[VIDEO] 2023 Corvette Z06 Holds its Own Against a Modded Ferrari 488 Pista

The Fast and the Furious movie hit the silver screen when your author was in sixth grade. In my developing mind, the humble street racing film established the idea of “a ten-second” car as the ultimate quarter mile benchmark, a feat that could only be achieved by dumping thousands of dollars – and a 100-shot of NOS – into a stock engine bay. A personal-favorite scene also cemented the idea of the high-revving flat-plane midengine exotic as something that an every day “pal” like myself couldn’t afford. Well, eight sequels, one spinoff, and two decades of technological advancement later, and we’ve arrived in a 2023 where there’s a fully-warrantied 8,600 rpm 180-degree crank supercar that consistently runs 10s shipping to Chevrolet(!) dealerships every day. I still can’t afford one, but it’s closer to a possibility now than the F355 Spider was when I was 12, so I’ll count the last 22 years as a moral victory of sorts.

Speaking of moral victories, after taking down an 812 Superfast and its 789-horse 396-cube V12, the breathtaking and previously alluded to 2023 Corvette Z06 got a return invite from the guys at the Drag Times YouTube channel for another 1,320-foot date with Italian royalty.

This time around, the Prancing Horse isn’t taking the new Z in the right lane lightly. Lining up opposite the sleek, base-aero C8Z for round two is a car that shares the American’s newfound engine layout, and, unlike the free-breathing 812, this thoroughbred brings a pair of turbos to the party. The 488 Pista (pronounced Pee-sta, which is Italian for “track”), playing the role of antagonist today, was built between 2019 and 2020. It was the final high-performance version of the 488 GTB that ushered in the blown era for Ferrari’s famed mid-mounted V8 sports car lineage. The Pista ramped the base car’s 3.9-liter V8 (down from the 458’s 4.5L) to a then-Ferrari record 710 HP. Pair that muscle with a svelte 3,308 curb weight, and the Pista was already an absolute animal and an extremely compelling sparring partner for the Z06. This specific green and orange example has been juicing, though; a tune and exhaust upgrade have the host claiming 850-900 horses. Clearly, the 670-pony ‘Vette will have to punch up in this fight!

Before the main event gets underway, we see why Chevrolet wanted to benchmark naturally aspirated Ferraris for sound vs. the more contemporary 488. In a rev battle, and later when running the strip, the Z06’s quad pipes absolutely floor the noise coming out of the Pista, exhaust upgrade or not. Once the tree lights up for the first matchup, the Z actually gets to hold on to that winning feeling for a while. It shoots off the line and leaves the Pista for dead until the Ferrari comes on boil and puts a couple of car lengths on our hometown hero. During the rematch, the Z gets an even better start, and the host almost simultaneously says, “1/8th mark” and “Oh, no! There he goes!” Being ahead for the first half on a lighter car with as much as 230 more HP is quite the feat. When you factor in the $500,000-550,000 going rate for a Pista coupe (the droptop will put you back about ¾ of a million dollars) and the smokin’ 10.062 @ 137.65 vs. 10.524 @ 128.53 final tally and the Corvette can hold its (upper) working-class head high! Ferrari will need more than a tuned 488 after the Corvette regroups with those overnight parts from Detroit!

Source:
DragTimes / YouTube

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