Chevrolet Corvette Z06: looks good but is evil to drive

Corvette says its new 6.2-litre V8 supercar is “world class”. So why does it slide sideways?

Supplied Editorial

In the past few weeks, as you might imagine, I’ve spent quite a lot of time on the telephone to various people in California, and it’s been rather enjoyable. Talking to an American about stuff is like talking to a child who’s going to the zoo. There’s no irony, no self-deprecation and none of the barely fathomable subtlety you get when talking to a Britisher. It’s a nonstop roller-coaster of primary-coloured enthusiasm.

We see exactly the same sort of thing in the online blurb Chevrolet has created for its new Corvette Z06. It’s billed as a “world-class supercar” and a “triumph of design and engineering”. There’s even a quote from Tadge Juechter, the chief engineer who worked on the car: “Its aerodynamic downforce performance is massive and unlike anything we’ve ever tested in any street car.”

In Europe we scoff at this sort of thing and think, “You would say that. You designed it, so you’re hardly likely to say it’s a bit crap.” An American would read it and think, “Wow. The new Z06’s aerodynamic downforce performance is massive and unlike anything Chevrolet has ever tested in any street car.”

There’s more. Chevrolet tells us the Z06 sits “at the intersection of Le Mans and the autobahn”, which to me means it sits in the French village of Bar-sur-Seine, just southeast of Troyes. But it wasn’t sitting there at all. It was in the pits at Thruxton racing circuit, in Hampshire, on a very windy and cold May day.

There is nothing on God’s green earth that is quite as depressing as a second-division British racing circuit: metal window frames on mildewy portable buildings, boarded-up burger vans, cockeyed signs saying “Marshal camping”. And there in the middle of it all was what appeared to be a child’s toy, an egg-yellow Corvette. It cheered the place up in the way a pair of bright curtains can make a squat feel like home.

Before we begin, I should explain that I like the 2015 Corvette a lot. Only recently I told you that the Stingray convertible version was good looking, fast, adroit in the corners and excellent value. If it weren’t for the scrap-metal-dealer image and the fact the steering wheel is on the left whether you like it or not, the new Corvette is a car I would very much like to own. Or would I?

Because what you see in the picture here is the latest incarnation, the Z06, a car that sits at the intersection of Le Mans and the autobahn and has better downforce performance than any other street car ever made by anyone ever.

It certainly has plenty of grunt because the company has added a supercharger to the 6.2-litre V8 engine. In round numbers this means 485kW and 880Nm. In a drag race it has the same performance as a Porsche 911 Turbo.

In the old days this would have been enough. Hank and Bud and Tadge would have looked at the straight-line speed and, after a bout of high-fiving, put the car on sale. But that is not the way in Kentucky these days. So the Corvette has a carbon-fibre bonnet for a lower centre of gravity, along with titanium intake valves and composite floor panels, plus the option of carbon ceramic brakes.

And you get a dial on the centre console that can turn your relatively benign road car into a screaming track monster. Although when I say screaming, I mean bellowing. When the Z06 leaves the line in a full-bore racing start the noise from its four centrally mounted tailpipes is painful. Ever heard a Harrier hover? Well, it’s like that. But louder.

Of course, inside the car, you are several yards in front of the noise and have more important things on your mind, such as: “I’m going to crash soon.” It’s hard to work out what’s wrong, there’s just so much going on, but having given the matter some thought since I came home and lay in the bath shaking, I think I have it. Chevrolet has fitted titanium this and ceramic that because these words look good in a brochure. They give an owner good boasting rights at the golf club and the shooting range. But don’t be fooled into thinking they make the car easier to drive. They don’t.

This car is evil. You turn into a corner and there’s pronounced understeer. You give it a dab of power to solve the problem but because there’s so much torque, the back end doesn’t start to come loose. It lets go completely.

So now you’re sideways and in real trouble. Because Hank and Bud and Tadge have heard that a racing car needs quick steering, they’ve gone mad and given the Z06 steering that would be deemed twitchy on a PlayStation. And semi-slick tyres. And nowhere near enough lock. So now you’ve spun.

Next lap you know not to exceed the levels of grip, but because the steering is so twitchy and the power is so grunty, the only solution is to drive very slowly.

This car was built to look good in a brochure. The numbers and ingredients are tantalising, but this car is not a serious player in the European theatre of war. So if you want a serious car, buy one from the continent that gave the world Shakespeare, Monet and Emerson Lake & Palmer. Europe does serious well. It does substance. It does brilliant. America does Disney. The Z06 is Disney trying to do a hard-hitting documentary about Africa’s civil wars. It hasn’t really worked.

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (withZ07performance package): Supercar

ENGINE: 6.2-litre supercharged V8 petrol

OUTPUTS: 485kW at 6400rpm and 880Nm at 3600rpm

TRANSMISSION: Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive

PRICE: £114,780 ($223,800, N/A Australia)

RATING: 3 out of 5

VERDICT: Looks great on your driveway. Keep it there.