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- All-new Corvette Z06 dethrones Mercedes-AMG SLS Black Series.
- Can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in less than three seconds.
- Offers Aston Martin Valkyrie punch for 3 per cent of the Brit car's value.
- For motoring news, go to Wheels24
"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go, I'm standing here outside your door. I hate to wake you up to say goodbye. But the dawn is breaking, it's early morn, the taxi's waiting He's blowing his horn."
Alright, before I get booed off stage for my poor rendition of John Denver's classic, let me say I'm applying for a VISA to move to the USA.
Too many of my friends and family have already left Mzansi for numerous reasons. I love my country and have no reason to go, but Corvette has just given me one to emigrate.
My sole (soul) reason to emigrate
Chevrolet has just lifted the lid on its 2022 C8 Z06 and, I can't find the right words to describe it that won't result in a swift trip to human resources for using expletives.
Seriously, though, the new Z06 is a headbanger of note, and I mean that in the best possible ways. Take, for instance, the one reason I will leave South Africa; that fantastic flippin' 5.5-litre naturally-aspirated (NA) engine the beats at the back of the driver and passenger.
Oh yes, the new Z06 says bye-bye to supercharging and hello good old-fashioned atmospheric pressure to generate a mind-bending 499kW. It's the most powerful naturally-aspirated V8 ever made, and it revs to an eardrum-shattering 8600rpm. It puts the previous king of the NA ring, Merc's SLS Black Series, to shame. I can feel the hair on the back of my neck start to tingle as I write this.
Would you trade your high-performance German sports car in for a Corvette Z06? Why? Let us know in the comments, or please send us an email.
According to Chevrolet, the Z06 will blast from 0 to 96km/h in 2.6 seconds and on to a top speed north of 300km/h. It punches its power to the road via its rear wheels through an eight-speed double-clutch transmission. If these numbers are legitimate, not only does this Corvette throw shade at the Porsche 911 Turbo S from a dig, it has the legs (and revs) to keep the new 911 GT3 at bay too.
As ferocious as an Aston Martin Valkyrie
You know that mad-cap Aston that none of us can afford that has an engine that's hand-built by Cosworth that revs to 11 000rpm? They call it the Valkyrie, and it's, undoubtedly, one of the most impressive pieces of engineering in the history of the automobile. Billionaires are paying millions of dollars to get their hands on the Valkyrie as it offers access to levels of performance that's apparently out of this world.
Our good friend Jason Fenske over at Engineering Explained made an exciting video recently comparing the brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) of the V12 Valkyrie to the new Z06, and he discovered that at 3 per cent of the asking price of a Valkyrie, you could have the Z06 with an engine that punches just as hard as the Cosworth unit.
Of course, you can't compare the Aston Martin with the Z06 as it's akin to comparing cheeseburgers and Method Cap Classique. However, it blows our mind that Chevrolet can offer American customers this level of performance for an asking price that is reasonable as far as performance cars go.
Corvette, if you're reading this, please bring the new Z06 to South Africa as it's the kind of car that resonates with petrolheads, and I can't think of another country that loves cars as much as South Africa.
The Z06 sells for R1.2 million in the USA, excluding that region's taxes and handling costs. I'll let you all know what it feels like to be a Z06-driving American once my Visa is approved. Now I just have to figure out how to explain to my wife that we'll be living in a car for a few years over there.
If you have some time, watch Fenske's video about the Z06 engine, and you'll see from the numbers that he crunches that this car might be one of the greatest cars ever made.
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