Despite a few cooling issues under heavy track use, the C7 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 was one of the best cars GM has ever built. A flat-plane crank engine has long been rumored to power the next-generation of the Z06 in its new mid-engine configuration, and this new teaser sounds like that’s what we’ll get.
The first official teaser for the upcoming next-gen Z06 only really confirms that the car is coming for the 2023 model year and that it should be revealed in full by the end of this year. It also features a video clip with no image of the car, but it does include a few rips of the Z06 exhaust note.
We’ve already seen plenty of clips of what are believed to be C8 Corvette Z06 development prototypes testing, and the speculation for almost every single one of those clips is how the exhaust note may indicate a flat-plane crank V8 engine will takeover for the standard C8 Corvette’s LT2 6.2-liter V8 engine. Now, the speculation around this first official audio tease is more of the same: it sure sounds like a flat-plane crank V8, and GM even titled the video “Crank It Up.”
The prior speculation of a flat-plane engine hasn’t purely been based on a few video clips of the engine and exhaust note, though. The mid-engine Corvette C8.R racecar features a 5.5-liter flat-plane crank V8.
If GM is racing on Sunday and selling on Monday, the racecar adds a lot of credence to speculation of a flat-plane production car explaining the distinct exhaust note on the Z06 from the current Stingray. This video’s title, unless it’s really misleading misdirection, all but confirms the speculation was right.
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