C8 Corvette Z06: The Legend

If you find yourself stopped at an intersection and a sleek, mysterious smooth-sounding vehicle seemingly wrapped in black paper mache pulls up next to you, it’s probably not Vin Diesel filming the latest installment of the Fast & Furious franchise.  (Fast & Furious 10: Race to Assisted Living. Diesel has been around a while and is getting a little long in tooth.) Rather, what you may have spied on is the yet-to-be-unveiled; C8 Corvette Z06.

Likely due out in 2023, this highly anticipated C8 will feature a naturally-aspirated flat-plane crank V8 and dual overhead cams, ditching the pushrod valves and cross-plane crank found in its lesser Corvette C7 brethren.

Topics discussed:

C8 Corvette Z06 Engine Sound!

The flat-plane crank V8 sounds very similar to the Ferrari V8, also a flat-plane crank, if a recently leaked video is any indication.  Different types of V8s all sound a little, well, different.  The leaked video offers evidence of an engine with a smoother, higher-pitched sound, which means greater acceleration and leads to greater power.

C8 Corvette Z06 Specification

While specific performance features are not yet available, the flat-plane V8 is expected to generate between 8,500 and 9,000 rpm with an anticipated horsepower of 615hp.  The 0-60 mph time is expected to be around 2.7 seconds.  That’s enough to get any car enthusiasts engine revving. Or, as my best friend’s Jewish grandmother used to say, “Oy!”

If it does top out at 615 hp, it would make it the most powerful naturally-aspirated engine produced thus far from any automaker.

What makes the Flat-plane crank so special?

Flat-plane cranks are traditionally found in some of the more glamorous or exotic foreign makes, such as the McLaren P1, Porsche 911, or the Ferrari 430.  Cross-plane cranks have been dominant in American V8 engines.  It is only recently that flat-plane cranks have found their way into American high end performance cars, such as the Ford Shelby GT350.  Cross-plane cranks offer the typical rumble usually found in American muscle cars, while the flat-plane cranks found in some of the Euro sports cars produce a higher-pitched whine.  Some people call it a whine, while others call it a wail.  Feel free to use whichever noun you prefer.

An aside, my wife’s sister may be neither a flat-plane or cross-plane crank, but she is some kind of crank. And, boy, does she whine!  But that is a subject for another day.

C8 vs C7 What’s the difference?

Let’s take a moment and get into the weeds a bit and explain the differences between cross-plane and flat-plane crankshafts in language even I can understand.  As noted above, the cross-plane cranks are the most common in American V8s and are found in the Corvette C7.  The name derives from its design – four crank pins that are positioned in two planes arranged at 90-degree intervals.  If you look at the configuration it looks like a cross, hence it is sometimes referred to as cruciform. A typical or traditional V8 firing order is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. While it produces unevenly spaced exhaust firings, it does guarantee that there is a balance between the two banks.  And it also produces that distinctive muscle car roar.

The cross-plane design also necessitates counterweights to keep the engine properly balanced.  While this reduces vibration and offers smoother operation, they don’t rev as fast as flat-plane cranks.

Flat-plane Crank

Conversely, the name flat-plane crank defines exactly what it is – a flat-plane that has all of its crank pins on that one flat plane.  Regardless of the firing order, the flat-plane engines will always alternate back and forth, bank to bank.  This means that each bank gets equally spaced exhaust gas pulses and produces better exhaust scavenging.  Because of its design, the cross-plane crank does not require huge counterweights.  The result is lighter cranks that will spin more easily, which produces higher revving than the cross-plane design and the different sound you can hear in, as previously noted, a Ferrari V8.

The one issue with flat-plane cranks is that an imbalance of forces can cause secondary vibrations.  Apparently, this can be explained using geometry, but given my grade from high school geometry, well, let’s just say my parents had a lengthy discussion with me when they saw my report card and it included words I hadn’t heard them use before.  I will leave the geometry to someone else.

To recap:

The flat-plane crank is lighter and offers a higher-revving performance compared to its heavier, harder to rev cross-plank counterparts. 

The C7

For comparison’s sake, let’s take a quick look at the Corvette C7 and take notes.  The base level Corvette C7 offers 455 horsepower and the 0-60 mph time is 3.8 seconds.  While nothing to sneeze at, the anticipated C8 Corvette Z06 is a much better performer.

In Closing

Chevrolet has been producing Corvettes since 1953, back when I Love Lucy and Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life were two of the top-rated shows on television and all Americans actually voted in person at their local polling places.  Suffice to say, Chevy knows what it’s doing when it comes to producing Corvettes and has been doing it for a long, long time.  The expectation is that the new Corvette C8 with its flat-plane crank will set the new standard for American V8 engines.  It certainly gives us a glimpse of the future.  And while Chevrolet has not released any pricing yet, it is expected to be around $85,000.

Corvette enthusiasts will no doubt fall in love with the C8 Corvette Z06.  It will not be for the faint of heart.  Rather, it will appeal to those who want to go 90 mph (or more) wherever they drive, even if it’s just backing out of the driveway.