Everything We’re Allowed to Tell You About the Mid-Engine C8 Corvette
The mid-engine C8 Corvette is finally out in the wild. It was one of the 11 cars we included in our annual Performance Car of the Year testing, which concluded last week. We can’t tell you which car won PCOTY (look for that issue of the magazine in November), and we’re not allowed to tell you how the new Corvette drives (we’ve got a full article coming soon). But we’re happy to tell you everything else we learned in our week with the C8.
It'll Vaporize its Rear Tires With Ease
The C8 packs 495 hp and offers a burnout mode. When Senior Editor Zach Bowman found himself in a big empty parking lot, he did what anyone would do. Corvette donuts: an American tradition.
You Can Fit an Adult Male In the Rear Trunk
When Chevrolet revealed the C8 this summer, it proudly touted the fact that you can fit two golf bags in the rear trunk (there’s a smaller trunk up front, too).
But we didn't have any golf clubs on our test. So how to test the cargo capacity of the new 'Vette? Enter our five-foot-nine social media editor, Brian Silvestro.
The C8's rear trunk isn't perfectly rectangular, so human ingress requires some finesse. "You have to go in head first, face down into one of the recesses on either end, to make it work," said Silvestro.
Deputy Editor Bob Sorokanich, who stands at six feet tall and weighs in at 185 pounds, was also able to cram himself into the C8’s cargo area, barely. "It was about as roomy as a Miata trunk—which I can also fit in—and very dark with the lid shut," he said.
Don't ever accuse R&T of not being thorough.
It Smells Like a Corvette
Corvettes have always had a distinct interior aroma, especially in hot weather (it was over 100 degrees out when we were testing at Thunderhill). The C8 is no different.
It'll Lift a Wheel (If You Park It Just Right)
Some modified cars will pull a front wheel off the ground on hard acceleration. The C8? It’ll do that standing still—while parked on a rutted gravel turnout. Sure, just about any car will do this, but you came here for Corvette facts, and this is a Corvette fact.
For right now, that’s about all we can tell you about the new mid-engine Corvette. Don’t worry, we’ll have a full review of this hotly-anticipated car coming soon. In the meantime, feel free to share these Corvette facts with every gearhead you know.
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