Horsepower, torque, 0-to-60 mph time, and top speed are the obvious go-to figures numbers when talking about fast cars, but these days, it seems like a quick Nürburgring lap time is just as important. As such, the absence of an official ‘Ring time for the 2020 Corvette has not gone without notice, but luckily, General Motors just fixed that with confirmation that the 2020 Corvette has lapped the infamous German racetrack in seven minutes, 29.9 seconds.
The 7:29.9 Nürburgring lap time was achieved in a 2020 Corvette Stingray equipped with the optional Z51 Performance Package. The time was set during the C8’s development in July of 2019, with Oliver Gavin, Corvette Racing team member, as pilot. Gavin is a five-time class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and definitely has the skills to pay the bills, so we can rest assured that the car in question was driven to its maximum for the given track conditions.
Interestingly, the 7:29.9 lap time was hidden as an Easter Egg in the recently released teaser video for the upcoming C8 development documentary. The time is sprayed as graffiti on the world-famous race track‘s surface about 52 seconds into the video, as initially reported by Roadshow. Gavin also hinted as much in a recent post to Twitter.
General Motors later confirmed the 2020 Corvette’s time, making it official.
At 7:29.9, the 2020 Corvette is just a few tenths off the time set by Drew Cattell in a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back in 2016 (7:29.6). It’s also quicker than the time set last year by Christian Gehardt in a Porsche 911 Carrera S 992 (7:30.41), and it’s in the same ballpark as the time set by Horst Von Saurma in a McLaren MP4-12C in 2011 (7:28). All in all, not too shabby for the sub-500-horsepower 2020 Corvette. That said, the lap is still quite a bit slower than the time set by Bill Wise in a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in 2017 (7:16.04).
Either way, the new mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette is only gonna get faster from here, with higher-performance model variants like the C8 Corvette Z06 still headed down the pipe. We can’t wait to see what happens when that hits the ‘Ring.
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View Comments
Will see more as this car has few of the tricks that are coming.
Good start.
Smoke and mirrows...
Looking forward to the coming models and speed.
I wonder if this car was set up with the standard understeer alignment or with the track alignment that removes that safety measure. I would assume the latter, but would be very impressive if this thing was plowing through turns with the average joe alignment.
Great news! As long there no Bryce and blue BRZs on the track, this should be good.
Ringtime; 29 minutes by 85 yr old Ernest Seatmen Sr. of Ft Lauderdale FL......😁
In a wheelchair...
it should be noted that the equivalent c7 z51 had a time of 7:33.
after all these changes, that is a difference of of less than 0.8%.
i think that is a testament to how good the c7 was. too bad it didn't have the interior to match its performance.
It is not just the time or speed but the feel of the car.
May of the testers say the C8 feels under powered as the feel of the is there is much more there. The C7 felt on edge and was kept reined in by the computer.
The only negative on the C8 is the drop throttle oversteer. But they will have it corrected with the rear diff either the higher powered models.
The key to a great handling car is it makes going fast feel slower and that is why the C8 does.
What up Chevrolet are you still telling me I'll still run my little white ZL1 around that mid engine dog all day long....
What's wrong with the C8,
Not a time to brag, about a slow time.
Time to make it better ???
About 15 seconds slower than the ZL1 1LE with the manual. Probably about 30 seconds with the ten speed.