[VIDEO] C7 Corvette Z51 Stars as Throttle House Searches for the Best Used Sports Car for $50,000

Last Fall, the always entertaining duo from the YouTube channel Throttle House included the mighty C6 Corvette Z06 in its search for the ultimate used car “for the price of a new Subaru BRZ.” That $30,000 ballpark yielded three compelling choices, but Thomas and James recently realized that if the bar was raised to $50-grand, a lot more choices – and some real spicy ones – are available. The go-to choice is a C7 Corvette Stingray Z51 with its 6.2L LT1 V8 good for 460 horses, an equal dosage of twist, and a seven-speed manual transmission, but the last original recipe ‘Vette has some stiff competition as they’ve doubled the number of contestants this time around.

To battle the C7 for their official $50k recommendation, TH brought together the 2015-2020 Shelby GT350, the supercharged Jaguar F-Type R, the no-chance-of-winning BMW i8, and the oft-forgotten Alfa Romeo 4C. The festivities begin with a game of rock-paper-scissors and a drive in the pint-sized Italian almost-supercar. While the Turo-rental Alfa’s spec sheet doesn’t exactly set anyone’s hair on fire with 237 HP from a 1.7L four-banger, the 4C is oozing with charisma and x-factor tech like its McLaren-style carbon fiber tub chassis. It has beauty and rarity going for it and only weighs 2,464 lbs., but it suffers from excessive road noise and usual small-batch issues like poor infotainment.

Per our last writeup featuring the less-exotic than it looks Bimmer, because the less time we spend on it, the better: “the i8 powers all four wheels by mixing a single 1.5L turbo inline-three and multiple electric motors to make a grand total of 357 HP to go with a stout 420 lb-ft.” The i8 piece is preceded by James treating Thomas to his “Ariel Atom simulator,” a segment that keeps these two feeling like the closest thing to old Top Gear available in 2025 – definitely don’t skip that starting around 6:30.

The three cars with a chance of being chosen get in on the action at the 11:20 mark, starting with the Jaaag. The F-Type R is the most powerful vehicle in the test with 550 ponies from a force-fed 5.0L V8, and James reveals that he likes this spec so much that he used to own one. It also features a rear-biased AWD system that helps with traction but makes it the heaviest vehicle in the test, and one of the worst depreciators. Flaws aside, it is obvious that it brings a ton of joy to its operators in the video, which is what cars like this are made for.

Finally, the Americans have their turn, starting with the GT350 at around 17:25. This is the Shelby that tried to domesticate the exotic flat-plane V8 before GM mastered the 180-degree craft with the C8 Z06. Its 5.2L “Voodoo” V8 revs to 8,250 RPM (though, after watching the LT6 video yesterday, it’s wild how slow it seems to build revs by comparison). On the way, it sounds outrageous and peaks at 429 torques at 4,750 RPM and 526 HP at a lofty 7,500 RPM. It also has the test’s first manual transmission, and lowest amount of depreciation, with our hosts admitting that it barely made it into the price range, and only older and/or high-mileage examples can be had for $50k. Overall, it is a strong contender, with plenty of history working against the C7, and it keeps smiles on faces at a frequency at least equal to the shouty F-Type.

‘Vette fans reach paydirt early in the 23rd minute of the video, and I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, C7s look best when presented in Arctic White over Adrenaline Red! We’ve already discussed the basics like power and performance equipment, but it’s also no slouch in the depreciation department, and it is some 340 lbs. lighter than the ‘Stang and more than 400 easier on the scale than the F-Type. It also makes significantly more torque across its rev range than the Shelby. A lot of praise and excellent noises were expected, but what did come as a bit of a surprise is both hosts’ strong preference for the C7 Z51 over the hairy-chested C6 Z06 they piloted in the previous video.

We won’t spoil the outcome, except to say that the entire thing is worth a watch and one of the many conclusions reached by the hosts at the end is something that all Corvette fans already know by heart; that we are hands-down getting the most car for the money, no matter what price range our Corvette landed in.

Source:
Throttle House

Related:
[VIDEO] C8 Corvette Z06 vs Porsche GT4 RS: American Power Meets German Engineering at COTA
[VIDEO] Top Gear Throws the 2025 Corvette E-Ray at the Porsche 911 GTS Hybrid
[VIDEO] Comparing a ProCharged E-Ray Versus a Z06 with Bolt-Ons

Subscribe Now: