Class: LL3

Lap time: 2:47.1

Base Price: $79,930

As-tested price: $92,060

460 hp • 3445 lb • 7.5 lb/hp

Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 ZP

F: P285/30ZR-19 (94Y), R: P335/25ZR-20 (99Y)

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Basically, the Grand Sport is a Z06 with 460 horsepower instead of 650. Like the Z06, it’s weaponized fiberglass, just with a little less fissile material. Equipped with the $7995 Z07 package, which adds Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires and carbon-ceramic brakes, the Grand Sport clings to Turn 1 with 1.19 g’s of grip, a close second to the Z06’s 1.20 g’s, the most grip we’ve ever recorded in that corner.

Like the Z06’s tires, the Cup 2s have just a couple of laps in them to get a best time. After that, the tires plateau, lose a bit of grip, and add about a second or so to the stopwatch. Same pressure on the driver as the Z06 exerts, in other words.

Unlike the Z06, though, the Grand Sport can only be had with the Z06’s Stage 2 aerodynamic package. Chevy engineers deemed the higher-downforce Stage 3 setup from the Z06 to have too much drag for the Grand Sport’s less powerful engine, so here the center part of the wickerbill is shorter and the ends of the front splitter are smaller. The Grand Sport strikes a good-enough balance of downforce and power to keep it in the Z06 hunt. In the 80-to-90-mph right-left-right transitions of the infield, the Grand Sport’s average speed is only a half-mph off the Z06’s. It’s not until the exit that the Z06’s superior power helps it pull away. In the Hog Pen right that leads to the straight, the Grand Sport strains your neck for one second with 1.45 g’s of cornering stick, a figure that matches that of the Dodge Viper ACR. Through the Climbing Esses, the Grand Sport only gives up two-tenths to the Z06.

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From behind the wheel, the two cars are pretty much identical. The competition seats are the same, the steering is just as heavy, and the shifter is just as likely to find fifth gear instead of third as it is in the Z06. Both have the same supernatural stability, stiff springing, gentle damping, and generous wheel travel. We’d have a hard time justifying the extra spend for the Z06.

Over the uphill esses—on a public road, this sector would likely have a recommended speed of 45 mph—it goes in at 133.5 mph, strikes the right-hand curbing at 130, leaps, and sticks the landing. Do this in a plane and the landing gear would probably collapse. Corvette ride-and-handling engineer Jim Mero laughs and says it’s like landing in pillows. No, Jim. No.

The Fighting 47th: Three Different Approaches to Lapping VIR in 2:47

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A battle of grip versus power waged in the 2:47 club this year as a front-engined Chevy, a rear-engined Porsche, and a mid-engined McLaren all ended up within 0.4 second of each other. Power and minimal aero trickery allowed the 562-hp 570S to hit 162.8 mph on the straight, 9 mph faster than the 500-hp 911 GT3 RS and 16.6 mph faster than the 460-hp Corvette. But, without the wings, spoilers, and obese rubber of the Porsche and Chevy, the McLaren’s power couldn’t help it in high-speed corners. Zeroing in on the Climbing Esses shows that the McLaren lost 29.3 mph from entry to exit (139.4 mph to 110.1) as the driver fought to stabilize the car while searching for grip. In the same section, the GT3 RS went in at 137.2, but only dropped 19.0 mph. The Corvette entered the slowest (133.5 mph) and pounded out of the sector at 120 mph, a drop of only 13.5 mph.

MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI

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