[VIDEO] Throttle House Takes a 2020 Corvette and the 2020 Shelby GT500 to the Track

Throttle House, our favorite YouTube channel that features a Canadian and an Englishman driving cars together, swung for the fences with their most recent weekly content upload. The hosts might not understand that baseball reference or how to spell the word, “color” but they do understand how to make exceptional videos of vehicular interest and after taking a week off to review some Audis, the boys are back behind the squircle steering-wheel of an eighth-generation Corvette.

This time around, Thomas (CAN) and James (UK) are at their test track to see how a Z51-equipped Stingray fares against the other hottest American car of the young decade, the 760 horsepower 2020 Shelby GT500 (sans Carbon Fiber Track Pack to keep the as-tested prices close).

Important Disclaimer: If you are hoping to avoid spoilers, watch the video below before continuing to the synopsis and discussion that immediately follow this paragraph.

The proceedings kick off with a good, old-fashioned quarter-mile drag race. A giddy Thomas pilots the mid-engine launch-machine, while James hops in the saddle atop 265 more horses. As we have already been trained to expect, the ‘Vette is an absolute animal from a stand-still. It immediately leaves the super ‘Stang in its wake and never looks back as the Shelby has a hard time hooking-up off the line and is unable to take advantage of its monumental power down the stretch.

The second portion of the test attempts to alleviate the Pony’s struggles with TD (Traction Dysfunction) with a roll race. A start from 40 MPH was exactly the little blue pill that the Blue Oval’s most powerful production car needed. The Corvette still jumps to an early lead due to what the presenters call “unbelievable gearing” but is convincingly overtaken once the Mustang’s supercharged “Predator” V8 is on full boil.

Before the hot laps, viewers are treated to some candid driving impressions of each car. In their first C8 review, the Throttle House crew echoed the sentiments of many early testers who complained about maddening understeer ruining the whole experience. Luckily, this Elkhart Lake Blue example of America’s Sports Car was set up with the track alignment which changed its mid-corner behavior so much that Thomas dubs it “one of the best handling cars” that he had ever driven, proving that our own Jeremy Welborn isn’t just some homer.

Finally the hot laps are shown along with a disclaimer that they were done in the AM on new tires (their previous pony car comparison video drew the ire of the Mustang forums because Ford delivered them a GT500 on rubber that was less than completely fresh).

It is fun to watch, and listen, to this odd-couple of American performance in a time attack situation and when the dust settles, an all-time leader board is revealed before the official times are shown. Atop the TH standings, with the fastest time they’ve ever recorded, is the LT4 powered Camaro ZL1 1LE with a blistering time of 1:11.12. This is an interesting target for both corners of this rumble. The reigning champ shares a showroom and, when you account for incentives, a $60k price point with the Corvette, while also serving as the historical foil for Ford’s most iconic model.

After some obligatory suspense, it is revealed that the non-track pack GT500 ran a 1:11.82, failing to dethrone its crosstown rival. This, of course, piques our curiosity about what kind of time a GT500 with the 1LE-comparable Carbon Fiber Track Pack might turn in. Would the lighter weight, sticker tires, and added downforce eat into the top-dog Camaro’s .7 second lead? After looking at the rest of the cars represented on the leader board, we aren’t sure because the Camaro’s little brother, the 455 HP SS 1LE clocked an impressive 1:11.58 on Pilot Sport Cup 2’s. Ford fans can take solace in the fact that their horse in this fight completely annihilated the only car in the segment with more power. The best that a Challenger Hellcat Redeye could muster on the TH track was a 1:16.08.

But, what of the Corvette? [Insert more suspense]… it posted… [nail biting]… a 1:11… point… 53, good for first place in this test, and the silver medal on the overall leader board. The Z51 was also the car that both hosts said they’d rather take home at the end of the day.

So, not a bad day for Chevrolet performance. A (fantastic) video that has already garnered nearly 400,000 views shows a base Corvette vanquishing their advisory’s proudest pony while a three-plus-year-old Camaro retains road course bragging rights for the bowtie brand. As usual, Corvette Nation, keep the conversation going in the comments and thank you for reading!

Source:
Throttle House / YouTube

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