C8 Corvette Z06 Spied Testing With Porsche 911 GT2 RS

Lofty benchmark and incredible canyon footage make us even more impatient for forthcoming C8 Z06.

We already have a pretty good feeling that the C8 Corvette Z06 is going to be fast. As in, really fast. After all, the base C8 is already quite the impressive performer with its powerplant that produces “only” 495 horsepower. Rumors suggest that the Z06 will be powered by a high-revving 5.5-liter flat-plane crank V8, with or without turbos. It’s been quite clear that GM is aiming high with the C8 in general, and that’s even more evident after seeing the above picture captured by Corvette fan Brandon Byers.

Byers posted this intriguing photo on his Facebook page, and it shows what is clearly a Porsche 911 GT2 RS next to a heavily camouflaged C8 Corvette. We can safely assume that this is, in fact, a Z06 test mule, because it looks a lot like the one GM Authority caught tooling around some SoCal canyon roads just a few days ago. And it’s worth noting that the car sounds absolutely incredible, as you might imagine. There’s just something highly intoxicating about a flat-plane crank V8 that pleases the eardrums.

And just in case you forgot, here’s a reminder of what the base C8 sounds like on the track.

The fact that GM is seemingly benchmarking the new C8 Z06 against Porsche’s ultimate 911 is a pretty exciting prospect for Corvette fans. After all, we are talking about a car that packs a turbocharged 3.8-liter flat-six producing 700 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. The GT2 rips to 60 mph in 2.6-seconds and is equally capable of destroying whatever circuit it lays rubber to. But it also costs in the neighborhood of $300k, so there’s that. If the new Z06 can hang with the Porsche and sell for around $100k or less, GM is going to have a ringer on its hands.

Despite all of this, we still don’t know much about the Z06. But if any of this speculation proves to be true, this mightier C8 is surely going to send other automotive manufacturers back to the drawing board. Not to mention cause yet another ordering frenzy when the car ultimately becomes available!

Photo: Brandon Byers / Facebook

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