Corvette C8 Is Faster From 0-60 MPH Than The Mustang GT500 – But Why?: Video
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There are multiple variables that play into how fast and/or quick a car is. Things like power, torque, and weight are the more obvious ones, but traction control software, tire width, aerodynamics, the center of gravity, gearing and suspension stiffness, just to name a handful, also make a huge difference with regard to various performance metrics.
So what makes the 2020 Corvette C8 with the optional Z51 package so much faster from 0 to 60 mph than the 2020 Ford Mustang GT500? Jason Fenske of YouTube’s Engineering Explained recently dug into the matter, plugging several of these variables into a variety of equations to try and figure out why the mid-engine Vette can easily out-accelerate the new Mustang GT500, despite it having much less horsepower.
We admit to being surprised at just how fast the 2020 Corvette C8 is from 0 to 60 mph. Equipped with the Z51 performance package, Chevrolet‘s latest iteration of the iconic Corvette nameplate can hustle from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.9 seconds, while Ford claims the GT500 will do the same dance in 3.3 seconds under ideal conditions. This is despite the Corvette making 495 horsepower from its naturally aspirated 6.2-liter LT2 V8 engine and the GT500 making a significant 760 horsepower from its 5.2-liter supercharged V8.
Before you rush to the comments to say it, weight isn’t the driving factor behind the difference in performance. The Corvette may be lighter than the 4,000-plus-lb. Mustang, but the Ford still has a superior power-to-weight ratio, based on Fenske’s estimate.
As an interesting aside, the 2020 Mustang GT500’s claimed 0-60 mph is nearly the same as the 650-horsepower Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with the General Motors 10-speed automatic transmission, which Chevy claims will scoot from 0-60 mph in 3.5s. Car and Driver managed to get from 0-60 mph in just 3.4s in their Camaro ZL1 test car, as well.
So what makes the Corvette C8 so quick to 60? We don’t want to ruin the video for you, so check it out embedded below to get the full rundown on what makes the mid-engine Corvette one of the fastest-accelerating cars on the planet.
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Source: Ford Authority
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So, let’s get this right:
Corvette: 490 hp
Camaro: 650 hp
Mustang: 760 hp
And the Mustang is unable to beat either one in 0-60 performance.
How about this as a reason:
Better Ideas, Better Engineering and Better Production Execution.
Yeah because 0-60 isn’t an actually super important figure especially for front engine cars. You kinda hit a wall of what’s possible no mater how much power you throw at it unless you slap on some drag radials. And this is running track orientation road tires with the Cup 2s so. 1/4 mile way more relevant, with especially cars of this caliber. And despite it being slower to 60, it’s explosive after that, clocking a 10.6 1/4 mile vs the C8s 11.3. I mean it’s just basic physics, mid engine cars like the C8, having the weight towards the rear, are able to put power down better with the weight over the rear wheels. Same reason why Porsches launch very well to a further extent with the motors being even further behind, in their case just behind the rear axel instead of just before. But mid engine cars still see this benefit. Also helps the C8 is lighter and has gearing more oriented towards a really good 0-60. Compromise that with a front engine heavy car like the GT500 has to deal with. But you still need to give it credit where it’s due. The GT500 is impressive, especially in the handling department for the weight class. Apparently it’s effortlessly rapid and really easy to drive at the limit with tons of grip. The new suspension geometry and steering apparently make it dance as well as the pre-2020 GT350R. And I’m hearing wonderful things about their new DCT, which is good to hear after the fiasco Ford had with the DCT recalls and failures in the Focus/Fiesta.
Car and driver dyno’d the new vett and found it made 551ho at the tires, and they estimate that meabs they experienced 660 at the crank of the new lt2 engine. They reached out and gentioned their metrics are not strait dyno’d, but rather slowly adding the pedal until max power is reached. Car and driver repeated this to achieve 510hp at the crank, supposedly the extra heat sitting in place hurts air density that much. Gm is conservative on their power figures for both the Camero and Corvette.
Motor Trend performed a recent dyno test of the C8 that everyone is talking about, but I can find no reference of Car and Driver performing a dyno test.
Jason Camissa, writer for Motor1 and Road and Track, intelligently argued in a recent article why the MT dyno numbers were probably in error.
Not to say that GM is not understating the power and torque values, but the true values are unlikely as high as MT reported.
GT 500 not good enough to do much of anything to my ZL1, or C8’S.
That’s music to my ears………
And the GT500 just laid a 10.6 quarter mile. Quicker than the ZL1 or C8.
Dante,
Not mine, it’s alot to do with drivers. Real world on a track not you reading a article on some blog !!!
LOL…..
Performance results are not fully connected to total power. The key to performance is getting the power to the ground.
Getting the max power to the ground is a combination of many things today and the Corvette team have become masters of this art. They stated with the C7 it would never get more power than it can use and now the C8 looks to have taken that to the next level.
Cars like the 500 and Demon for sure make a lot of power but they are not using all there is. They could be just as fast with less power and the big number just becomes a bench racing marketing point.
The excitement here is the C8 drives like a car that feels under powered compared to its abilities. A number of reviews state this and that in not a slight in anyway.
It will be interesting if GM will apply 4 digit HP to this car in the future and the things it may do. We may see a hyper car performer at a price that is 10-20% the cost of the hyper car.
Anyone can make a car for 1-2 million dollars that can do about anything. But the ability to bring that kind of performance at a low cost in a mass produced car would not be a moon shot but a a Mars shot.
The c8 still looks like a cockroach
The GT500 will post a faster 1/4 mile than both the C8 and the ZL1 Camaro. 0-60 is a meaningless stat only quoted by magazines and non car people. The C8s quarter mile was a mid 11 at ~123mph. Which wasn’t very fast. Wait did I just type an 11sec quarter mile wasn’t fast? The times we live in….
And it just laid a 10.6 second 1/4 mile time. And I told you all it would. You would all have known that was coming if you were paying any attention to the numbers.
I can hook better than most cars, number on straight line, don’t mean much, it’s how many big faces I win at the end of the day.
Out handles stang all day long on track day. That’s a fact, not my opinion. GYSOT
,
Scott i am glad you are spanking that overpriced rustang all day long, your car is a beast.
Big surprise, your article is incorrect. Ford claims a 0-60mph time of 3.3 seconds, not 3.5.
And as an added bonus, the quarter mile time is 10.7 seconds.