We've talked a lot about the 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06, from its expected flat-plane crank V8 to its wild aero. It sounds pretty nuts—in a good way—and we know it'll debut in full come Oct. 26. Nobody expected to see an undisguised C8 Z06 this morning, though, and it's an even bigger surprise that Chevy itself shared the photos. I guess that's the trend nowadays.
No more details about the mid-engined sports car were explicitly given by the automaker, but there's plenty to glean from the pair of pictures. One shows a seemingly tamer variant sans camo while the other depicts a Z06 in full track garb with a trickily crafted wrap at Texas' Circuit Of The Americas. Let's take a peek.
The first takeaway, for me and most anyone who's seen photos of the Z06 testing before, is the rear wing. In the stationary photo, it's more subtle and subdued than the car that's racing around COTA. It's likely that the 'Vette will be offered in two trims with differing aero kits, like we've seen before with the Z07 package. Regardless, that'll be the quickest way to tell a Z06 from a standard C8.
Then there's the side air intake, which is more pronounced and probably a lot better at feeding the howling V8. That engine will likely be a naturally aspirated, 5.5-liter unit like we've seen in the C8.R race car, so it'll take all the air it can get without the help of a supercharger or a turbo. You're welcome to give the sound clips a listen, too, in case you'd rather not take my word for it.
The chiseled front splitter rounds it all out as it looks ready to eat up miles and miles of track days, or backroads, or cars and coffee parking lots. No matter how each one is actually used, we know they'll all be capable of attacking a circuit with even more poise than the already-capable base C8.
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