MotorTrend Pits the 2023 Corvette Z06 against the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS

The newest Corvette Z06 and its howling naturally aspirated V8 have few peers in today’s performance car ecosystem. In terms of outright speed, the C8Z occupies a middle ground where it curb stomps all comers in the sports and modern muscle car categories and defeats the few remaining naturally aspirated supercar holdouts in similar fashion but can’t quite hang with the twin-turbo numbers cars in at the strip. Those straight-line comparisons mostly miss the point of the Z06, though. In terms of mission, most agree on the 911 GT3 as the Z06’s closest foil, but Motor Trend has another hat to throw in the ring. MT718 Cayman GT4 RS.

The GT4 RS places a lightly detuned (493 HP vs. 502 HP) version of the GT3’s race-derived 9,000 RPM NA 4.0L flat-six amidship, just like the Z06’s LT6 V8. The similarities don’t end with free-breathing engines and their chassis position, either. They both employ generous aero upgrades vs. the respective cars that they are based on, come with fast-shifting dual-clutch automatics as their sole transmission offering, and wear a fancy set of shoes – carbon fiber on the ‘Vette and magnesium on the Cayman. The MSRP disparity between the Z and GT3 also shrinks a bit for this matchup and is almost non-existent when you account for dealer markups – which exist for both models but plague perspective Z06 buyers to a higher degree, percentage-wise.

All of that makes a lot of sense on paper, and when you’ve been following individual tests of each car from their home continent, this was shaping up to be a heavyweight slugfest of two all-time greats, but once MT got their fortunate hands on them at the same time, things got ugly in a hurry! Despite its humbler-suggested price, the more powerful Corvette flexed its muscles on its 450-pound lighter opponent in all performance categories. Be it acceleration, stopping, or handling, the scrappy high-pitched kid from Kentucky came out on top. So, Chevrolet’s track special was named the better of the two at their intended function, but where it really “opened a can” on the Porsche was away from the circuit, with MT saying, “Yes, both of these cars are designed to devour racetracks, but the Corvette is more satisfying off of one. The Cayman GT4 RS is more one-dimensional, what with its fixed-back seats, stiff ride, and cabin noise levels that rival the inside of a jet engine. Our judges were torn on whether the Porsche’s ear-splitting intake noise was one of the greatest automotive sounds and features of all time, or akin to driving with a newborn baby set to “agitate” stuffed somewhere behind the seat.” This discrepancy was so stark that the Corvette was even dubbed “an Escalade by comparison.” Couple that comfort factor with the previously mentioned fact that the Z06 is “as good or better than the Porsche on track,” while making “compelling vroom-vroom noises of its own,” and you’ve got a runaway victory on your hands!

Before you call your kid’s orthodontist to gloat, however, it wasn’t ALL sunshine and rainbows on the Corvette front. For the second time in as many weeks, the Z06’s brake-by-wire system wound up in reviewers’ crosshairs when compared to the feedback cooked up for the top-of-the-line Cayman’s left pedal by Stuttgart’s engineers. The ‘Vette’s bulky footprint also came in for some criticism vs. the nimble and sporty GT4 RS, a sticking point that might tip the scales in the other direction if this test was done across the pond, but here and now, the Z06 reigns supreme as the best mid-engine driver’s car in the world. Its victory was so absolute that MT concluded that they might need to dust off the old 911 rivalry to give this new breed of ‘Vette a run for its money. The only question is, will it be against the equally underpowered but time-attack-focused GT3 or the more comfortable and powerful but less sublime Turbo S? We say they had better bring both!

Source:
MotorTrend.com

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Scouting Report: Porsche Cayman GT4 RS
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