DETROIT – General Motors’ new 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 marks the latest chapter in the famed American sports car’s nearly 70-year history.
Those who were intimately involved in making the car described it as “otherworldly” and an “utopian version of a sports car.” It’s a street-legal race car designed for the track that allows GM to flex its engineering muscle and draw attention to Corvette, which Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas has said could be a $7 billion to $12 billion franchise for the automaker.
CNBC talked with several team members about the 2023 Corvette Z06, which features a new 5.5-liter V-8 naturally aspirated engine with 670 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque – the most powerful engine of its kind in any production car.
In their own words, here’s what Corvette team members had to say about the vehicle and their roles in GM’s most iconic franchise, including the regular Corvette Stingray.
Tadge Juechter, Corvette executive chief engineer
“When I think about why we do this, it’s going to sound funny, but I think about adults giggling. When you put somebody behind the wheel in a Corvette and put them on a good road and just let them go, that’s what you get, adults giggling. It’s hard to control and it doesn’t get old. You hear the engine, it’s a super passionate machine in an age of hominization of transportation, there aren’t that many unique driver experiences out there. We’ve not only created a unique one, but way out in left field.
“The Stingray is this super nice, sweet, well developed car. This is a little bit of a bad boy. It’s got a little bit of edge to it. Not an edge in meaning tricky handling, but it’s got a lot more attitude, I would say. The character comes through loud and clear from the time you start it to anytime you drive it. The speed of the response of the car, it’s kind of otherworldly.”
Aaron Link, Corvette lead Development Engineer
“This car represents the utopian version of a sports car to me. It’s a mid-engine architecture and all the inherent goodness that comes from that with a lightweight front end that really amplifies how quick the car turns, and then all the traction in the back where you need it, where you can have a huge power number. And then the natural aspirated engine part of that is kind of what everyone’s always thought of when you think of like this mid-engine supercar/sports car. And we’re doing it, right? And nobody else is really.
“So that’s the beauty to me is being part of that and getting to have a big hand in how that is formed and shaped and comes out … It just makes you smile and we say that a lot about cars, but this one really is like you never want it to stop.”
Dustin Gardner, GM small block engine assistant chief engineer
“The privilege to work on this as a career is huge. This engine, being able to do a clean sheet Z06 dedicated built for this mission, and then just so proud of the engineering team around it. This thing is an engineering masterpiece. To do a 5.5-liter flat plane crank, full mechanical valvetrain engine that’s making 670 horsepower to me is, it’s a highlight of the career …
“Just hearing it all work, feeling the power, all your senses are excited. It’s just exhilarating and it’s what it’s supposed to do and it does it so well. It’s been my baby for a while. It’s exciting.”
