The 2023 Corvette Z06 debuts tomorrow morning, and it’s expected to raise the bar for attainable American performance, just as the previous C7 Z06 did before it. Spy videos of the supercar circling the Nürburgring teased new levels of aerodynamics, new levels of corner entry and exit speeds, and a completely different exhaust note than what we’re used to from this side of the pond. That exhaust note comes from a DOHC, 5.5L V8 engine featuring a flat-plane crankshaft that spins up to 8,600 RPM. This engine is called the LT6, and it’s the most powerful naturally aspirated DOHC V8 production engine the world has ever seen. Below are our never-before-published details on the C8 Corvette Z06 horsepower and torque numbers, a day before the rest of the world knows about it.
*Update: The 2023 Corvette Z06 has been revealed!*
2023 C8 Corvette Z06 Horsepower, Torque And Engine
Our well-vetted, well-placed sources tell us that the 2023 Corvette Z06 horsepower comes in at 670 horsepower from its 5.5L LT6 DOHC V8 engine, making it the most powerful naturally aspirated DOHC V8 to ever reach production, by far and away. Previous reports had output pinned at 617 horsepower, which sounds a lot like 670 when sounded out.
So for those worried about the new Z06 making less horsepower than the old one, worry no more.
The LT6 stands above the legendary 6.2L Mercedes-Benz M159 in the SLS AMG Black Series that had 622 horsepower, and the 4.5L F136 FL V8 engine in the Ferrari 458 Speciale that had 597 horsepower. It’s also nearly 150 hp more powerful than the beloved Ford Voodoo V8 engine in the Mustang Shelby GT350, which had 526 horsepower.
As for torque, the C8 Corvette Z06 will have 460 lb-ft of torque from its LT6 V8. While not nearly as impressive as the record breaking horsepower figure, 460 lb-ft of torque is more powerful than the 429 lb-ft from the Ford Voodoo V8 engine in the Mustang Shelby GT350, more powerful than the Ferrari 458 Speciale which had 398 lb-ft, and more torque than even the M159 in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series that had 468 lb-ft.
Image via Chevrolet.
The engine in the 2023 C8 Corvette Z06 is a 5.5L V8 known as the LT6. Its design features a dual overhead camshaft (DOHC), a flat plane crankshaft, and naturally aspirated induction. A DOHC design is significantly different from the overhead valve design (cam-in-block) engines traditionally found in the Corvette. The LT6 is based on an all-new engine architecture that isn’t shared with any GM small block engines, or the bygone Cadillac Blackwing V8 engine which was also DOHC. Its displacement is 5.5-liters, making it one of the biggest displacement production DOHC V8 engines ever made.
The redline of the LT6 in the C8 Corvette Z06 is 8,600 RPM, making it the highest-revving Corvette ever produced. This is made possible by its flat-plane V8 design, compared to slower spinning and more traditional cross-plane crankshafts. Its sound is unmistakably high-pitched as a result.
General Motors benchmarked the Ferrari 458 Italia during testing of the C8 Corvette Z06 on account of its new DOHC V8 engine design. Engineers used the Ferrari 458 and its 4.5L V8 to understand how NVH levels are in a mid-engined DOHC V8 supercar. The Ferrari 458 Speciale produced 597 hp at 9,000 RPM and 398 lb-ft of torque at 6,000 RPM and was only sold from 2013 to 2015. It’s been considered the most powerful naturally aspirated DOHC V8 ever made. But not anymore. In terms of displacement, only the 6.2L Mercedes-Benz M159 engine is a bigger DOHC V8 than the LT6 in the C8 Corvette Z06.
