How the Corvette Z06 Compares with Its Benchmark, the Ferrari 458

It's no secret that Chevrolet looked closely at the Ferrari 458 Italia while developing the latest Corvette Z06. Prototypes of the high-powered 'Vette were spotted testing alongside the Ferrari, and engineers admitted to taking apart the 458's engine to learn its secrets. The two share their mid-engine layouts, naturally aspirated flat-plane-crank engines, and high-revving demeanors. So, as with any benchmarking exercise, this all begs the question: did Chevy do its homework?

Now that we've strapped our test gear to the new Z06, it's high time to see how it stacks up against this exotic, Italian benchmark in terms of performance. We're using our test numbers of a 458 Italia from a 2011 comparison against the McLaren MP4-12C and a Porsche 911 GT2 RS that was conducted in the U.K. And our Z06 numbers are from our recent test of a coupe equipped with the Z07 package.

Engine and Performance

In the grand tradition of the American way, the Z06 offers more of everything: 5.5 liters of displacement versus the Ferrari's 4.5; 670 horsepower to the Ferrari's 562 hp; and 460 pound-feet of torque to the Ferrari's 398 pound-feet. But the Ferrari's engine does scream higher, with a redline of 9000 rpm compared with the Z06's 8500 rpm redline. Both use dual-clutch automatic transmissions, a seven-speed unit in the Ferrari and an eight-speed gearbox in the Corvette.

It's no surprise that the significantly more powerful Z06 beats the 458 in a straight line, with a 2.6-second run to 60 mph and a quarter-mile run of 10.5 seconds at 131 mph. But the Ferrari isn't far behind, as it reached the same trap speed in the quarter mile and was only 0.4 second behind in the run to 60 mph. (The Ferrari's numbers were generated using our old correction method, before we introduced the industry-standard 1-foot rollout into our acceleration testing.)