? This was Chevrolet’s thinking when developing the new Z06. 

The change between a historic Corvette, with its front-mounted engine, and the contemporary mid-engined C8 was a big one. Yet while the first mid-engined Corvette certainly felt like a different car, it’s the Z06 that really pushes this notion of change. It does this not by packing a traditional small-block cross-plane V8, but a brand-new and totally bespoke naturally aspirated 5.5-litre V8, one with all the hallmarks of a highly strung engine from Modena, not Michigan. 

The performance figures are hardly from a decade ago, though, with 661bhp generated at 8,400rpm and a peak of 637Nm, sending the car from 0-60mph in 2.6 seconds and onto a 195mph top speed. This is sent through the aforementioned eight-speed dual-clutch transmission to the rear wheels with some help from an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. 

A look at the chassis reveals more detail about Chevrolet’s efforts to create a true American supercar. Remember, the Corvette had leaf springs on the rear axle only a few decades ago. By contrast, the new car’s suspension is a double-wishbone set-up front and rear, with completely revised geometry from the base C8 and a snazzy set of magnetic dampers – another element from the Ferrari playbook. 

But how does the Z06 feel when crawling out from a crowded, central-London underground car park? It’s all remarkably civilised. One of the main compromises made to the European-bound Corvette Z06 is to the exhaust, where it runs a slightly more sound-restricted set-up shared with the lesser C8 Stingray. So not only is the exhaust itself quieter, but the full US-spec quartet of bazooka-sized outlets are also replaced with four smaller exits at the edges of the bumper.

Yet it’s the engine’s low-speed manners that are also remarkably tame. It has good low-speed calibration at the throttle’s tip-in point and even the gearbox is pretty good at slipping through ratios without much fuss. The transmission does like to hold onto lower gears a touch longer than ideal, but this is largely to do with the sky-high red line. It's not even too bad on fuel (for a supercar), given that a day of mixed driving conditions saw an average of nearly 19mpg. 

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Also notable is the excellent low-speed ride that deals with rough road surfaces remarkably well; even the cabin is well appointed, with relatively comfortable front bucket seats and good levels of refinement. 

The infotainment set-up is a little short-changed, with a relatively small digital interface and some pretty basic graphics. But despite the initially bewildering layout of physical controls, it all comes to hand fairly intuitively – it’s nice to see Chevrolet hasn’t also referenced Ferrari’s user interfaces from the 2010s.

But to comment on the Corvette’s touchscreen is to miss the point entirely, because the real question is whether Chevrolet has delivered on its promise of creating a car that drives with the sort of accuracy and engagement we hope and expect – and for the most part, the Z06 absolutely delivers. 

Find yourself on a bigger road, switch through the various driver modes, and the engine and transmission wake up and finally feel like they’re capable of producing the numbers. The engine builds in tempo and aggression with wonderful linearity, giving an incredible level of response at the top of the rev-band, backed up by whip-crack changes from the gearbox. 

The performance at this level is now also off the scale, matched by brakes that offer superb feel and good levels of stopping power. Our test route on narrow roads around Goodwood on a greasy winter’s morning certainly didn’t give the car the space it needed to really shine, but the quality of its dynamic performance was clear.

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 It’s here that the steering’s accuracy was especially appreciated, even if outright feel was a little lacking. We’re also not fans of the square steering wheel; this might well be a subjective thing, but by forcing you to hold and use the steering wheel in a certain manner, the Z06 knocks back one of its key sources of engagement.  

We also think the steering weight is best left in one of its two lighter settings because the top-tier Z mode adds too much synthetic weight, masking your ability to get a sense of how close you are to approaching the front axle’s limit of grip. The seating position is also a touch high, even for shorter drivers, and the car’s sheer size can be another inhibiting factor when driving on narrow UK roads. 

Overall, though, Chevrolet has done an astounding job of creating its interpretation of a modern American supercar. And in its local market, where a Z06 can be had for around the same price as a basic Porsche 911 Carrera, it also represents incredible value. Here in the UK, though, its pricing starts at nearly £180,000, knocking some of the appeal. Not that the Z06 needs any excuses for its achievements – it really is a superb supercar – but it’s also one you’ll need to say no to a whole range of very capable rivals to justify.