The C8 Corvette Z06 Blitzed Car and Driver’s Lightning Lap and It’s Even Faster than We’d Hoped

The latest edition of Car and Driver’s flagship super track comparison is (almost) here, and it’s the one that we Corvette Crazies have been waiting for since 2018! For the first time this decade, a version of America’s Sports Car has been loaded for bear by its makers, and it was recently unleashed on one of the country’s toughest and most storied race tracks. Lightning Lap 2023 is in the books, and this year’s undisputed headline is the performance turned in by Chevrolet’s new flat-plane halo car.

Quick Disclaimer
At CorvetteBlogger, we strive to be conscientious in all aspects of our work, especially as it pertains to spoiling anyone else’s work. Our goal isn’t to steal clicks from other websites, publications, YouTube channels, or anyone else out there trying to contribute to the automotive hobby, but because 1. these results quite literally showed up in your author’s mailbox – and are already available digitally, here – days before C&D’s online team has decided to click “publish,” 2. the primary motivation behind this site is to keep Corvette Nation up to date on all things Plastic and Fantastic, and 3. We’ve been chomping at the bit for this day for years; we are going to go ahead and discuss our hero car’s extraordinary conquest right now. We also urge you to read the genuine article in its entirety to keep excellent content like LL coming our way for years to come!

The Lap Time
Okay, no more beating around the bush; the Rapid Blue 2023 Z07 that GM sent to C&D’s VIR meatgrinder stopped the clock in an astonishing 2:38.6. That is the best time achieved by anything this year, and it also makes the C8Z the fifth fastest car that’s ever been in the test, the speediest American to ever run LL, the swiftest naturally aspirated vehicle in event history, and the fleetest sub-$200,000 lightning lapper of all time!

How It Stacks Up Against Other ‘Vettes
In Corvetteland, the new Z06 moves into first place by .9 of a second, officially overtaking the C7 ZR1 ZTK that attacked VIR in 2:39.5 five years ago. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that Gemini Project improved upon its “Big Nasty” predecessor’s time by a full six ticks, an eternity in track years. As the best ‘Vette-centric site on the ‘net, we have to point out a couple of things about the Z-branded C7 times; first, the C7Z competed in 2015, meaning that some time was left on the table when GM didn’t send a fully-optimized ’19 version with the new Mag Ride calibration for a re-test. Second, that the C8Z’s cutting-edge Cup 2 R rubber (that Michelin claims can shave .8 seconds per mile on track vs. the OG Cup 2) were available when the big dog C7s were still in showrooms, but the ‘Vette team stood pat with Cup 2s across the board. Nonetheless, what the new car achieved is still staggering! What’s more, the LT6 monster also puts 10.4-seconds between itself and the Stingray on which it is based while also gapping the 638-horse PDE-enhanced C6 ZR1 and the original ’11 Z07 LS7 legend by 12.1 and 14.9-seconds, respectively. This thing is an absolute monster!

The Americans
Zooming out to the other domestic brands really highlights what an achievement Tadge and Friends have on their hands! The C8 Z06 and C7 ZR1 are 1-2 in the US rankings and 5-6 all-time. Another sled from the good ol’ US of A doesn’t show its mug until the 13th position, where the “you have to apply to even be considered” Ford GT planted its flag with a time of 2:43 flat. Perhaps showing how far the trackable street car market has come in the past few years, we don’t see the Red, White, and Blue waving again until the once-unbeatable Viper ACR-E’s 2:44.2 – 18th all-time. The only other domestic in the top 20 actually looks like quite a bargain right now (as long as you don’t look at its primary rival, the Camaro ZL1 1LE, and its price/lap combo of $75k/2:45.0); the about-to-retire 760-horse Shelby GT500 and its $100,000ish “Golden Ticket” Carbon Fiber Track Pack were able to cross the line with the exact same elapsed time as the 2015 Z06 (2:44.6).

The Naturally Aspirated Angle
A Chevrolet from Kentucky by way of Detroit, not a Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Porsche, is the new free-breathing king! After the C8Z, the next fastest free-breathers all come from Porsche, and they barely sneak into the LL top 10. The 992-gen GT3 and the 991.2 GT3 RS were joined in the winner’s circle by the Cayman GT4 RS this year. The 4.0 trio take up spaces 8-10 on the leader board now, with the little brother surprisingly leading the pack at 2:40.5 to the 3’s 2:40.6 and the 3RS’s 2:41.6, but keep your eyes peeled for the next-level downforce of the new 3RS next year! Just a pair of V10 Lambos made the top 20 (2:43.9 and 2:44.0) without resorting to the use of turbocharging, fancy hybrid tech, or a supercharger!

Where it Lands Overall
Since testing began in 2006, Hearst’s most circulated automotive publication has thrown more than 300 of the industry’s hottest performance machines through the VIR gauntlet, and up to this point, there are only four known ways to turn in a better time than piloting a Z07-equipped C8 Z06. All four of them are out of production and well into an appreciation schedule that has rendered them even more unattainable than they were at their respective stratospheric beginnings. Retaining its gold medal is the 789-horse, 2,641-lb., 1-of-500 McLaren Senna that originally stickered for around $1,000,000 and now regularly trades hands with a 30-50% premium tacked on to that eyewatering figure. Its 2:34.9 is 2.1 seconds faster than the next car on the list, but even with one of the outrageous $100,000 dealer markups we’ve seen applied to the Z06, the original Senna owner had to shell out more than $190k for each additional second at VIR.

The “Maverick” award for second place all-time goes to the 2:37.0 of the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series. The top-spec AMG is the only front-engine performer faster than the C7 ZR1. Its twin-turbo V8 made 720 horses, and its production run was limited to 1,700 units, each priced starting at just under $330,000. To take one home today will cost you very close to half a million dollars before taxes.

Third place belongs to the 2:37.8 of Porsche’s most powerful 911. The GT2 RS wore an original MSRP of around 300 Gs, then rode an initial hype train to values approaching seven figures, but its market has settled in the $400-500,000 range. Finally, in fourth place, we have the McLaren 765LT, which uses an underrated 755-horse version of the Senna V8 to push around fewer than 3k pounds – a combination that it leveraged to set an LL top speed record by reaching 174.6 MPH on the front straight. This $430,000 (now $500-600k) incredible British Brawler notched 2:38.4, placing it just .2 of a second ahead of the Z06.

That’s it; those are the only four cars that have ever done better than the C8Z at Lightning Lap, period! The fact that all of them had to employ a pair of turbos to make their power, all cost piles upon piles of extra dough, and lack even a modicum of livability, only makes the C8 Z06’s run that much more remarkable; the General has birthed a genuine masterpiece!

Source:
Car and Driver

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