The arrival of the 2020 Corvette as an all-new mid-engine superstar evolves the iconic nameplate in an exciting new direction. With the engine now placed behind the cabin, the C8-generation Vette makes big promises in terms of performance. The question then is how does the 2020 Corvette compare to its mid-engine rivals – like the 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4?
That’s exactly what Car and Driver sought to find out in a recent test, putting both vehicles through their paces on and off the racetrack.
From the off, the 2020 Corvette looks to be at a bit of a disadvantage against the high-dollar Porsche. Pricing for a Stingray Coupe model with the optional Z51 Performance Package comes in at around $65,000, well below the $100,550 base price of the 718 Cayman GT4. Even with oodles of extras tacked onto the Vette and relatively few upgrades added to the Porsche, the as-tested pricing for these two comes in at $86,710 for the Chevy, and $105,230 for the Porsche, a massive difference of $18,520.
Nevertheless, the 2020 Corvette has the numbers to make this comparison worthwhile, boasting 495 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque to the Porsche’s 414 horsepower and 309 pound-feet of torque. The Vette also gets an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, while the Porsche is stuck with a six-speed manual. Still, the curb weights tip towards the Porsche, with the Vette weighing in at 3,638 pounds, and the Porsche weighing in at 3,211 pounds.
All told, the Vette manages to best the Porsche in nearly every performance metric, including 0-to-60 mph time (3.0 seconds for the Corvette, 3.9 seconds for the Porsche), 0-to-100 mph (7.5 seconds for the Corvette, 8.8 seconds for the Porsche), and quarter mile (11.3 seconds at 122 mph for the Corvette, 12.1 seconds at 118 mph in the Porsche). What’s more, the Vette clipped off a slightly quicker time around the 1.9-mile Grattan Raceway in Michigan, posting a time of 1:26.4 to the Porsche’s 1:26.5.
Nevertheless, Car and Driver still gave the win to the Porsche, praising the 718’s more refined driving characteristics, greater comfort, and an overall more rewarding experience behind the wheel.
“It’s as if the Corvette sold its soul for performance,” Car and Driver writes.
Unfortunate, but still, when it comes to bang-for-buck and raw performance, the 2020 Corvette is the clear winner here.
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Comments
The C8 wins in every performance category and is way cheaper, yet they give the win to the Porsche because of their subjective “feelings”? They took all their data and threw it out the window because they didn’t want the American car to win.
Fake news in the auto rags goes way back.. The story was already written before the “TEST” was taken….
For fun C/D should do a comparison of the P51 Mustang vs the ME 109. The P 51 would trounce the 109 then the C/D editors would choose the German 109 superior. I then wonder WHO would run out to get in the 109 to have there ass’s shot out of the sky by the P51 Mustang?
Did they really write “…the Corvette sold its soul for performance”? Seriously? What is the soul of a sports car if not its performance?
C/D sold its soul long ago……………..
A base C8@60k is 1/2 price of 718 GT4 if you can even find a GT4@MSRP. I read the original article and the C8 spanked the GT4 in every category. The difference was 1 point….here, subjectively the GT4 beat the C8. That was the margin of victory.
Buy the C8 and enjoy free gas with the cost difference. 50k buys 12,500 gal @$4/gal. 20 mpg = 250,000 miles!
So called journalists will take every drop of Nazi money that’s offered to them.
Just wait for the “Zora” if you thank the Corvette has sold its soul for performance. The new C8 is a bargain. Really
Great for the base C8 corvette stingray! For the euros the stingray is always the most approachable corvette that everyone can drive with ease. I can’t wait for how they will justify their overpriced exotics once the Z06 comes out. I know they will hate because the Z06 will be a 5.5 NA V8. It will be a problem because it is not in the 4.0 V8TT crowd and soon to be 3.0 V6TT crowd for many euro exotics. True car guys are on team performance no matter the badge (unless it is Ford haha)! Seriously though American car companies are putting them on blast in terms of performance to dollars. I hope the mustang GT continues to be popular on the continent and many euros wonder why they are paying for a FWD 2.0 i4! Go USA!!!!
The Corvette is a BAD ASS car, can’t wait for the other Vettes to arrive Z06, ZR1, and ZORA,but moving forward Chevrolet and the Corvette Team have to get the weight back down like in C6. Less weight, mid engine, with all that power C8 has and Corvette will rule the world.
This is like comparing an Apple to an Orange given that the 2020 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 has a $100K price while the 2020 C8 Corvette is about half the price.
Drive a porsche, drive a vette. They both rock, but they’re way different. My manual 911 rewards precision and practice. When you get it dialed, it’s like a cross between a rocket sled and a perfectly broken in baseball glove. Vettes are powerhouses and I’m sure the new one screams, but the turbo, the automatic and all the electronic wizardry let’s you rip up a track in a way that’s a bit disconnected from the pure mechanics of the car. The GT4 Cayman’s naturally aspirated engine, 3 pedals, and fit and feel make you feel connected in a deeply mechanical way and they require skill and finesse to get the most out of. That’s what car and driver said if you read the actual article. They liked it. Call em old school, but no one does that pure feeling any more like Porsche’s GT department.
Just like the first comment on this post the article doesn’t make any sense. The comment says the C8 is turbo charged? Really?!?! Zero clue what you’re talking about. The article is pandering to the rich car enthusiasts because if they didn’t they would lose the sponsors with the money to pay for these comparisons. I get it, but get real if you want people to continue to read them.
Not even worth mentioning the Corvette on the track until GM gets serious under the hood. It’s 2020 and the Vette still has a pushrod under the hood. Don’t tell me 60k is a great deal when a 35k Mustang GT has a DOHC under the hood.
Hey, slow down there friend (read the story of IMSA Corvette Racing team) the small block Chevy push-rod v8 has been destroying dohc engined cars on track for 60 years and here’s why – half as many moving parts, 2/3 the installed height and lower center of gravity, twice the Longevity for 1/2 the price and…….TORQUE.
Kind of like the difference between a grizzly bear and a honey bee.
Sounds like the main stream media . Trump is better in every aspect yet the morons say Biden is going to win . Follow the $ with Car & Driver –the fix is in !
No, not true at all. The pushrod engines can not handle the stress of racing like the DOHC engines can. The pushrod is a extra moving part that the OHV doesn’t have. The DOHC engines routinely have 32 valves. All pushrod gas engines are maxed out at 16 valves and do not breathe as well as DOHC engines.
Jazz, we’re sure that’s what you read in a well intentioned book written by someone who also once read something similar in another book. But we live in Realville, where we know what we know because we’ve experienced it. And in Realville, where cars would roll in 2.5 mile ovals pushing 220mph for 600 miles, the pushrod engines were fed through carburetors; and the dragsters that went 0-330mph in 3.x seconds did it with a simple, 2 valve-per-cylinder pushrod engine that could barely breathe well enough to produce about 8,000 horsepower; and piston-engined aircraft that operate at or near their redline and maximum continuous power for thousands of hours without failure also used a pushrod to open to single intake valve in each cylinder. So before you tell us a pushrod engine can’t handle the “stress” of racing, we encourage you to come out of your parents’ basement, attend an actual racing event, and notice how many cars (and trucks and aircraft) that actually finish the event do so despite being laden with those pesky and unnecessary pushrods.
Well yes, actually everything I said was true, but we can disagree. Obviously the ohc design has advantages above say 8 or 9 thousand rpm if that’s what your application calls for and let’s not forget that you must drive those three extra cam shafts and all those extra wear points (the real weak link of the dohc design). But that in no way negates the many advantages of the push rodder.
I believe you mentioned the Ford dohc coyote engine in your original comment and I admit it’s a ripper in the top end and sounds great! but it’s also really limited by its design and cost prohibitive to use as a base for a racing program compared to say the Chevy LS …. unless money is no concern. There are very good reasons why the LS is still king of the world.
Both of you make great points. I love the bottom end torque of an LS engine and it never gets old in my Camaro. At the same time I can understand wanting a DOHC in the Vette. I will admit that the DOHC feels like it can pull forever and will never run out of breathe. Also the pulls with a DOHC are very smooth and do not send the vibrations through the cabin that the pushrod does. With the Corvette now being a mid-engine design, I think a DOHC would match it’s design better.
No you are wrongsir. The pushrod actually requires more value train parts. This creates more opportunity for parts to fail along with increasing friction created in the valve train. In fact, it is the complexity of the valve train that limits its RPM range.
The reviewers must be DEMOCRATS – why? Because there feelings took first place over the facts.
Ford DOHC V8:
4 cams 4 cam sprockets 4 timing chains 32 valves 32 valve springs with hardware 32 hydraulic lash adjusters Not counting the associated stuff like chain guides (6), tensioners (4), and fasteners, the DOHC uses almost 150 parts on the top end. Most of which move, and don’t ever break a timing chain – you could almost buy a LS engine for what it will cost to repair the damage😕 I made bank for years as a technician doing just that.
GM LS:
1 cam 1 cam sprocket 1 timing chain 16 valves 16 valve springs and hardware 16 lifters 16 rockers and 16 pushrods. That’s less than 1/2 of what the Ford uses in the Coyote. Plus weight and space advantages = more power in a smaller package, simpler and cheaper.
Look out, Rex, next he will complain you should count pushrods twice because they have two ends. He’s a lost cause.
Very good point sir, technically that would bring the total up to 83 parts in the LS so I should have included that. Also, I forgot to include all the extra cam journals in the Dohc engine (24).
Thanks! Just trying to get my facts straight as I have this argument often.
This is the way I see it, If your making this comparison based on dollar amount, Porsche will always be more expensive than GM. Seeing how a Vette is the Supercar for GM the car it should be up against for a Porsche is a 911 Turbo, that is Porsche’s everyday driver type speed demon, I’d say same a s a Vette. If that was the car that was being compared in this article, we would’t have anything to talk about because a 911 Turbo would leave a new, old or any Vette in its dust! So GM, you wanna make a comparison based on dollars then yeah there you have it, you wanna make a comparison based on class of car, your wouldn’t have anything to write about becaue the Porsche 911would absolutely embarrass the Vette. The Porsche 911 Turbo isn’t classified as the fastest production car for no reason!
bubbaq you must be a REPUBLIKLAN – why? You’re not educated enough to use simple english correctly.