Seven for Seven: The C8 Corvette Remains Undefeated for Car and Driver’s 10Best

When a vehicle reaches its 7th year on sale, it usually arrives with a bit of a limp. The minimal press around such cars features phrases like “long-in-the-tooth,” “uncompetitive,” and “in need of reinforcements.” Manufacturers of such embarrassingly old automobiles rely on excuses or factors that they swear are out of their hands, like budget constraints, changing consumer tastes, or supply chain issues.

Car and Driver must have forgotten those self-evident truths, because it just anointed the C8 Corvette with its most prestigious award for the seventh straight year! Even in year seven, the Stingray – along with its E-Ray sibling – continues to swim against the current of conventional wisdom by remaining not only relevant, but an industry benchmark.

Annually since 1983, C&D, the standard of vehicle testing and the most trusted name in automotive awards, has crowned the 10 greatest cars for the model year, only slightly updating their processes over 43 years. For 2026, more than 100 new or substantially updated vehicle on the market for under $115,000 (anything costing more than that had better be excellent), along with last year’s winners, were tested by the whole staff back-to-back on the same roads against the publication’s ‘three tenets’ of 10Best: 1. How well the vehicle performs its intended mission, 2. The value it offers for its MSRP, and 3. How much joy is found behind the wheel.

By holding the line for a seventh-straight time, the Corvette was finally able to break a years-long tie for second place in all-time 10Best appearances with its 27th nod. While the Z06 and both flavors of ZR1 priced themselves out of contention, the two “Ray” versions still represent the best sports cars money can buy. Of the 2026 C8s, C&D’s Dan Edmunds heaps praise, like “Even in its most basic form, the Chevrolet Corvette is easily 10Best material,” “… is a genuine ultra-high-performance sports car that plays in the very top echelon,” and points out that, “With the Z51 package, the Stingray coupe makes 495 horsepower and launch-controls its way to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds before blitzing the quarter-mile in 11.4 seconds at 120 mph. The all-wheel-drive E-Ray adds a 160-hp electric motor to the front and a wide-body kit to contain it all. It’s good for 655 combined horsepower and sprints to 60 mph in as little as 2.5 seconds, continuing on to a stonking 10.6-second quarter-mile at 128 mph.”

As we know, a ‘Vette is more than just fast, but they remind the non-believers by continuing, “the Corvette delights with direct and accurate steering, as well as rat-glue grip. It offers a refined ride, which can be made even smoother if you opt for the latest iteration of Magnetic Ride Control,” they then highlight the loss of the ‘unfortunate’ wall of buttons, and, bring up what really separates ‘Vettes from the competition; “it’s mighty spacious and can still transport a set of golf clubs, if that’s your bag. You can get it as a coupe or a convertible, but even the former has a lift-off Targa top, so you can let the sun shine in either way.” Quite simply, the C8 is fantastic all-around.

While the ‘Vette moved into sole possession of the 10Best silver medal, first place still belongs to the Honda Accord in a runaway. Honda’s ubiquitous sedan was named to the 10Best for the 40th time this year, and while it might earn most of its points with tenets 1 and 2, its run of dominance is nonetheless impressive and wouldn’t be possible without nailing our most respected tenet (number 3: the “fun to drive” one) better than any other daily commuter. Now sitting in third place is the Porsche Boxster/Cayman/718 family at 26. The only other cars to land on 10Best 20 or more times are the BMW 3 and 4 Series (still stuck at 23 after making the list every year between 1992 and 2014), and the VW Golf/GTI that earned its 20th this year, along with its “R” variant.

After the handful of cars with award counts in the 20s comes the Mazda MX-5 Miata, knocking on the door with 19, followed by a significant falloff to 13. Despite a history only dating back to 2003, that spot is occupied by the Cadillac CTS/CT5, which was able to surpass the Ford Mustang (that’s been eligible for 20 additional years) for 7th place overall last year. The LT4-powered CT5 V-Blackwing variant joins the C8 and its little CT4 V-Blackwing sibling to help GM take the most spots on this year’s list. Cadillac’s last sedans standing can also claim undefeated status with the Corvette, as they’ve both scored a coveted spot in each of their five years on sale.

Aside from GM’s three performance cars, the Golf, and the Accord, the rest of the 10Best is rounded out by the BMW M2, the Honda Civic, which makes Honda the only other manufacturer taking up multiple slots, the Mercedes-Benz E450, the Toyota GR86 and its Subaru BRZ platform mate, and a token EV in the Lucid Air.

With the emergence of trucks and SUVs as legitimate family vehicles in recent years, the original list of cars has grown a separate appendix of 10 big dogs. This year’s truck list brings another pair of GM sleds into the fold with the Chevy Trax and the combined team of GMC/Chevy full sizers (Yukon, Yukon XL, Tahoe, and Suburban), boosting The General to an impressive 25% share of 2026 on the wings of their core products. The rest of the Detroit “Big Two-and-a-Half” finally gets on the board for the back nine: Ford with a pair of small trucks: the Maverick and Ranger Raptor, and Stellantis with the Ram 1500. Honda earns two more spots for the CR-V and Passport, while small-batch Lucid surprisingly gets a second nod for the Gravity. Hyundai gets its sole nod for the Palisade Hybrid, and, humorously, Porsche had to lean on its least desirable ICE product, the Macan, to get a mention this year.

With a 6.6L Grand Sport on the horizon, the C8 might be getting on in car years, but it isn’t at risk of becoming stale and losing its perennial 10Best reservation any time soon. Way to save the best for last, Tadge, and congratulations to Chevrolet and GM!

Source:
Car & Driver

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