How much power is enough? Driving the full Corvette lineup

The 2025 Chevy Corvette Stingray has nearly 500 hp, the Z06 has almost 700 hp, and the upcoming Corvette ZR1 tops 1,000 hp. But we have to ask: when the floor is so high, can the average driver really tell the difference as power ramps up?

Horsepower is cheaper and more accessible than ever these days, and we’re not just talking about EVs. But technological progress always follows the same curve: there comes a point when the increase in performance stops being perceptible. Think of the jump between VHS to DVD, then from Blu-Ray to 4K.

Does the same thing happen with horsepower? To find out, we went to National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park in Kentucky to put our resident track rat Joey in three C8 Chevy Corvettes: the 495-hp base model Stingray, the 655-hp hybrid E-Ray, and the 670-hp track-ready Z06.

There are many differences between each model beyond horsepower, of course, but that’s ultimately the headline number for most people. So when you’re used to driving something with 100-200 hp, what’s the jump to 500 hp like? And then again to 670 hp?

Special thanks to the National Corvette Museum and NCM Motorsports Park for the track time and use of their cars!

Produced and hosted by →   / rassoolracing  

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