The 2023 Corvette Z06 Is Making Waves Among Ferrari and Porsche Fans

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The 2023 Corvette Z06 Is Making Waves Among Ferrari and Porsche Fans

Photo Credit: Chevrolet


The primary objective lying ahead of the Corvette team when they started developing the first mid-engine Z06 in history six years ago was a monumental one, to say the least. They shot for the stars with their stated goal: to “put the automotive world on notice,” and, though it is a bit early to throw them a parade, the 670 naturally-aspirated HP (it still gives me goosebumps every time I get to type that!) fruits of their labor seem to have thoroughly hit the mark, judging by reactions across the automotive industry and in the high-end vehicle forums in the two days since they were finally made public!

Hot on the heels of the Z06 unveiling at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, McLaren’s CEO threw up his hands and left the company that he had turned into a legitimate force in the streetcar space during his eight years at the helm. Is that just a coincidence? Decide for yourself, but we don’t believe in such things!

The Ferrari and Porsche customers that Tadge, Harlan, and the gang have been watching like hungry wolves, licking their lips with conquest on their minds, have also taken notice of the Z’s inherent greatness! The Z06 reveal was a tsunami, and the waves and aftershocks are still evident in the respective forums of these blue-chip, European sports, and supercar manufacturers.

Over on FerrariChat, the C8Z thread had already amassed 19-pages before anything was even made official, and since the camo came off, it has remained at the top of their “other cars” section. The comments, from #441 and on, that have come in the past 48 hours should be enough to make Mark Reuss and GM’s “C-suite” pound their collective chest with pride. 95spiderman kicked things off after BJK “live posted” the HP figure by type-screaming “omg omg omg!… sounds like tearing silk fabric,” then there was a “holy cow” followed by multiple proclamations of deep infatuation, including this gem from poster VAF84:

The 2023 Corvette Z06 Is Making Waves Among Ferrari and Porsche Fans


And ’95 Spidey hopped back in by saying “good night” to his Cayman GT4 RS order while saying the Z sounds even “better than a 458.” Jo Sta7 was completely thrilled and couldn’t wait… “what a machine,” while Edward 96GTS echoed what so many Corvette people have been saying for the past two years: “finally some nice looking wheels.” MikeR397 was already pulling a CorvetteBlogger and planning out his build:

The 2023 Corvette Z06 Is Making Waves Among Ferrari and Porsche Fans


TheMayor jumped in with a lengthy post that concluded with the money line; “I have to say… well done Chevy. If Ferrari made this everyone on Fchat would be over the moon.” And Spidey expanded upon his sudden lack of interest in the upcoming Rensport Cayman:

The 2023 Corvette Z06 Is Making Waves Among Ferrari and Porsche Fans


While YTheMayor added some excellent perspective; “The Americans have raised the bar. And they are going to make them at prices in mass production that no one else would even try” and, “Its completely unfortunate but this is the car Ferrari has forgotten how to make,” in response to boxerman’s claim that “we [finally] have the 100k Ferrari beater.”

Boxer then took it a step further by seriously shading the current state of the Prancing Horse:

The 2023 Corvette Z06 Is Making Waves Among Ferrari and Porsche Fans


It is a good thing that most ‘Vette people were proactive about getting on dealer waiting lists, because a good portion of the comments were along the lines of italiafan’s “Amazing! Now I need to get on a waiting list somehow.”

There were also a few concerns about the overall weight of the Z, but most of those were brushed off with some great-to-see enthusiasm!

Meanwhile, on the Porsche-centric Rennlist, a funny thing was happening. A fair amount of the orthodontists (just a joke!)/posters on the site were treating the Z06 with the same condescension that our commenters reserve for hi-po Mustangs (even when they have 760 HP, a DCT, and carbon fiber wheels). Luckily, enough people over there could see the light, including Porsche “addict,” surquhar who kicked off the admiration by saying, “I think the new Z06 is freaking awesome and I would buy one in a second if I were able to get one at MSRP,” followed by slc4s who added:

The 2023 Corvette Z06 Is Making Waves Among Ferrari and Porsche Fans


And, so, it continued:

The 2023 Corvette Z06 Is Making Waves Among Ferrari and Porsche Fans


Then, because the car is too impressive to tear down, the strawman arguments started popping up left and right:

The 2023 Corvette Z06 Is Making Waves Among Ferrari and Porsche Fans
The 2023 Corvette Z06 Is Making Waves Among Ferrari and Porsche Fans


Until, finally, the pro-Vette crowd prevailed:

The 2023 Corvette Z06 Is Making Waves Among Ferrari and Porsche Fans


… For a while…

Last we checked, the battle was still raging, keeping the C8Z talk at the top of another forum, for better or worse.

What does all of this mean?

The C8 Z06 garnering so much attention, even amongst owners of two of the most prestigious automotive brands in the world (we haven’t even expanded our search to Mercedes, BMW, etc. forums, but the makers and prospective owners of the buck-toothed, 473-horse, twin-turbo, $73-100,000 G82 M4 have to be pining for an updated E46 or E92 M3, at the very least), is outstanding news for GM, Chevrolet, and the Corvette brand. On the flip side of that coin is the preexisting hoard of loyal Corvette customers, who suddenly find themselves with a mountain of new, well-to-do competition for the already limited C8 allocations. If you find yourself lamenting all of the newbies coming into the Crossed Flags fold, take solace in the fact that you are a Veteran of the ‘Vette, share your knowledge and passion with the new recruits, and enjoy the magnitude of respect that our favorite car is receiving; it is finally a vehicle that is free of any corner-cutting or “for the price” stipulations. A world-class vehicle, designed, engineered, and built right here, in the land of the free, that can stand up face to face with any car at any price. Friends, Chevrolet might have just minted the greatest car in the world, and hardworking, everyday people have just as much of a chance at ownership as the Buffetts and Zuckerbergs of the world, and THAT is something worth celebrating!


Related:
[VIDEO] First Ride and Review of the 2023 Corvette Z06
[VIDEO] Doug DeMuro Reviews the 2023 Corvette Z06
[VIDEO] 2023 Corvette Z06 w/Z07 Walk-Around

 



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19 COMMENTS

  1. No it is not! It’s just hype from the reveal. People who drive exotics generally do not drive Corvettes. And that includes the Z06 and ZR1 models.

  2. Old guys driving the speed limit learned their lesson years ago and live to tell about it. Those who enjoy speed can go to a track for a weekend and get relief to keep them going at speed limits until the next track visit. It is pure lunacy to play Gone in Sixty Seconds in today’s traffic.

  3. Wishful thinking but highly unlikely. Higher end luxury buyers rarely look downmarket when it comes to the purchases that they make.

  4. Good point RJ. Nobody wants to explain it to their friends and neighbors unless it is another new toy for the collection, but definitely not a replacement. 🙂

  5. I don’t know, KG and RJ. A lot of the folks on those boards were talking about how they already “slum it” in their Shelby GT350Rs. I think a lot of Ferrari and Porsche owners are just car enthusiasts, plain and simple. They recognize a unique and/or special vehicle when they see or hear it; and the Z sings a pretty intoxicating tune!
    Time will tell, I guess. Either way, thanks for reading!

  6. Alex Sommers, nice sentiment but have you ever met a Ferrari or Porsche owner? They will give you hard time for driving a Cayman and not a 911. And if a Ferrari owner see’s you in a 308 nothing will stop them from commenting about the budget Ferrari you are driving. I’ve seen this happen to people that I know at the local car shows that I regularly attend. That’s why I believe the Z06 will not gain any traction with that demographic of buyers.

  7. Alex needs to think of it this way, affluent people want the genuine article not an imitation. They won’t be sluming it in any of those cars for very long if they even buy them, which I don’t believe they do or will do. And as far as the intoxicating tune the Z06 sings, I heard it years ago with the Ferrari 458.

  8. Often imitated but never duplicated comes to mind with the new 2023 Z06 as it attempts to be a Ferrari 458.

  9. Ferrari’s, Porsche’s, Lamborghini’s, Mclaren’s all amazing cars with great lineages. Corvette has this too and yes it is different. If one is looking for image or a badge that’s their choice. While I have driven all these amazing cars with each being different. I will always pick the car that performs the best at the track first, can be driven daily second and have great reliability, regardless of price – its about the experience! A badge can’t buy the experience. I believe this new corvette is going to dominate! We will see. I believed they bench marked the sound of the 458 and the track/performance of the GT2 RS – going to be some great match ups! Will be awesome to see. I think a new legacy and a new standard in supercars is here.

  10. Frankly, I don’t care what any of the European sports car buyers on here think or buy. If they are so enamored with an overpriced badge to not see that their badge has just had it’s head handed to them by Tadje and co then that is their problem. And one day when they look in their rearview mirrors and see the most powerful and utterly menacing NAV8 supercar in the world bearing down on them and running over them they will lose their snobbery faster than our mighty Z06 can go 0-60.
    It’s ok guys. Stay away. That means I won’t have to wait as long for the best NAV8 supercar in the world.

  11. Watch out the guys in the club (and you ain’t in it) will be trading their Ferraris in for a Z. Maybe an opportunity to buy a Ferrari at a decent price. Competition in a capitalist society is awesome.

  12. Some may say the Z is trying to duplicate the 458. It’s a great achievement when one wants to bench mark a vehicle. They have taken a great poweplant with a historical Ferrari sound and made it into an epic sounding car along with epic/historical hp for a naturally aspirated engine-the corvette has now set the bench mark! BRING IT ON!

  13. Mike Farr, unfortunately GM went too far this time. Benchmarking is perfectly acceptable as long as you don’t imitate exactly what the competition is doing. GM basically tuned the Z06 to sound exactly like a 458 which isn’t creative at all. I doubt that they will have set the bench mark. Mostly because other manufacturers are probably working on projects currently that will exceed the performance of the 2023 Z06 and Z07. Besides, with all the delays at the Bowling Green Factory who knows when the Z06 will actually be available to the public. Meanwhile Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren will be delay free and hitting record sales again next year!

  14. Going to be awesome to here what Jay Leno’s thoughts are! He doest care about no stinking badge.
    Easiest to just settle at the track!

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