Is Chevrolet Benchmarking the Upcoming Corvette Z06 C8 Against the Porsche 911 GT2 RS?

The powerful duo has been spotted throughout the mountains of California.

byJames Gilboy|
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Chevrolet's mid-engine Corvette C8 may not be a secret anymore, but sightings of camouflaged prototypes have continued unabated. Footage of one test mule emitting an unusual exhaust note kicked up speculation that General Motors is testing the C8's first high-performance variant, thought to be the Z06, and the photo seen above—taken Tuesday—adds fuel to that fire.

This photo originally shared to Facebook by Corvette enthusiast Brandon Byers depicts a camouflaged C8 prototype alongside a 691-horsepower Porsche 911 GT2 RS, holder of lap records from Wisconsin's Road America to Germany's Nürburgring (albeit in modified form). Both the image's poster and a commenter reported spotting these two cars traveling together in California; the former recalled seeing them at "high altitude up in the mountains of Cali[fornia], 4,200 feet," while the latter specified Westmorland, California as the area where they saw the pair.

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Benchmarking what we'll assume is the Z06 against the now-defunct GT2 RS may seem like an uneven comparison, but recent rumors regarding the Z06's performance capabilities suggest the two could be closer in performance than you may think. The twin-cam, flat-plane-crank V8 derived from the C8.R race car that's expected to power the Z06 is rumored to produce at least 600 horsepower—possibly more—and at least as much torque. Z06s could also allegedly feature aerodynamics more extreme than the last-generation ZR1, with larger rear wings that generate both more downforce and less drag than the C7 ZR1's did.

Regardless of how true that rumor is, it's clear that GM is shooting for the moon with high-performance C8 variants. And as the saying goes, even if GM misses its mark, it'll land among the stars anyway.

We reached out to Chevrolet for comment and will update this story when we hear back.

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