Corvette Engineers Arrested for Racing? Why I’m Not Surprised.

While we don’t condone street racing, preproduction Corvettes are just one of the charms of living near a GM test facility.

Two General Motors engineers were recently arrested for street racing in C8 Chevrolet Corvette test cars. Social media has been buzzing with discussions about the automaker employees who test the cars driving them hard on public roads. Some people are surprised two engineers were street racing at high speeds on public roads. Was the street racing a smart move? No way. However, because of where I live, I’m in no way surprised to learn engineers were driving fast on public roads.

You see, I live near the General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford, Michigan. Over the past decade, I’ve seen many Corvette test cars blast along our desolate rural roads. In fact, many of these test cars pass my house every day, as the folks who work at the facility access Interstate 96. While they obviously aren’t street racing on our narrow two-lane roads, there have been plenty of times over the years where, in my opinion, they were audibly and visibly eclipsing posted speed limits.

Milford, Michigan

Milford is small, relatively quiet town about 45 minutes northwest of Detroit. The area is quiet enough that during much of the year, we can clearly hear the exhaust of the high-performance cars testing from inside of our living room. In some cases, locals complain on Facebook about the noise. I think that it is part of the charm of living in Milford.

We May Have Heard the New C8 Z06

For example, I’ll never forget hearing (what we now know to be) the C7 ZR1’s LT5 screaming around the test tracks for months prior to its debut. More recently, we’ve heard what I imagine to be higher performance C8 variants working out. Whatever GM has been testing is similarly loud and aggressive. At times, the cars lapping the hidden tracks are markedly louder. (For context, I now believe that the loudest testers from this past summer and fall were C8.R test cars, or something using that exhaust system.)

However, what you should know is this: we’re well past the debut of the C7 ZR1, and GM is currently testing something that sounds just as rowdy as the last supercharged Corvettes. It is believed that the first high-performance C8 will be a Z06, possibly with a twin-turbo setup. If that is what has been roaring around behind the walls of the GM Proving Grounds, it’s audibly clear Chevy has something special on the way.

In the picture below, the road on the left is a public road while the multi-lane roads on the right are part of the GM test track, viewed from the public road.

In any case, those cars aren’t just tested on the track. Many of those cars are tested on local roads and in some cases, the speed limit clearly isn’t a major concern.

C8 Corvette on the Road

One of the busiest intersections in town Milford Road and General Motors Road. General Motors Road ends at the entrance to the GM Proving Grounds, so each day, many Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC test vehicles exit I-96, head north on Milford Road and turn west on General Motors Road. Each of those roads is long and straight, offering drivers a chance to hammer down a bit.

I don’t believe GM employees driving past my house are traveling at speeds anywhere near those of the two who were caught street racing. But it’s my opinion that I’ve likely seen high-performance test cars like the Corvette, Camaro and Cadillac V-Series traveling at speeds well above posted limits. In fact, there have been times where I have been behind a hi-po GM test car in my own supercharged street car, and with a little antagonizing on my part, whoever was behind the wheel responded with a display of horsepower.

Let’s be extra clear. By no means am I saying that every OEM engineer street races or even makes hard pulls on public roads with Corvette test cars. Personally, I’m shocked that two employees would be street racing in an area with others around to see, let alone police officers. But it’s absurd to suggest automaker employees who test cars don’t occasionally shatter the speed limit.

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