The Mid-Engine C8 Corvette Has 495 HP and Hits 60 MPH In Under 3.0 Seconds. The mid-engine C8 Stingray is the quickest, most powerful entry-level Corvette ever—and the first without a manual transmission.
The car presented to journalists today is the C8 Stingray, the base model of the new generation. It’s powered by a 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V-8, dubbed the familiar LT2, now producing 495 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque when equipped with the optional performance exhaust. Yep, that makes the C8 Stingray the most powerful base-model Corvette ever.
It’s also the quickest: Chevy didn’t provide exact performance numbers, but the automaker did say that the C8 Stingray will do 0-60 in less than three seconds when equipped with the Z51 Performance Package. That is astoundingly fast—on par with the earliest Bugatti Veyron—and it’s a testament to the capabilities made possible by the switch to the mid-engine layout. Remember, Corvette engineers have been saying for years that they’d maxed out the acceleration capabilities of the front-mid-engine C7 chassis. This huge improvement in acceleration puts the base-model C8 Stingray on par with the top-dog C7 ZR1, the 755-horsepower, huge-downforce, supercharged-to-hell monster of the previous generation.
