QUICK SHIFTS: The Corvette Z06 vs a Real Race Car, and is it Grandma Approved?

Welcome to another fun-filled edition of Quick Shifts! Quick Shifts is a content feature here at CorvetteBlogger featuring links to Corvette and automotive-related stories of interest. This week, our tour of automotive websites takes us to MotorTrend for a couple of C8 Z06 features, and then we throw some shade at a CNN review of the new 2024 Corvette E-Ray. It’s a new era for Corvette Racing and we got an update on Jordan Taylor’s helmet for 2024. Finally, take a walk through Hot Rod Magazine’s archives for a period review of the last RPO L82.

FIRST GEAR:

Jonny Lieberman and MotorTrend were all set to test a Porsche 911 GT3 RS against an actual race car for an episode of their “Head 2 Head Drag Race” series when the higher-ups at the German automaker declined to lend the magazine their street-legal race car. We guess Porsche got some cold feet when they discovered they would be racing against a 2100-lbs 1991 Acura NSX. However, the Acura broke down so the backup plan became a race between a race-prepped Lotus Elise and the Chevrolet Corvette Z06.

SECOND GEAR:

Another MotorTrend feature dropped this week with the headline asking if the 2023 Corvette Z06 was Grandma-approved. At first, we weren’t sure if the magazine was poking fun at Corvette’s traditionally older demographics, but the author’s grandmother named Susan apparently enjoyed her previous rides in their Corvette Stingray, so what does she think about the new Corvette Z06? While it was a bit much for her to drive, she comments how it “stands out in a crowd, gets a fun type of attention, and people get a kick out of it.”

See what else Grandma Susan has to say about the Corvette Z06 at MotorTrend:

Photo Credit: MotorTrend

THIRD GEAR:

Leave it to CNN to completely miss the mark on their review of the 2024 Corvette E-Ray. Instead of looking at the Corvette E-Ray for what it is – the first AWD Corvette with a front mounted electric motor designed for increasing performance, all CNN can think about is the lost opportunity for using the hybrid system to turn the car into some sort of “extended range” Corvette. Instead of enjoying himself while out on a test drive and “blasting up snowless mountain roads on the New York/New Jersey state line,” the author injects that he literally can’t stop thinking about “fossil fuel combustion” while on the drive. WTF, CNN? Corvette owners love to talk about how good their fuel economy is, but that will always be secondary to the thrill of the ride.

Photo Credit: CNN

FOURTH GEAR:

This week begins the first on-track competition with the new Corvette Z06-GT3.R as IMSA’s season-opener kicks offs a new era for Corvette Racing and Pratt Miller Motorsports. Chevrolet’s performance publication known as The Block takes a closer look at the new GT3 program that will see four Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs racing in IMSA while another two will do battle one some of the world’s most iconic tracks in the World Endurance Championship. The article features quotes from Corvette drivers and the GM racing management, and there’s some discussion on how these cars are born in Bowling Green before being turned into the GT3-spec race cars.

Photo Credit: Chevrolet The Block

FIFTH GEAR:

Former Corvette Racing driver Jordan Taylor may have left the “Lunatic Fringe” to return to driving prototypes, but his meme game remains strong. Check out his new helmet design for 2024 featuring his two dogs, Fonzie and Chachi, drawn in the style of the Step Brothers movie featuring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. Jordan says, “In the words of Dominic Toretto, ‘family’.”

REVERSE:

If you’re the owner of a late-model C3 Corvette, check out this feature from Hot Rod Magazine that was originally published in the July 1979 issue. The 1979 Corvette set a production record with 53,807 Corvettes produced during the year, and making its last hurrah was RPO L82, the stalwart small-block V8 that powered America’s Favorite Sports Car during the malaise era of automotive performance.

Related:
C8 Z06 vs GT3 RS, C8 Stingray and Lotus Go Roadtripping, AWD Corvettes, New Mustang Disappoints, and More!
Rodney Goes to Le Mans and Some Other Le Mans Tidbits
Here’s a Special Edition of Quick Shifts for Memorial Day

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