2016 Corvette Stingray Performance Review

The Corvette has become almost as iconic as the Camaro, and the 2016 model is continuing that legacy. Much like other hot-rods, the Corvette has kept the same basic shape over the years, and will continue to be recognizable on the lots of Chevrolet dealers in KY. While it’s an iconic image, the Corvette was never nearly as good as the other sports cars on the market, until now. The 2016 Corvette Stingray will give some of the higher-end performance sports cars a run for their money.

Trim Levels

The Corvette Stingray comes in 2 trim levels: Z51 or Z06, and it’s available in coupe or convertible body styles. The convertible has a powered fold-down soft top that can be retracted while driving up to 30 mph of speed, and the coupe has a roof panel that can be removed and then stored in the trunk. The base Z51 trim is then split into 3 sub-trim levels; 1LT, 2LT, and 3LT, while the Z06 is split into 1LZ, 2LZ, and 3LZ sub-trims.

The primary differences between the Z51 and Z06 trims are the engine types and performance oriented features. For sanity’s sake, we will focus on the performance of the Z06 trim level. It’s a performance car, so it deserves to be reviewed at its best.

Basic Features

Even if it deserves to be reviewed at it’s best, it still carries some features over from the Z51 1LT trim. It carries over the same 19-inch front and 20-inch rear tires, along with the basic technological and safety features. Some of the more notable features are the 4G LTE data connection and Wi-Fi hotspot capability, OnStar, Chevrolet MyLink, a rearview camera, Apple CarPlay, and a Bose sound system with satellite radio. This technology is operated on an 8-inch  central touchscreen with a color informational display. For comfort features, the Z06 has the same dual-zone climate control, leather upholstery, heated mirrors, and eight-way power front seats that sit behind a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel. The seats are now bolstered at the sides, so when you sit down the seats hug your legs.

All of these features are there too make your experience in this performance sports car a comfortable and entertaining one; gone are the days of sacrificing comfort for performance in hot-rods. The bolstered seats are a practical touch as well, they help keep you in place when speeding around tight corners. Which is inevitable in this vehicle, especially when you see the engines this thing is sporting.

The Z06 1LZ shares the same basic features mentioned above, and upgrades a few that weren’t mentioned. They share the same basic design, but the Z06 is a performance oriented trim, so it adds a supercharged engine and some performance oriented packages. The Z06 has an enhanced performance-oriented suspension, along with larger brakes and wider tires for better overall performance on the road. The Z06 has seen some performance oriented design changes as well, such as the addition of a lighter carbon-fiber hood and a better aero package to help reduce drag. The aero package added on some wider front and rear fenders, along with expanded cooling vents. The Z06 also sports a unique front grilled and rear fascia that gives it a distinctly different look than the Z51, letting you know this trim is performance oriented.

The 2LZ and 3LZ sub-trims don’t add too much, they get the same upgrades as the 2LT and 3LT sub-trims do. Except, the difference is the 2LZ and 3LZ are still sitting on the performance oriented features of the Z06 main trim level.

Z06 Optional Packages

The Z06 main trim adds some performance oriented optional packages as well, such as the carbon-flash painted ground effects package and a visible carbon-fiber ground effect that add even more design changes; like an enhanced front splitter and a bigger rear spoiler with larger rocker panels. There is also an adjustable see-through center section of the spoiler, special tires, and even bigger carbon-ceramic brake rotors with adaptive dampers. The larger brake rotors allow for the performance-oriented ‘vette to brake better by giving the pads a bigger surface to grip. The enhanced braking should be helpful; especially when dealing with the horsepower this Stingray can put out.

Engines

The Stingray has two engine options, depending on which trim is chosen. The base Stingray and Z51 options  run on a 6.2-liter V8 that dishes out 455 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque. That’s already on par with the new Camaro 2SS trim, which is the highest trim offered on the Camaro. That little tidbit was for some perspective as to how performance oriented even the basic Stingray trim is; and adding the available performance exhaust bumps up the ponies to 460. The default transmission is a seven-speed manual, and an eight-speed automatic transmission is available. The fuel economy on the base trim is surprisingly good, and has an EPA-estimated rating of 17 mpg city, 29 mpg highway, making 21 mpg combined. For all that horsepower, that’s quite impressive.

But, the Stingray we really care about is the Z06 trim, and it steps up the game. The Z06 has a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that puts out an earth-shattering 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque. It uses the same two transmissions as the Z51 trim, and the fuel ratings are not that far off, either. The Z06 is rated at 18 mpg combined with the manual transmission, and 16 mpg combined with the automatic transmission, while the Z51 gets about the same fuel ratings no matter what transmission. The fact they were able to increase the horsepower by almost 200 while only decreasing the combined mpg by 3 is impressive.

Performance

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the performance. The Z51 Stingray should get an honorable mention, with it’s quickest time being 4 seconds flat going from 0-60 mph. Which is rather impressive for a car, especially a base trim. I know, you’re thinking there is no way the Z06 trim could do any better, but it does. It’s able to reach 0-60 mph in only 3.5 seconds while equipped with a manual transmission (same transmission as the Z51).

The speed on the performance oriented 2016 Corvette Stingray is simply astounding. 3.5 seconds from 0-60 is faster than most other performance cars out there. With a time like that, it will surely leave the new Mustang and Camaro eating dust, and the base Z51 trim is on par in performance and excels in fuel economy. Combining the performance features with the comfort/technological ones makes this one top-of-the-line sports vehicle.