[VIDEO] Sport Auto Reveals its C8 Corvette Z06 Nürburgring Time!

By
Alex Sommers
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8
33800

[VIDEO] Sport Auto Reveals its C8 Corvette Z06 Nürburgring Time!


In September, the editors of the German automotive publication Sport Auto – who have been known to spend a significant amount of time at their infamous 12.9-mile home track – teased us by revealing that their recent stint in possession of a Rapid Blue Z07 with Carbon Fiber Wheels yielded the fastest lap time they’ve recorded in 2024.

Now, they’ve taken the next step by releasing the time and an official video of the run, and other than two very specific gripes, it is glorious! Our first complaint simply comes with the territory but is luckily out of the way right off the bat: everything said in the video is in German, which seems obvious but is still comes off as a bummer when you’re watching a video about America’s Sports Car. Sport Auto did an excellent job at anticipating grievance two: while the Z06 is the fastest car they’ve tested all year when it stops the clock at 7:10.51, it’s more than a little bit of a letdown for those of us who were hoping to see the first Sub-7 American crowned!

The first comment on the video is from SA themselves, and it addresses our understandable disappointment, which they also seem to be feeling:

“The reason why the C8 Z06 lap time on the Nordschleife is not even faster is due to the ultra-long gear ratio of fifth gear. In fifth gear, the revs collapse and the Z06 drives at quite low revs over the top speed sections of the Nordschleife and does not reach high top speeds here. With a shorter gear ratio in fifth gear, a sub-7 time might be possible. During our test on the Nordschleife, Aaron Link (Global Vehicle Performance Manager, Chevrolet Performance Cars) also revealed the secret and showed us an unpublished onboard video of the internal Corvette lap time on the Nordschleife, which was also 7.10 minutes.”

[VIDEO] Sport Auto Reveals its C8 Corvette Z06 Nürburgring Time!


A lot to digest there! In addition to the 5th gear revelation, we also learn that Sport Auto has been in contact with Aaron Link – who’s no stranger to the ‘Ring himself – and that he and his fellow engineers at GM also notched a 7:10 when they had the Flat-Plane Phenom at the ‘Ring.

The 7:10 number is incredibly quick, but when cars that the Z runs incredibly close to here at home – like the AMG GT Black Series, 911s GT3, GT3 RS, and GT2 RS, and Lamborghini Huracán Performante – have all lapped in well under seven minutes, it, at minimum raises questions about the validity of some of the other manufacturer’s factory efforts, which are compounded by the difference between these factory efforts and Sport Auto’s own timing on these cars (there’s a massive 9-second gap between AMG and SA’s times for the Black Series, for instance) when SA was able to more-or-less duplicate GM’s time for the Z07.

[VIDEO] Sport Auto Reveals its C8 Corvette Z06 Nürburgring Time!


As for the video itself, we never tire of the LT6’s song, and it’s a shame that the ‘Ring has earned the nickname “the Green Hell” for its harsh treatment of vehicles because it looks like an incredibly pleasant place. The drive looks pretty dang solid as well, and it’s always a joy to get the POV view as cars take on the carousel (around the 4-minute mark in this case). On the backstretch, the Z and its driver top out at 287 kph (178.3 mph), which is where they claim some time was lost, but it also makes us incredibly excited to see how high the 1,064-horse ZR1 can stretch that number!

Breaking out only Sport Auto times completed by the same driver, Christian Gebhardt, 7:10 puts the 2023+ Z07 nearly four seconds ahead of the C7 Z07 and in the thick of a group that includes the AMG GT R, and 2-3 seconds off the pace set by the previously mentioned Performante (in which SA was an astonishing 16 seconds off of Lambo’s official time), and McLaren’s 600 LT and 720S.

[VIDEO] Sport Auto Reveals its C8 Corvette Z06 Nürburgring Time!


In all, it is an excellent video full of wonderful visuals and our favorite sound, but it does raise more than a few questions about the honesty of a few OEMs who are out there claiming ‘Ring superiority. Really though, until there’s Guinness Book of World Records-level regulations applied to the whole process, it’s all just for entertainment and sales purposes anyway, so just sit back and enjoy the show. We know we did!


Source:
Sport Auto / YouTube

Related:
[VIDEO] C8 Corvette Z06 on the Nürburgring as Sport Auto Driver Confirms it’s the Fastest Car Tested in 2024
[VIDEO] 2025 Corvette ZR1 Returns to the Nurburgring
[SPIED] Watch the C8 Corvette ZORA Undergoing Performance Testing at the Nurburgring

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8 COMMENTS

  1. This ring time could be justification for a lightweight track first street second C8 ZO6. Carbon fiber hardback manual seats, minimal sound deadening, lite weight glass, leather delete, titanium exhaust, trunk delete, minimal infotainment system, carpet delete, hardtop only, no powered steering wheel controls, and remapped transmission gearing.
    Porsche took the tracked focused GT3 (too harsh) and built a street version that wouldn’t rattle the teeth. Surely Chevrolet can take the street version ZO6 and turn it into a track focused first vehicle. when driven.

  2. WOW – Wow – wow! That video is why God told Zora to design, engineer, build and race Chevrolet Corvettes.
    I would donate some cash to see a Naked new Base 1LZ Z06 without any wings driven by the same guy from Sport Auto on the same day as he would drive again this Rapid Blue maxed out Z06 from the video to see the absolute maximum speed down that straight comparing 178.3 mph with all that downforce and wind resistance to a more aerodynamic smooth coupe body with nothing to slow it down.
    Perhaps this Sport Auto racer will be faster on the Nordschleife with less drag while flat out in 5th gear, while maintaining maximum velocity in all curves and corners as he did in the Rapid Blue Z06. Those 2 long straights are where the German cars make up the time with adjustable wings.
    That was a great, the best in-car video I have seen yet of a Corvette on this circuit. Please try again driving a base coupe without the wings. Thanks for posting the video.

  5. If Corvette wants the new ZR-1 to have a world beater time, doing 178 mph on the final straight will have to be crushed and if it is the gearing that is causing the issues then that is a heads up to Corvette engineers

    I wrote here a few months back that the Z06 time would be between 7:00 and 7:10. I was basically right. I saw the Z06 as a few seconds faster than the older ZR-1 time.

    The new ZR-1 should be designed to do 6:50 +/- a few seconds. Otherwise what’s the point.

  7. Nordschleife 2015: C7 Z06/Z07 goes 7:10.40
    Nordschleife 2024: C8 Z06/Z07 (with 20 more hp, a mid-engine and Cup 2Rs) goes 7:10.51

    No doubt, AutoSport a highly respected automotive media outlet, but I’m not sure what all the hoopla in this article is about.

  8. Context here is the driver-author did a very valiant job tracking a car he did not know and post a very respectable time at the first and only go he had thanks to Corvette’s team kindness. But this is not how official times are done. Alex is on to something with his commentary. Truth is the Nurburing and it’s ecosystem always tries to corner the track speed & capability validation market. Kind of like the Tour de France in bicycling for then discovering just about everybody is doping. Great track nonetheless but I would thread carefully making it all more that what it seems.

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