VIDEO: C8 Corvette Z06 vs. CT5-V Blackwing on the Drag Strip!

Check out these brand-new 2024 GM monsters as they go head-to-head on the drag strip, ending in a remarkably close finish!

Let’s be real here, a CT5-V Blackwing is an absolute monster. It marks the single best GM sleeper that money can buy right now, a luxury Cadillac hiding a 668-horsepower supercharged beast of an engine. Originally adapted from the C7 Z06, this 6.2L powerplant muscles the heavyweight luxury car to 60 in just 3.4 seconds with the optional 10-speed automatic. Numbers like those prove more than a match for almost any other sedan on the market today. But what about the 2024 Blackwing’s cousin, the Z06 Corvette? The highest trim GM supercar versus the highest trim GM supercar-killer, which would win in a drag race? Well, as of today, we have the answer.

The Matchup

We tuned into the below video by ImportRace, featuring a C8 Z06 and a CT5-V Blackwing owned by the same man, Corey Cole. Cole mentioned in the comment under the video that he was driving the Z06, and that his father was in the Blackwing. Both cars are stock 2024 models equipped with automatic transmissions, running from a 40-mile-per-hour rolling start across three rounds. Cole said that, from a standing start, the Z06 leaves the Blackwing, “in the dust.” But from a rolling start, the results paint a different picture.

In fact, the race proved a far more evenly-paced matchup between the two, with the Corvette edging out each round with only 0.3 seconds’ difference on the quarter-mile. The Cadillac actually outperforms the Corvette off the line, thanks to its impressive 659 lb/ft of torque. By comparison, a Z06 only produces 460 lb/ft from its LT6, although they both produce near-identical horsepower figures. The Gemini’s power curve won the day on the rolling start on all three rounds, but only just barely, with a little over a car length between them. So in terms of pure straight-line performance, the Z06 and Blackwing are way closer to a dead-heat than any sedan has a right to be against a Corvette. An impressively close matchup for two equally impressive vehicles.

Moving to the Streets

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The Blackwing’s often been referred to as a 4-door Corvette, and for good reason. With a standard 6-speed manual mated to the revised LT4, it’s effectively a C7 Z06 with a Cadillac body loosely sandwiched on top. And in its fastest trim with the 10-speed auto, it’s more than capable of hanging with the best Corvette on a showroom floor today. But either way, it’s a remarkable vehicle. It’s one of the last manual V8 sedans that will likely ever see the light of day from a factory, for one. But more impressively, it’s not just a party trick. It has the muscle to back it up, too, making for impressive 12-second or less pulls on the drag strip from the factory. With a full-size sedan weighing over 4,100 pounds.

All this means that, on the streets, both cars feature very similar levels of performance. Although the Blackwing wins out against the ‘Vette in two factors: luxury, and sleeper points. It’s also your only real option for Corvette performance with a manual these days, at least with a warranty sticker. That said, the engine note of the Z06 howled its way down that drag strip, punctuating three impressive runs on its own. Much like the race itself, these cars are more or less dead-heat when it comes to their cool factor.