2020 Chevy C8 Corvette Stingray vs. C7, Ford GT and Porsche 911
We compare Chevrolet's new mid-engine Corvette to its predecessor and two of its closest rivals.
The mid-engine Corvette is finally, finally here. Chevrolet's reimagined sports car is more impressive than ever before, and with its mid-mounted engine and increased focus on performance and handling, the 'Vette is better poised to not only take on a growing crop of high-horsepower American sports cars, but the world's best supercars, too.
There are plenty of cars against which we could compare Chevy's new Corvette, but for this story, we're going to stick with the three that seem most obvious. For starters, we'll see how far the C8-generation Corvette has progressed from its C7 predecessor. Next, we'll line it up against the new Porsche 911 (which has only been revealed in S guise as of now), as Chevy's sports car has long been billed as a budget alternative to Germany's icon. Finally, we'll list the numbers of America's other mid-engine supercar, the Ford GT .
Powertrain
The 2020 Chevy Corvette uses a brand-new, small-block, 6.2-liter V8 engine, codenamed LT2. Since this engine makes different power outputs depending on whether or not you have the performance exhaust, we'll list both.
A big change for the 2020 Corvette comes in the transmission department. While previous generations of the Corvette were offered with both manual and automatic options, the C8 is an auto-only affair. But hey, at least it's a quick-shifting, dual-clutch gearbox.
Engine | Power (hp) | Torque (lb.-ft.) | Transmission(s) | |
Chevy C8 Corvette | 6.2L V8 | 490 / 495 | 465 / 470 | 8-speed DCT |
Chevy C7 Corvette | 6.2L V8 | 455 / 460 | 460 / 465 | 7-speed manual or 8-speed automatic |
Ford GT | Twin-turbo 3.5L V6 | 647 | 550 | 7-speed DCT |
Porsche 911 Carrera S | Twin-turbo 3.0L H6 | 443 | 390 | 8-speed DCT |
Performance
As of this writing, Chevy isn't releasing an official 0-60-mph acceleration time, only saying the 2020 Corvette will run this sprint in "less than three seconds when equipped with Z51 Performance Package." That's fine; for the time being, we'll estimate a sub-three-second number, and since Chevy is using a performance-pack-equipped car for this spec, it's only fair to do the same with the competitors (where available).
0-60 mph | Top speed | |
Chevy C8 Corvette | 2.9 seconds (est.) | TBD |
Chevy C7 Corvette | 3.7 seconds (est.) | 185 mph (est.) |
Ford GT | 3.0 seconds (est.) | 216 mph |
Porsche 911 Carrera S | 3.3 seconds | 191 mph |
Dimensions and weight
Despite being a two-seat sports car, the Corvette isn't exactly what we'd call small. Of course, neither are its competitors. The Porsche 911 has a grown a bit for its latest 992 generation, and the Ford GT isn't exactly a svelte thing, either. Thankfully, Chevy has managed to keep the C8 Corvette's weight in check -- it's less than 100 pounds heavier than its predecessor.
Length (inches) | Width (inches) | Height (inches) | Weight (pounds) | |
Chevy C8 Corvette | 182.3 | 76.1 | 48.6 | 3,366 |
Chevy C7 Corvette | 176.9 | 73.9 | 48.8 | 3,298 |
Ford GT | 187.5 | 78.9 | 43.7 | 3,054 |
Porsche 911 Carrera S | 177.9 | 72.9 | 51.2 | 3,382 |
Pricing
It kind of goes without saying, but we won't have any official 2020 Chevy Corvette pricing information for many months. But General Motors president Mark Reuss did say the C8 Corvette would come in under $60,000, which makes it a serious performance bargain.
Base price (MSRP) | |
Chevy C8 Corvette | $59,000 (est.) |
Chevy C7 Corvette | $55,900 |
Ford GT | $500,000 (est.) |
Porsche 911 Carrera S | $113,300 |
We'll be sure to update this space if and when we get final confirmation of the Corvette's data estimates and pricing figures. Don't forget to check out our full C8 Corvette reveal story for all the nitty-gritty details of Chevy's new Stingray, too.