A Serious Merit for the C8 Corvette
As we’ve already reported, the early reviews of the new Corvette C8 are in. While most of what the reviewers said was glowing, it’s still a little hard to get a handle for how good the Corvette is without comparing it to the competition. Well, that’s exactly what MotorTrend did. The publication got its hands on the 2020 Corvette Stingray with the Z51 Performance Package and a 992 generation Porsche 911 Carrera S to see which is truly better.
The publication did everything from a size comparison to a drag strip comparison to a skidpad comparison and then a figure-eight test and a 3.5-mile closed loop road test. The last part of the test was an interior, ergonomic, and ease of use test.
The Vette is bigger than the 911 but that’s not really a problem because of the LT2 V8’s power. In the drag race, the Corvette managed to beat the Porsche by 0.1 seconds. When it comes to the skidpad test, the 911 pulled .05 g better than the Corvette. In the figure-eight test, the Porsche edged out the Corvette. In the 3.5-mile loop, the 911 again was victorious. Everyday testing categories were another matter. The Corvette does well, beating the Porsche in many ways. However, MotorTrend did note that the Porsche wins when it comes to cargo, but that isn’t super important.
While the Porsche was able to edge out the Corvette in some tests, that edge was very slim, and with the price difference between the two cars being about $34,000, you’re looking at a pretty big ask for only slightly more performance. MotorTrend puts it like this, the Corvette is “exotic and attainable, it finally punches above its weight class in every category, not just one. When it’s this damn good, money matters. The Corvette isn’t good enough for the price. It’s unbeatable.” MotorTrend placed it ahead of the Porsche, and the Vette sure sounds like a winner to us.
