Here’s Why the 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06 Loses Over 30 HP Outside the US
The price of a hacksaw should be factored in when purchasing a Z06 abroad.
The 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06's flat-plane 5.5-liter V8 produces 670 horsepower and revs out to 8,600 RPM. It's the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 ever installed in a production car—in the United States, at least. We knew export versions of the car would get gasoline particulate filters (GPF), but we didn't know how much power they would rob. It's more than 30 horsepower.
As the Australian publication Drive reports, cars exported to Europe, Oceania, and other markets will get just 636 hp. That's 34 hp short of the U.S.-spec cars, and export cars could also be quieter.
Foreign-market Z06s will already look different than their American counterparts. GPF-equipped cars will get an outboard exhaust very similar to the regular Corvette Stingray. That will make them appear very similar to the E-Ray, which features some Z06 exterior parts but lacks the centered quad exhaust of the more track-focused car.
Regular Stingrays also make less power in other markets. In the U.K., for example, the C8's LT2 produces just 475 hp as opposed to Z51-equipped American cars, which have 495 hp. Strangely, though, they produce regular American noise and power in the Australian market, so why the Z06s get so much less power when the regular Stingray doesn't isn't clear.
In any case, if you're an American, you don't have to worry about it! The only things stateside Corvette buyers have to worry about are when the new ultra-powerful trims of the car are coming, how much power they're going to produce, and how much they will cost. We get all the best Corvettes. It is America's sports car, after all.
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