[RUMOR] C8 Corvette Z51’s Nurburgring Lap Time Revealed?

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[RUMOR] C8 Corvette Z51's Nurburgring Lap Time Revealed?

Photo Credit: Carspotter Jeroen


Over the last two decades, the Corvette team has made multiple trips to test their new sports cars on one of the most extreme tracks in the world – Germany’s Nurburgring. The 2020 Corvette Stingray Z51 has already made several trips to the famous 12.9 mile Nordschleife and we know from reports at the track that a fast lap time was recorded.

Chevrolet doesn’t release these times on a whim, and every fast lap attempt during the C7 generation with all four models (Stingray, Grand Sport, Z06 and ZR1) was kept secret despite enthusiasts desire to want to know how their sports cars stacked up against the competition. We only learned what the various models’ lap times were following the retirement of GM ride engineer Jim Mero who posted the times on his facebook page.

To recap, those times from Jim Mero were:

  • 7:33 – C7 Corvette Stingray Z51 (S)
  • 7:27 – C7 Corvette Grand Sport
  • 7:10 – C7 Corvette Z06
  • 7:04 – C7 Corvette ZR1

The (S) stands for segment times which is where times on the different segments of the track are added up. The 2019 Corvette ZR1 segmented time was 6:57 but Mero claims to have a lap time of 7:04 which was due to starting out on cold tires.

[RUMOR] C8 Corvette Z51's Nurburgring Lap Time Revealed?


So now here we are with the 2020 Corvette Stingray Z51 and our friends at Muscle Car and Trucks are claiming they have a Nurburgring time for the mid-engine sports car and that time is: 7:28.30.

The website doesn’t tell us how they got the time, only to trust them based on some of their previous reporting. In October, Corvette Lead Development Engineer Mike Petrucci confirmed to Motor Authority that a successful lap time was recorded while testing at the Green Hell, and it just so happened that it was Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin who set the time.

Assuming they are correct, that lap time does seem to be consistent for the C8’s 495-hp LT2 as compared to the C7 Z51’s 465-hp LT1 engine. At 7:28.30, the time slots just between the Stingray and Grand Sport’s times as stated by Mero. It’s also consistent with the comments from Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter who said on Autoline that lap times will be 1-2 seconds faster for the C8 vs the C7.

As a comparison to other models, the 7:28.30 lap time puts the C8 Stingray Z51 in the same neighborhood as the factory test times of the 2007 Porsche 911 GT2 (7:32), 2009 Nissan GT-R (7:29.03), and BMW M4 GTS (7:27.88)

The 2020 Corvette Stingray offers exotic looks and performance that was previously only attainable in high-dollar exotics and so far we’ve been very impressed with the performance testing and reviews that have come in so far. But the Nurburgring is the ultimate time for bench-racers and fanboys alike and we hope that Chevrolet would be proud to stand behind those times and let the chips fall where they may.


Source:
Muscle Car and Trucks

Related:
The 2020 Corvette Stingray Set a Nurburgring Time with Oliver Gavin Doing the Driving
As the C8 Corvettes Leave the Nurburgring, Mark Reuss Posts a Group Photo of Chevy’s Engineers
[VIDEO] Watch 12 Minutes of the C8 Corvettes Running Hard on the Nurburgring

 



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1 COMMENT

  1. Keith,
    Not sure why you decided not to publish more recent Nurburgring Lap Times of other car models. So, I found these…
    2018 GT3RS (500 HP), 6:56
    2018 GT2RS (700 HP) 6:47
    We all know these Porsche’s are much more expensive, but you lose credibility by not being more transparent… That said these lap times are really subjective and can be influenced by many factors. What’s not subjective is the cost difference between these cars, C8 wins hands down. The C8 with its future versions will have plenty of opportunities to complete on the track head-to-head soon enough.
    https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/porsche-911-gt3-rs-crushes-own-ring-lap-time-68652

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