2023 Chevy Corvette Z06 Makes Pit Stop On Jay Leno’s Garage

It’s only been a few weeks since the 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06 debuted, introducing a new, high-revving flat-plane crank V8 to the lineup. Production won’t begin until sometime next summer – fingers crossed – though finding one to buy may be a challenge. However, the car is already making the rounds, and it recently made a pit stop on Jay Leno’s Garage, which saw the host dive into the trim’s changes and features before taking it for a spin.

Leno is one of the first people to drive the new Corvette, and it looks quite a bit different from the standard C8. It’s 3.6 inches wider than the standard Stingray, and it’s noticeable. The widened stance creates bigger air intakes behind the doors to feed the engine and cooling system. It also helps the car accommodate the largest rear tires ever put on a Corvette, though the Z06 has a few more exclusive bits

Chevy made the engine, a naturally aspirated 5.5-liter flat-plane crank V8, exclusive for the Corvette, a first for the model that often had to share its V8 powertrains with other Chevy and GM models. The new engine packs a wallop, producing 670 horsepower (500 kilowatts) and 460 pound-feet (623 Newton-meters) of torque. That can propel the coupe to 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) in 2.6 seconds, and it looks like it could complete the quarter-mile in about 10.6 seconds.

Leno then takes the Corvette Z06 out for a spin, mashing the accelerator to listen to the car’s unique exhaust note. The car Leno drives in the video comes with the Z07 package, making it a bit more track-focused than the standard Z06. Engineers designed it to be a bit more livable for daily driving, though 670 hp is still a lot of power to go to the grocery store. The Z07 package also adds the largest carbon-ceramic brakes ever to the Corvette – they’re bigger than the brakes on the C7 ZR1.