Jonny Lieberman takes MotorTrend's long term 2023 Corvette Z06 with the Z07 track package around Radford Racing School's track. Does the added track focus make the Z07 version that much better than the standard Z06?
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Killer power.
00:07 Love the horsepower.
00:09 Love the rapid acceleration.
00:12 Seeing all sorts of big numbers.
00:14 Oh, baby.
00:16 [ENGINE REVVING]
00:19 Hi there.
00:20 I'm Johnny Lieberman, and that is a 2023 Chevrolet Corvette
00:25 Z06.
00:26 But not just any Z06.
00:28 No, this is Motor Trend's short-term, long-term Z06,
00:34 Z07.
00:36 That means it's the quick one, and we
00:37 get to do all kinds of fun stuff with it
00:39 for longer than two weeks, including
00:42 have me drive it right here at Radford's Racetrack, one
00:47 that I've never been on.
00:49 This should be fun.
00:52 The expression, the right tool for the job,
00:55 is as tired as any.
00:56 But when it comes to taking the Chevrolet Corvette Z06
00:59 with the Z07 package out for a track day,
01:03 man, is that chestnut accurate.
01:05 [ENGINE REVVING]
01:07 You might be asking yourself, why do we have a long-term Z06?
01:12 And the reason why is this was our 2023 performance
01:18 vehicle of the year.
01:20 So normally, when a vehicle wins one of our of the year
01:24 celebrations, we ask to have one for a year,
01:28 to keep evaluating it, see how it works as a long-term vehicle.
01:33 With stuff like this, it's well over $100,000.
01:36 They typically say no, but they're
01:38 giving us a short-term one.
01:40 So we've got this one, the Z06 Z07.
01:44 Now, what differentiates the Z07 from the Z06?
01:49 I'm so happy you asked.
01:51 All right, so Z06, the big news is
01:53 it's got a flat-plane crank V8.
01:55 It makes a ton of horsepower, 670 horsepower.
01:59 Most powerful, naturally aspirated V8
02:03 ever fit to a production car, which is pretty cool.
02:07 And it's got 460 pound-feet of torque.
02:10 It's mid-engine.
02:12 It's got better tires than a regular Corvette,
02:14 all that good stuff.
02:15 The Z07 takes it even further.
02:19 To where?
02:20 Well, you get a lot more carbon fiber stuff,
02:22 including carbon fiber wheels, carbon ceramic discs,
02:27 and big ones, too.
02:28 15.7 inch in the front, 15.4 inch in the rear,
02:33 which is wild to me.
02:34 That's just a huge rear brake.
02:37 But because this is mid-engine and there's more weight
02:39 back there, I guess the rear wheels are doing a lot
02:41 when it comes to braking.
02:43 You also get the carbon fiber flicks up front,
02:46 the different wing, and that's the Z07 package.
02:49 Oh, you know what else?
02:50 You also get a retuned suspension,
02:53 magnetic ride control, version 4.0.
02:58 It's not a torque monster like the last gen C7 Z06,
03:02 which was supercharged.
03:03 But I totally prefer the quick-reving, huge power,
03:06 in a nature of what Chevy is calling the Gemini's small.
03:10 Coupled to the pretty dang quick Tremec 8-speed dual-clutch
03:13 transmission, the Z06's powertrain
03:16 is simply a track weapon, especially when combined
03:20 with Chevy's excellent trick rear end,
03:22 aka the ELSD, or electric limited slip differential.
03:27 The power goes right down to the ground.
03:29 No traction issues detected, even with the rear meats
03:32 over-inflated by 10 PSI.
03:35 Whoops.
03:36 Talk about these brakes again.
03:39 I've spent a lot of time in the Cadillac Blackwings,
03:42 CT4V, CT5V Blackwings, and I've been saying
03:47 that they're just the best brakes in the industry.
03:50 And these are real similar, if not even better.
03:54 You know, that old saying,
03:55 a car is only as good as its brakes?
03:58 Well, this car is pretty damn good.
04:00 Wow, good on you, Chevrolet.
04:04 This is just awesome.
04:06 Dual-clutch transmission, quick shifting, quick reacting.
04:09 And again, it just bleeds off power.
04:13 How's the turning?
04:14 Personally, I can see my front tire pressures are at 38 PSI,
04:19 and I would like to take 'em down about nine pounds.
04:24 Turn-in's a little bit greasy.
04:26 Once it turns in, though, man, rear is just planted.
04:29 It puts the power down, as my old buddy Randy Pups
04:35 likes to say, "Oh, it really puts it down."
04:38 Going over the curbing, rocking and rolling.
04:43 I mean, yeah, this is good.
04:46 The nice thing is there's so much grip
04:49 that you don't really need to brake that hard
04:52 because you can get around the corners.
04:54 It's just stuck in.
04:56 This is addicting.
04:59 This is the kind of thing where the more laps I do,
05:01 I can just see getting faster and faster and faster
05:04 because it's just a very predictable car.
05:08 And it loves being on a racetrack.
05:12 And it loves hopping over curbing.
05:16 Wow, this is, yeah, okay.
05:20 Corvette Z06 Z07 gets my seal of approval.
05:25 This is a hell of a track weapon.
05:28 I started this out by bemoaning the use of cliches,
05:32 so here's what I'm not gonna do.
05:34 I'm not gonna say the 2023 Z06 is a race car
05:38 for the street because it's not.
05:40 But can we say it's a race car for the track?
05:43 Oh yes, oh yes we can.
05:46 I'll leave you with one more bromide.
05:48 If you can find a better track day toy, buy it.
05:51 Fair warning, however, a Porsche GT3 RS
05:55 is about twice the price.
05:56 Outstanding work here, Chevy, just outstanding.
06:00 (engine revving)
06:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]