Corvette Challenges Europe’s Best in Sport Auto’s Handling Test
How does the Corvette Z06 stack up against the newest batch of supercars from around the world?
Before we get too far into this, yes, the Acura NSX is in this testing video. Yes, we know it’s from Japan and not Europe. It was also in last place by a big margin, so we are just going to ignore it. Moving on from there, let’s talk about how Sport Auto chose a three-year-old American sports car to face off against some of the best and the fastest cars in the world in a handling challenge.
Every year Sport Auto gives out a Best Handling Car award, and for 2018 the competition was staggering. We have the new McLaren 720S, Audi’s V10-powered R8, the Mercedes-AMG GT R, the legendary Porsche 911 GT3, and finally the Nurburgring record-holder Lamborghini Huracán Performante. Yet in that company of cars, there also stands the Corvette Z06.
The lone American. The only supercharged car. The cheapest car.
So, in the hands of European journalists, on a European track, in particularly gloomy European weather, how would America’s best car perform? As you might have guessed, the Corvette did not win the test. The overall title goes to the record-setting Lamborghini. But there, sitting in the silver-medal position, you will find the Crossed Flags towering triumphantly over McLaren, Mercedes, Audi and even Porsche.
It’s astonishing to think how good the Z06 really is when you see it in this company, but the car could have been even better. Sharp eyes will notice that this particular Z06 is not wearing the car’s most aggressive aero package. And the car provided for this test was equipped with the more satisfying, but slower, manual transmission. We aren’t sure if those changes would have been enough to make up the half-second gap to the Lamborghini, but it sure would have come close.
We can’t wait to see what happens next year with the ZR1 and a potential mid-engine Corvette attacking tracks the world over.
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