Video: 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06: Up Close

And now that's here, the 2023 Corvette Z06, which Chevrolet aims to put the world on notice. So we're here at the 2022 Chicago Auto Show with the Z06 to get a closer look at just how they plan to track down those Ferraris and Porsches. All right, let's start at the back of the car rather the mid, because that's where the engine is now. And this is what's going to define the Z06, and that's the new LT6 V8. It has more camshafts, a flatter crank shaft, and less displacement than the base 6.2 liter. It's a 5.5 liter V8 that makes 670 horsepower. And Chevrolet says that is the most powerful, naturally aspirated V8 in production. It's 175 horsepower more than the base V8. And compared to the old Z06 it has less displacement, no supercharger, and it makes more power. Let me reiterate. Less displacement, no supercharger and more power. Wow! To simplify, this is mostly accomplished through engine speed and air flow. The engine reaches a maximum 8,600 RPM and reportedly revs more quickly than previous Corvette V8s. Now and that's thanks to lower inertia rotating assembly including that lower weight flat plain crank shaft, as well as titanium connecting rods and forged aluminum pistons. So the LT6 uses four camshafts, two in each cylinder head, versus the single camshaft of the LT2 and four valves per cylinder versus the base VETTE's two valves per cylinder. Now this dual overhead cam configuration is highly notable because with the exception of the Corvette ZO1 from the 1990s, this just isn't a configuration used in Corvette V8s. Now there's a lot more going on here, but the LT6 sucks in a whole lot of air through an active intake manifold with twin 87 millimeter throttle bodies, and that's compared with the LT2 that just has a single 87 millimeter throttle body. Horsepower is up versus the old Z06 but torque is down quite a lot. This engine makes 460 pound feet of torque at 6,300 RPM versus the LT4's 650 pound feet of torque at 3,600 RPM. But engine speed and gearing might have something to say about how that affects acceleration. The new Z06 has that 8,600 RPM red line and it also has the eight speed dual clutch automatic transmission with a new final drive ratio of 556 to one, which is up from the Z51's 5.2 to one. All right, so where does this all lead up to? And that's to a zero to 60 mile per hour time of claimed 2.6 seconds, which at this point, with only rear wheel drive seems to be defying physics. But that's beating the base VETTE's 2.9 second time to 60 and the former Z06's to 2.95 second time to 60 miles an hour. So the engine, yes, a huge part of this car. It's very distinctive, but that's of course not where they stopped. The front styling has larger air intakes, and as we come along the side, it has wider fenders, front and rear, as well as wider tires, front and rear. The side panel intake is also larger for improved cooling. And the wider tires, 345 millimeters in the back. Now that's up from 305 of the base VETTE and it's also a 13 inch wide rear wheel. That's up two inches from the base VETTE. Coming back around a little farther, the exhaust exits out the middle instead of outbound like the base VETTE. And now this is gonna be a defining characteristics of the car and that's how it sounds, the flat plane crank with the associated firing all that comes with it, it's gonna sound like a high revving, exotic car. And in development Chevrolet actually found that they didn't like the way it sounded on the inside versus the outside. So these exhaust finishers are actually done in a way that's kinda like a reverse trumpet that sends that sound back to the cabin. And that's a really cool way to solve that problem because most will just augment the engine sound through electronics, but they found a way to increase that experience naturally. (car engine revving) The Z06 also has unique suspension tuning and standard magnetic selective ride control, larger brake rotors, six versus four piston brake calipers. And beyond the standard Z06 you have the ZO7 track package. Now this package has been around for a few generations but on the C8Z, that means carbon ceramic brakes, carbon fiber ground effects, carbon fiber wing, and optional carbon fiber wheels that reduce unsprung weight. The tires on the ZO7 package are Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires which are borderline racing tires. And note that the claim zero to 60 mile an hour time of 2.6 seconds only comes with the ZO7 package. We miss naturally aspirated engines in certain applications. The norm is definitely turbocharging now in other vehicles. So we're interested to drive the Z06 and also see, are we gonna miss that low-end torque that's just been a staple of the Corvette for years. And we'll have to find that out when we drive it closer to when it enters production in summer of 2022.