[MUSIC PLAYING]
CLINT SIMONE: Welcome to Edmunds U-DRAGS.
I know what you're thinking.
I know.
We know the Z06 is going to win, but let's just see by how much.
These are two fully loaded C8s.
Our own long term stingray Z51 versus the brand new Z06
with Z07 package.
That's a lot of zs, but I promise
nobody's going to be sleeping after this vette
on vette showdown.
[CAR ENGINES REVVING]
First, what is U-DRAGS?
I'm glad you asked.
It's a race to there and back.
You see, at Edmunds, we love the test cars.
We came up with this not so scientific way
of doing so that we call U-DRAGS.
We're going to take these two Corvettes,
send them all the way down to the other side of the track
where they're going to get hard on the brakes,
turn around, and come all the way back.
So we're getting a quarter mile, hard braking, handling,
and a rolling start all in one race.
But unlike our usual format, we're
not going to swap drivers and lanes.
One race for all the marbles.
Let's go.
To get to the bottom of this Corvette battle,
we've got two Edmunds test team pros--
Kurt and Reese.
And heads up, because you asked for it,
the U-DRAGS leaderboard is back.
So stay tuned.
OK, let's size these two up.
We've got the Z06 with a whopping 670 horsepower
and 460 pounds feet of torque Compared
to the standard Corvette, the Z06
has bigger, grippier tires, more serious aero,
and larger brakes.
It's not messing around.
[CAR ENGINE REVVING]
All that up against the vette that's
used to how we do it at U-DRAGS, our own longterm Stingray
that we bought with our own bucks.
It's got 495 ponies and 470 pound feet.
How many car lengths would you spot the stingray?
[CAR ENGINE REVVING]
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And by the way, if you're looking to sell your car,
head over to edmunds.com/sellmycar.
KURT NIEBUHR: It almost seems like cheating to use
launch control in this one.
It's going up against the slower, regular Stingray,
but I want to win.
You want to see how much faster this thing is than that,
so I'll walk you through launch control.
Put it in track mode.
Tap the ESC button twice.
Get into PTM sport.
Set your launch RPM, or just use it automatically,
and you're good to go.
And this thing is going to win.
I think I'll guarantee it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
REESE COUNTS: All right.
Corvette, Stingray.
Until a few hours ago, I thought this was a pretty fast machine.
And then we got the Z06 out here.
So the launch sequence is pretty much the same as the Z06.
I'm going to put the car in track.
I'm going to adjust the stability control.
Turn on-- form it's traction management.
That's going to adjust the impeder.
I'm going to confirm here, and then I should be ready to go.
All I have to do is press the brake, press the gas,
and I should be set.
I don't know why I'm nervous about this one.
Probably because I know I'm going
to lose it from the start.
KURT NIEBUHR: I don't want to embarrass that car,
but I'm going to win
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER 1: Five, four, three, two, one.
[CAR ENGINES REVVING]
REESE COUNTS: Oh, man.
[LAUGHTER]
KURT NIEBUHR: Extra horsepower comes in handy sometimes.
[CAR ENGINES REVVING]
That's much better.
Much better.
There we go.
Is this much extra speed worth is the extra money?
Yeah, it is.
REESE COUNTS: Surprise, surprise.
[LAUGHTER]
Honestly, I'm pretty pleased with Stingray.
I got a pretty good launch, and it kept up with you
for about 50 feet.
KURT NIEBUHR: No.
I mean, that car is still no slouch.
It's plenty fast.
REESE COUNTS: The Z06 has got so much power,
it can't put it all down, right?
The Stingray is not trying as hard to cut power.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, I mean, this thing's got what?
200 more horsepower?
It shows.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah.
It's all at the top end.
I just-- as soon as we get going,
that car slowly, slowly pulls away.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
This is just so sharp.
This is such-- it's great.
And there's a lot of confidence in that car,
but it doesn't have a lot of stick sometimes.
But this car-- holy cow, lots of stick.
REESE COUNTS: I actually got the tires OK.
I made the turn around, but I just can't brake
and can't turn like you can.
And just so much more power.
God.
It sounds amazing too.
KURT NIEBUHR: Michelin Cup 2 Rs are make believe tires.
You can't really run these on the street.
I mean, in LA, where we live, you can run them on the street.
But for most people, the tires on that car
are a much more sensible option.
REESE COUNTS: Yeah.
I like these pilot sport tires on here.
It's-- they're plenty grippy, and yeah,
a lot better in inclement weather.
KURT NIEBUHR: All this power-- you need
tires that are really sticky.
REESE COUNTS: And that wing, of course, right?
KURT NIEBUHR: The wing that I can see in the digital rearview
mirror?
Yeah.
That one?
REESE COUNTS: I think my car is a little classier looking.
I got that going for me at least.
Well, that was not exactly a surprise, but--
KURT NIEBUHR: How could we not race them?
It's fun.
REESE COUNTS: I like--
I got a pretty good start, I'd have to say.
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh, no.
I mean, it was--
I watch us both leave, and I was like,
can't ask for better start than that.
REESE COUNTS: No.
KURT NIEBUHR: It's like, yeah.
I mean, I looked over.
I was like, sweet.
REESE COUNTS: But it was just this, and then--
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
CLINT SIMONE: Let's recap.
Off the line, these vettes were neck and neck.
The Z06 hit 60 and 3.1 seconds while the Stingray
put in a solid 3.3.
From that point on, the Z06 started
to gain more ground with each passing moment.
It won the quarter mile by 0.7 seconds,
notching a 10.7 at 130 miles per hour.
In the turnaround, the Stingray did hold its own,
cornering at 1.05 G's.
That's compared to the Z06's 1.07.
But the return home was a big old Z06 party.
It finished 12 miles per hour quicker at 145 miles per hour.
That's not a small gap.
But clearly, it's an expensive one.
That brings us to our new leaderboard.
As you can see, our old U-DRAGS races aren't on here.
Why?
Well, we had the length in the course
because there are so many heavy high power
Evs that don't always have the brakes to match.
I mean, we're not going to name names,
but remember-- it's the quickest run that
goes on the leaderboard regardless of race pairing.
So the Z06 did 31.66 against the McLaren.
If you haven't seen that video, you need to check it out.
It's awesome.
In this race, the Z06 was even quicker against the Stingray,
doing the deed in 31.4.
Now let's see the in-car camera and the data.
[CAR ENGINES REVVING]
KURT NIEBUHR: [INAUDIBLE].
[LAUGHS]
Extra horsepower comes in handy sometimes.
That's much better.
Much better.
There we go.
Is this much extra speed worth the extra money?
Yeah, it is.
[CAR ENGINES REVVING] Oh, man.
[CAR ENGINES REVVING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CLINT SIMONE: Well, you owe me $20.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm kidding.
Walk us through what just happened though.
REESE COUNTS: Faster car one.
CLINT SIMONE: Yeah.
REESE COUNTS: Honestly, they both got away pretty well.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
REESE COUNTS: I didn't know how this Z06 was going
to get the jump on the Stingray, but we
left about the same time.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
I think the real difference comes in
once you're up over 100.
And then it's like, oh, that's the extra money.
That's the engine.
That's the gearing.
That's the everything.
So--
CLINT SIMONE: Yeah.
Big difference in the corner, too, and how they felt?
REESE COUNTS: Yes and no.
The balance is obviously pretty similar,
but that's just got so much more grip out of the corner.
You can just get on the power earlier.
There's more power to have.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
This has wider rear tires and stickier rear tires as well.
And the fronts are also wider, so you get more turn in.
You get more corner speed.
You get more acceleration.
CLINT SIMONE: It's fun to watch.
REESE COUNTS: It's fun to race.
KURT NIEBUHR: It's fun to do it.
CLINT SIMONE: Yeah, right?
REESE COUNTS: Even though I knew I was
going to lose for the start.
CLINT SIMONE: Hey, we appreciate your work.
We appreciate your work.
But we hope you enjoyed this one.
We have tons of other episodes you can check out right here
on the Edmunds YouTube channel.
Now we're going to go find another Corvette we can race.
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