A Vetting Process: The World’s 10 Quickest Corvettes

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Posted by Sam Becker

 

 

 

 

Source: Chevrolet

Call it a sports car, a muscle car, or a supercar. You can call it whatever you’d like: The legacy of the Chevrolet Corvette remains the same, and its incredibly long and rich history is almost completely unparalleled in the automotive world.

The Corvette is one of the few vehicles that has lasted decades and won over new fans while continuing to largely satisfy its purists all the way through its journey.

 

The Corvette has grown in every new generation to become faster and stronger, and its newest iteration is not only the fastest car that General Motors has ever been able to produce but is one of the fastest production cars in the world.

 

 Though the Corvette has evolved alongside industry counterparts from Ford and Dodge over the years, Chevy has put some significant resources and engineering prowess into ensuring that its star performance machine remains near the top of the heap.

Given that there have been an innumerable amount of Corvette variants and special editions over the years, it’s hard to determine just which models outperform all the others.

 We’ve taken the liberty to crunch the numbers and find out, creating a list of the 10 fastest Corvettes of all time, ranked according to acceleration time from zero to 60 miles per hour.

 We have excluded third-party modified models, concepts, and racing-optimized cars (including the Z06-R, C7.R, and others), and instead stuck to production Corvettes.
Read on to see the 10 fastest Chevrolet Corvette models of all time.

Source: Chevrolet

10. Corvette C5 50th Anniversary Edition

For its golden anniversary, Chevrolet unleashed a classic that would be dubbed the Corvette 50th Anniversary Edition. This special edition Corvette is really a fifth-generation model with a number of aesthetic and design upgrades, all in order to honor the car’s half-century birthday.

 Clocking in with a zero to 60 time of 4.5 seconds, it also became one of the fastest iterations in history. The original Corvette was born in 1953, meaning that Chevy released this model for the 2003 model year and slapped a 350-horsepower 3.5-liter V8 engine under the hood.

Source: Hertz

9. Corvette ZHZ

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill Corvette. Instead, it’s a special variant made specifically for rental car company Hertz. That’s right:

 A rental-only model managed to squeak into the top 10, but it’s not without good reason. The ZHZ Corvette, loaded with a 6.2-liter, 436-horsepower V8 engine, could dash to 60 miles per hour in 4.3 seconds.

Five hundred ZHZ models were produced for the 2008 model year, all with the distinctive yellow paint job and black stripe.

 

SOURCE : CHEVROLET 

8. Corvette C6 Grand Sport Coupe

Heading into more modern times, the Corvette Grand Sport, a sixth-generation model, finds its way onto the list at the No. 8 spot. Test data from the 2013 Grand Sport Coupe indicates this car could handle the trip from zero to 60 in as little four seconds flat.

 The Grand Sport Coupe houses a 6.2-liter V8 engine under the hood, powerful enough to kick out 430 horsepower and 424 pound-feet of torque. If that’s not enough performance for you, it could also reach a top overall speed of 190 miles per hour.

Source: Chevrolet

7. Corvette Stingray Z51

The 2014 Corvette Stingray Z51 is a prime example of the engineering and design that have helped return the Corvette to its former glory. 2014 marked the return of the “Stingray” moniker to the Corvette, and this seventh-generation road-destroyer sure does deliver a potent sting.

 Performance stats include a zero to 60 time of 3.8 seconds, 455 horsepower, and a top speed of 190 miles per hour, courtesy of the 6.2-liter V8. It’s also affordable relative to its performance, with prices starting at just over $50,000. Who says a supercar can’t be within your price range?

Source: Chevrolet

6. Corvette 427

Besting the Grand Sport, albeit slightly, is the Corvette 427, from the same model year: 2013. As a 60th anniversary model, the 427 is a sixth-generation performance monster that borrows many of its better parts from other Corvette models.

The 427 also boosted the power and engine size up a notch over the Grand Sport, utilizing a 7.0-liter V8 engine to generate 505 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque. As far as speed, the 427 can tackle the zero to 60 sprint in 3.8 seconds, on par with the Stingray.

Source: Chevrolet

5. Corvette Z06 Centennial Edition

The new Z06 has been making plenty of headlines lately, and for good reason. In 2012, the Centennial Edition of the Z06 Corvette was announced with a limited release and a price tag that reached into the six figures.

 That Z06 Centennial Edition could also blast from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in 3.8 seconds, and even tackle the quarter mile in 11.9 seconds. Utilizing the same 7.0-liter, 505-horsepower V8 engine as some of its brothers, the Z06 Centennial Edition easily makes its way on to the top 10 of the fastest Corvettes of all time.

Source: Chevrolet

4. Corvette GT1 Championship Edition

Released to the world in 2009 as a limited-edition anniversary model to celebrate the Corvette’s GT1 racing program in the American Le Mans Series, the GT1 Championship Edition of the C6 Corvette could do some real damage on the track. This special edition Corvette could make it to 60 miles per hour from rest in 3.7 seconds behind the strength of a 7.0-liter V8 engine. When it came to the Corvette’s sixth generation, this edition was near the top of the line.

Source: Chevrolet

3. Corvette Z06 Carbon Edition

Another Z06 variant, the Carbon Edition, released for the 2011 model year, could make the jump to 60 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds. With a 505-horsepower, 7.0-liter V8 engine, the Carbon Edition of this sixth-generation Z06 surely left a mark on the Chevy record books — that is, for only a few years.

 Though it’s not as powerful as some of its counterparts, the Carbon Edition uses some nifty tricks to better distribute its weight to give it an edge in quickness and agility.

“For track use, the Z06 Carbon is the best balanced Corvette yet. It combines the lightweight and naturally-aspirated Z06 engine with the road-holding and braking of the ZR1,” said Tadge Juechter, Corvette’s chief engineer, in a GM press release.

 “For technical tracks like Laguna Seca, the Z06 Carbon could shave up to three seconds off the Z06 lap time.”

Source: Chevrolet

2. Corvette ZR1

Coming close but not close enough to the title of fastest Corvette is the ZR1. the 2013 Corvette ZR1 was truly a street demon: It could blast through the quarter-mile in 11.3 seconds and scream from a dead stop to 60 miles per hour in 3.4 seconds.

 Those numbers came with a hefty price tag, as well — right around $100,000 when it hit the market five or six years ago. As far as top overall speed, the ZR1 topped out at 205 miles per hour, getting there behind 638 horsepower from the 6.2-liter V8. It held the throne of GM’s fastest production car until just earlier this year, when the Corvette namesake topped itself yet again.

Source: Chevrolet

1. Corvette Z06

For Corvette fans, there’s never been a better time to be alive. That’s because the new Corvette Z06 is the fastest Corvette — and fastest production car — to ever roll off General Motors’ assembly line.

 The new Z06 breaks through the three-second mark in the zero to 60 time trial, with a time of 2.95 seconds. The 2015 Z06 sports a 6.2-liter V8 that makes an incredible 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque, and also makes it the fastest car GM has ever built.

“The Corvette has long been known as America’s sports car,” Mark Reuss, General Motors’ executive vice president, said in a statement. “With the capability of the new Z06 rivaling the best performance cars in the world, we will also be America’s Supercar.”