Giant test: ZO6 vs GT3 RS
CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 I PORSCHE 911 GT3 RS
For the first time ever, the hot version of the definitive US sports car seriously could beat the range-topping 911. But will it?
THE DEFINITIVE VERDICT
If the back story to the Porsche 911 GT3 RS tested here is unfamiliar, then I hope you’re enjoying your first issue of CAR magazine. But the Corvette Z06? Even most long-time (British) subscribers will have big gaps in their knowledge – previous generations were left-hand drive, after all.
The two have more in common than first impressions suggest. Both RS and Z06 were born from motorsport, celebrate big anniver-saries in 2023 and are now more technically comparable than ever. Plus the new eighth-generation C8 Z06 is officially UK-bound in right-hand drive.
Prices are still to be confirmed, but the Z06’s $105,300 domestic retail price could easily balloon to around £140k for British buyers, though even that represents a big saving over a GT3 RS’s £192,600.
The Corvette might be from over the pond, but it’s no fish out of water. Threading over Welsh minor roads – crumbly cambered edg-es, encroaching bracken and sheep, more traffic than we hoped – the Z06 seems relatively compact and easy to place considering it isn’t that small, and quickly builds confidence with its (mostly) fluid steering and ride.
Limit handling is shot through with surprising finesse, but there’s bandwidth to ace long hauls too – CAR deputy editor Piers Ward just drove this left-hooker from Germany, noting: ‘Tour mode is surpris-ingly comfortable, with decent flex in the suspension to make a long stint bearable.’
Nicely placed pedals mean he hasn’t been twisting his right leg at awkward angles, and the two-seat cabin is so spacious I reckon you’d have to be over 6ft 5in tall to find it anything other than roomy – and that’s with a driver’s seat that could and should drop much lower. Generous luggage space and this convertible’s targa roof make it more versatile than the 911 too.
Now a model in its own right, the Z06 name dates to an option pack introduced 60 years ago for second-generation Corvettes. US car makers had an agreement at that time that factory teams wouldn’t race, so the Z06 gave privateers a kind of under-the-counter workaround that included stiffer springs, uprated brakes, a bigger fuel tank and a small-block V8 pushing out 360bhp.
RS was neither option pack nor racecar in a brown bag, but Porsche effectively worked the same magic when it took a 2.4S and cranked up the wick for motorsport, creating the 2.7 RS in ’73.
Our test cars continue those bloodlines, officially as the next best things to the Corvette C8.R and 911 RSR contesting the World En-durance Championship’s GTE class. (When more affordable GT3 machinery
