Racing Legend Randy Pobst Unleashes C8 Corvette Upon Virginia
Pitting a C7 and C8 Corvette against each other at Virginia International Raceway, Pobst finds his new champion.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere we go, but for many a Corvette fan, that special day is in the early months of 2020. That is when the first of the rear mid-engine copies of the C8 era finally leave Bowling Green, Kentucky for showrooms around the country, and the world.
And while more than a few will be content taking theirs out to the local car shows, along with annual pilgrimages to the National Corvette Museum, a few more will find a capable track-day special with the new Corvette. Just ask racing legend (and MotorTrend writer) Randy Pobst. “The Rocket” recently piloted the new ‘Vette at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.
“The Corvette has long been the bad boy of the racetrack, the Bart Simpson of supercars,” wrote Pobst. “Rude, loud, cheap, unpredictable, and hard to handle; but fast and fun in its own brash way. Now, the Corvette has finally grown up. The C8 Corvette is more sophisticated, capable, and mature.”
And to demonstrate just how far America’s sports car has leaped since moving the engine behind the cabin, Chevrolet not only brought a C8 ‘Vette with the Z51 Performance Package to the party, but also a 2019 Grand Sport, a car Pobst considers to be the best-handling of the C7 era cars.
“If you’re a follower of MotorTrend, you have heard my complaints about the way the C7 drives at the limit,” Pobst said. “Or more accurately, the way it drives over the limit of grip so suddenly. The car has the dubious distinction of being one of the only test cars in which I leave the stability control on, albeit in the minimal setting, as insurance against an embarrassing and possibly dangerous spin on my hot laps as a result of its sudden snap power oversteer.”
In contrast, the 2020 Corvette delivered the stability he sought from the last front-engined ‘Vette, all without needing traction control, and all thanks to the placement of the 6.2-liter LT2 V8. And that’s before swapping out the C8 tuned for the street, with the one tuned for the curves and straights of VIR.
There, the C8 Corvette’s increased negative camber and eight degrees of caster give Pobst excellent grip around the turns, along with increased speeds without going squirrely on him. Combined with the eight-speed dual-clutch moving the 495 horses to the rear, “The Rocket” says this new ‘Vette “is a 21st century new chapter, with more room to improve.”
Photos: MotorTrend
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