There have been many cars that have illustriously gone down in history as truly unbelievable and game-changing, and command attention effortlessly each time you turn the ignition. It could be on just a typical cruise down the street for the things you forgot to pick up during your last time out, or a fully-fledged steam blowing off session when it’s 3 PM on a Saturday and it’s time to embrace showing off: the capable and memorable work of automotive art in the form of the 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06 hardly needs an introduction.
Here at Jim Butler Chevy of St Louis we have long admired this legendary car that has set the pace at the Indy 500, graced many movie screens, and has seen many repeat customers thrilled with its performance choose to snatch up another. The Road and Track auto blogging team were immediately lamenting that they were in the presence of an “unbelievable and inherently special thing”, loving how it performs in a completely over-the-top and raucous fashion at any speed.
Going on to claim that it has a “presence just sitting there that cars three times its price wish they had”, there were a few mixed reviews when they had gotten their hands on the C8 Corvette in 2019 but had then loved that Chevy had finally put this longstanding legend on a mid-engined platform. Even with how new and substantially different everything felt, it didn’t feel completely foreign even though it had been a drastic change from every model before it.
The benefits of the architecture are allowed to fully shine once you are working with more power, courtesy of the brand-new 670-horsepower V8. There are bigger wheels and tires, a much wider body that makes for a menacing appearance, and a far less awkward stature than the base-level entry. The overall drive and sound are purely exotic, putting out a higher-pitched note than the competing and poised-for-road-gain Mustang GT350. Their test car was loaded with every extra option, including the expertly tweaked aerodynamics of the Z07 package.
The crew also aggressively enjoyed the addition of carbon brakes, 20 x 10-inch front and 21 x 13-inch rear carbon fiber wheels, and Michelin Pilot Sport Cub 2R tires. The front end proved to be incredibly responsive, with the 40:60 weight distribution offering a huge boost with the agile and fiercely on-point turning power. This distribution also allows for maximum power with minimum breakaway effect, and the Performance Traction Management provides utter track mastery modes in the form of wet, dry, sport, and race settings.
On the shorter layout of the famed Monticello track, this Z06 was nailing 140+ mph and demonstrated downright amazing brake performance with numerous stops from double-digit speeds. All this available speed is very consistent, and any driver still feels 110% engaged even if you are well below breakneck limits. Even at just half throttle, you get to experience raw and very true character, but it will also transfer all this fantastic performance seamlessly from the track to the road. Confidently putting on the map the many reasons for which the mid-engine layout makes sense, the 2023 Z06 is a supercar and the stuff that high-speed dreams are made of in just as many possible ways as any 4-wheeled creation ever could be!