How to Make Your C8 Corvette Z06 Run Consistently Quicker Than Average

This C8 Corvette Z06 is an incredibly consistent machine that runs faster than most, all thanks to a strong understanding of the launch control system.

The C8 Corvette Z06 is an amazing machine, one that was obviously built to go fast around a track – not necessarily in a straight line. However, that doesn’t mean that the Z06 isn’t impressively quick either, as we are talking about a car with 670 horsepower on tap, propelling it from 0-60 in less than three seconds and down the quarter-mile in the mid-10s – extremely solid numbers by anyone’s standards. However, U.S. Navy officer, NASCAR driver, YouTuber, and C8 Corvette Z06 owner Jesse Iwuji has managed to perfect his launch at the drag strip and run even faster than most, and he explains precisely how he managed to accomplish that in this video.

The key here, as Iwuji has pointed out in previous videos, is figuring out the Z06’s launch control system. This is no set it and forget it type of experience, but rather, it requires some fine tuning to get just right. The launch control system has a variety of settings, after all, each of which can change the RPM range from 3,500-5,000, while the slip percentage also makes notable changes to the transmission’s operation. Thus, the best setting for one’s car will vary based on things like track and weather conditions.

When Iwuji headed to the track on this particular day, the temps were in the 50s, which meant near-perfect conditions, and the results were certainly there – he ran 11 passes, and six of which were in the 10.4 range, which is quicker than the 10.6 that GM achieved. The car is on drag radials, notably, but that isn’t some free ticket to quicker times, as Iwujii still has to toy around with his launch control system to achieve the best results.

That much becomes abundantly clear in this video – on his first pass, Iwujii launches at 4,500 rpm and the car hooks and runs a 10.5, meaning that he can likely raise that number the next go-round. Thus, he goes with a 5,000 rpm launch on the next attempt, as well as a 12 slip and lower tire pressure, and it responded by running an even quicker 10.49. There’s still some opportunity here, so Iwujii drops his slip down to zero, adds some air pressure back to the tire, but traction suddenly became an issue, pushing him back in the 10.5 range.

After toying around with the settings, Iwujii wound up discovering that his best possible combination for this track and these conditions on this particular day was 5,000 rpm with a five percent slip, at which point the C8 Corvette Z06 launched hard and ran a best-of-the-day 10.44-second pass. His consistency here – particularly as he’s constantly playing with the car’s settings and tire pressure – is quite impressive, but perhaps more importantly, it demonstrates the importance of understanding the car’s launch control settings and how to change them to achieve the best results.

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