Corvette Stingray Coupe

Make
Chevrolet
Segment
Coupe

The all-new, 2020 Chevrolet Corvette is a remarkable leap forward for Corvette performance, with a 490-plus-horsepower small-block V8 mounted mid-ship with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission providing copious grip and grunt. As we wait for the high-powered Z06 and ZR1 variants to hit the market, even a regular Stingray with the optional Z51 package can hit 60 mph from a standstill in less than 3 seconds.

Proving just how ferocious the new Stingray is in the context of straight-line speed, the folks at Hennessey Performance Engineering recently tested the acceleration of a bone-stock example, running the car all the way out to 182 mph - just a dozen mph shy of its claimed 194-mph top speed.

The results are stunning. Without any help from the performance aftermarket, the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Z51 blasts through the quarter-mile in 11.98 seconds at 116 mph, powering on through the half-mile in 18.76 seconds at 143 mph, and the full mile in 30.24 seconds at 164 mph. The run up to 182 mph took approximately 55 seconds.

Worth noting: Hennessey's acceleration testing revealed a 0-to-60 time of 4.14 seconds, which is significantly longer than the claimed 2.9 seconds, but the discrepancy could be accounted for by an imperfect launch or less-than-ideal conditions. The C8 Corvette limits first- and second-gear torque for the first 500 miles, showing a lower tachometer redline for that stretch, but Hennessey's car appears to have undergone that initial bed-in period.

The question now is: what all does Hennessey Performance Engineering have in-store for the new 2020 Chevrolet Corvette? The tuning firm has announced plans to imbue the C8 with as much as 1,200 horsepower with a twin-turbo package, along with a more modest 700-horsepower supercharged package, but beyond that, little is known about their plans.

Of course, all of these plans might hinge on the availability of tuning support straight from General Motors itself, as the automaker has drastically increased the security of its electronic architecture to make it more secure and "hack-proof."