Test Times

All three Corvettes are spectacularly fast. The base model goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and hits 100 mph in 9.0 seconds. The Z06 needs just 3.6 and 8.3 seconds for the same tasks, while the ZR1 hits 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and 100 mph in a stellar 7.6 seconds. That 100-mph time betters the likes of the Nissan GT-R, Porsche 911 Turbo, and Ferrari F430.

The 30-to-50 and 50-to-70-mph top-gear acceleration times are impressive, as is skidpad grip: 0.99 g for the coupe, rising to 1.07 g for the ZR1, which also has the best braking of any production car we have ever tested—it needed just 142 feet to slow from 70 mph to a standstill. The base car managed 152 feet (better than the last 911 Turbo we tested), and the Z06 took 150 feet.

Road Warriors

The base coupe is the most livable of the three. The highway ride is surprisingly supple, tire noise is relatively muted—except for some intrusive slap over expansion joints—and the engine hums away at 2000 rpm at 80 mph. We even managed to average 25 mpg during our test in the coupe, close to the EPA-highway figure of 26 mpg. That’s astonishing when one considers that the car spent an afternoon being thrown roughly around Grattan Raceway Park in western Michigan.

On bumpy back roads, the Corvette was very composed, had tons of grip, and ate up the straightaways while being perfectly composed under braking. It sounds terrific, too, bellowing hard under full throttle. The only weaknesses are steering that isn’t particularly communicative, even if the weight and accuracy are first-class, and a notchy shifter.

The Z06 is almost too much car for regular roads. On the highway, the ride is quite compliant, but it gets choppy over high-frequency, small-amplitude ripples. Surprisingly, it’s quieter than the base car at 70 mph, though the engine is more raucous under hard acceleration, when the V-8 snarls in a harsher, less mellifluous manner. The shifter still has a manly action but was a lot smoother than the base car’s. An observed fuel economy of 20 mpg is impressive considering the Z06’s capabilities.

Although the Z06 is even faster and grippier than the base car, it’s not as easy to drive hard on bumpy back roads, darting here and there in the braking zones. It crashes hard over the most pockmarked surfaces, and the steering feels a little less linear and more aggressive on turn-in.

The ZR1 is a more civilized ride than the Z06, although one needs to make sure the adjustable shocks are set in “Tour.” “Sport” is as firm as it is in the Z06, whereas the softer setting is almost as supple as the base car’s. Highway cruising is more rowdy, however, thanks to the shorter gear ratios and the noise emitted by the giant tires. The ZR1 got a woeful 12-mpg average, although the car did spend an awful lot of its time lapping around Grattan. The attainable EPA highway number of 20 mpg is a lot more respectable.

The car tends to tramline, unlike the other models, which means the driver needs a firm hand on bumpy back roads. We rated the ZR1’s steering as the most linear and involving of the three cars. The brakes are stellar, despite some initial pedal softness. Like the two other cars, there’s a marked step in power at roughly 3000 rpm, except that there’s simply more thrust in this car. The engine noise is sublime, a sonorous exhaust growl that swells in volume with revs, accompanied by blower whine that creates a V-8 symphony.