Corvette Z06 Competing for Road and Track’s 2016 Performance Car of the Year

Will the Corvette be able to continue its winning ways in Road & Track’s Performance Car of the Year competition?

The 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 captured the magazine’s first contest in 2013.

To be chosen for the contest, a car had to have significant updates over the previous year’s car (leaving out the BMW M3, Alfa 4C, and Nissan GT-R) and had to be at the top of the performance bracket (leaving out cars like the Mazda Miata). In addition, manufacturers of the Lamborghini Huracan and McLaren 675LT said they didn’t want to compete this year.

That means the Stingray isn’t eligible to defend its title, but that does mean that the Z06, all-new for the 2015 model year, can compete.

And if there is such a thing as homefield advantage, then the Z06 gets it this year since the competition is being held in its old stomping grounds – the roads of rural Kentucky and Tennessee and two days at the National Corvette Museum’s race track.

Using those guidelines, Road & Track finally narrowed a long list of contenders to eight, including, of course, the Corvette Z06. The magazine had some nice words to say about Chevy’s great car, including:

“The Z06 should need no introduction. A supercharged V8 with 650 horsepower and 650 pound feet of torque make it basically a supercar. And it’s no stranger to victory lane, the Corvette won our competition in 2014.”

The Z06 will be competing against the Dodge Viper ACR, Mercedes-AMG GT S, Porsche Cayman GT4, Ferrari 488 GTB, Ford Mustang GT350R, Bentley Continental GT3R, and its cousin, Cadillac ATS-V.

We won’t know the winner for a while (though we are naturally inclined to believe the Z06 is clearly the champ).

But you can visit R&T’s Instagram now to see “all the photos you could possibly want from this week’s activities,” the magazine writes.

Source:
Road and Track

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