Tested: 2015 Corvette Z06

SUPERCORVETTE _

2015 Corvette Z06 | Shaun Keenan
2015 Corvette Z06 | Shaun Keenan

Spoiler Alert: Every time I think about the Corvette Z06, my mind wanders to the scene in Pulp Fiction where boxer-turned-fugitive Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) and lover Trudi (Bronagh Gallagher) flee town on a stolen motorcycle on the advice of mob boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), who lost a lot of money on Butch after he threw his last fight.

2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 | Shaun Keenan
2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 | Shaun Keenan

An hour away from all the lights and action of Las Vegas Boulevard, on the way to Death Valley National Park along highway 160, you’ll come across the Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club nestled into the foothills of the Pahrump Valley. An automotive enthusiast’s utopia if there ever was one, the motorsport ranch has been home of the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School since 2008.

Launching the 2015 Corvette Z06 flagship at the official high performance driving school of Corvette, on the school’s new 2.41-kilometre (1.5-mile) circuit was an easy decision for Chevrolet. The Mayor of Mosport’s team of excellent, experienced instructors regularly teach students how to drive the Corvette Stingray to their – and its – fullest potential. There is no place I’d rather be. And quite frankly, better places to be are few and far between.

Built around the same lightweight aluminum frame structure and sharing much of its machismo with the current Corvette Racing C7.R GTLM race car (including chassis, aerodynamics and tire technologies), the Z06 offers supercar levels of performance for a fraction of the price of traditional supercars. A fully-loaded Z06 3LZ with the Z07 performance package and all the trimmings tops out at $121,000 in Canuck bucks. Consider the as-tested ticket of the 2015 Porsche 991 Turbo S I drove last October is $216,500, and the 2015 McLaren 650S Spider ran up to $383,000 (and could’ve easily gone higher).

Math isn’t my strongest suit, but it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to see where this is going.

2015 Corvette Z06 | Shaun Keenan
2015 Corvette Z06 | Shaun Keenan

The new Z06 is the fastest production car GM has ever made – even faster than the 2014 C6 ZR1 – and it is right up there with some of the fastest cars I’ve driven, including the 650S and all-wheel-drive 911 Turbo S, both of which do 0-100 km/h in three seconds even. The Z06 accelerates from 0-97 km/h (60 mph) in 2.95 seconds, and it does the quarter-mile in 10.95 @ 204.4 km/h (127 mph) when equipped with an all-new 8L90 eight-speed paddle-shift automatic transmission with torque converter that launches the Z06 with 1.2 g forces.

The Z06 is also the fastest production car ever tested at GM’s 4.66-kilometre Milford Road Course, beating the Corvette ZR1 by a full second. At VIR, that difference grows to 4.3 seconds per lap, and a blistering lap time of 2:41.3 by the Z06. It all adds up to killer looks and killer performance.

The LT4 supercharged 6.2-litre engine is a beefed-up and blown version of the LT1 V8 found in the Stingray. A dry sump oil system, forged pistons, titanium valves and rods, and the supercharger/intercooler assembly that is nefariously mounted in the valley between the cylinder heads helps deliver 37 and 40 percent more horsepower and torque, respectively.

Continue reading about my experience driving the 2015 Corvette Z06 the Spring Mountain Motorsports Resort in Pahrump, Nevada, and look at more pictures on the IGNITION LUXURY & PERFORMANCE website!