Tested: The 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Is Ready to Go 200 MPH

10/12/26 UPDATE: This review has been updated with instrumented test results.

How much do you think it costs to go 200 mph? Assume, for a moment, that you have legal access to a closed stretch of pavement, as well as the required permission. More importantly, assume that you have the nerve to press and hold the accelerator for the requisite amount of time. If you have all of that, then all you need to join the 200-mph club, according to Chevy, is a 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray—specifically, a 1LT base model that will set you back just $73,795 to start.

Reaching this speed in the least expensive Corvette wasn’t possible before this year, but the 2027 model was given the new LS6 small-block V-8. Previous C8 Stingrays were powered by a 6.2-liter LT2 V-8 that made 495 horsepower (490 without the optional performance exhaust) and 470 pound-feet of torque. However, the new LS6 is a fire-breathing 6.7-liter V-8 (409 cubic inches in old money) that puts out 535 horsepower and 520 pound-feet of torque, increases of 40 horses and 50 pound-feet over the old mill’s max, and you don’t even need to spec an optional exhaust to get that full factory wallop. It does fall off a little when it comes to fuel economy though; at 18 mpg combined (15 city, 25 highway), the revised Stingray loses 1 mpg in both its city and combined ratings compared to its predecessor.

The LS6 still utilizes two valves per cylinder and a cam-in-block layout, but the details are nevertheless impressive. This new eight-pot gulps air through a 95-mm throttle-body at the head of a tunnel ram intake with high-velocity ports, and gasoline is introduced through a new fuel system that includes both port and direct injection. The pistons and rods are all forged, and they need to be because of the massive 13.0:1 compression ratio made possible by a stroke increase to a nice round 100 mm. Finally, the LS6 burbles it all out through a pair of tubular tri-Y exhaust headers that lead to your choice of corner-exit (standard) or active center-exit quad pipes, which is a $1995 option that admittedly looks better and sounds more deeply sonorous but doesn’t add one whit of power.

The base Corvette rides on Chevy’s standard suspension with passive dampers. It has 245/35ZR-19 front and 305/30ZR-20 rear Michelin all-season tires on forged-aluminum wheels, and it has the smaller touring brake package. Crucially, the Stingray features a carryover 4.89:1 final-drive ratio for its eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transaxle. Press the accelerator, and it absolutely responds. Chevrolet says that in addition to topping out at 200 mph, the Vette will shoot to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. After you get that out of your system, the revised Corvette proves as pleasant and easy to motor around town as before. It expertly sucks up just about any pothole or road imperfection, and it responds willingly to most any command.

However, if you put the $5395 Z51 Performance package on your Stingray, you can say goodbye to your 200-mph dreams. Most of this upgrade adds serious performance that absolutely will not put a damper on top speed. This includes upgrades like Michelin Pilot Sport S5 summer tires, a performance-tuned suspension with stiffer springs, and larger performance-oriented brakes (still with iron rotors). There’s also, of course, the mighty electronically controlled limited-slip differential. But there are aspects that do spoil the 200-mph party. Offenders include the front splitter and rear wing, as well as the extra cooling ducts for the bigger brakes. Perhaps the biggest single detriment to top speed, though, is the swap to a 5.56:1 final-drive ratio, the same as in the Z06 and a first for the Z51-spec Stingray. Add it all up, and top speed is trimmed to approximately 183 mph, but we wouldn’t have it any other way— the shorter final drive effectively makes the car drive like it has a close-ratio gearbox.

With the Z51 package, the car feels so much more present. The shorter gearing makes it more responsive, of course, and our test car reached 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds and ripped through the quarter-mile in just 11.0 seconds at 124 mph. The stiffer springs and damping values make the body motions a bit more lively and agile, and it orbits the skidpad at 1.02 g’s on its relatively skinny 245-series front and 305-series rear tires. The Grand Sport X, however, can pull 1.08 g’s on Michelin Pilot Sport 4S summer rubber, but that one is a wide-body car rolling on massive 275s in front and 345s out back. The same difference affects stopping distance, where the Stingray Z51 comes to rest from 70 mph in a tidy 149 feet, while the GSX can do that in a tidier 141 feet. As for the steering, the Z51’s summer tires make the helm respond with much more immediacy. Thing is, the default Touring mode doesn’t quite impart enough effort buildup. You need Sport for better steering feel, but even then, it still lacks a certain degree of authenticity, especially at casual speeds.

The always-brilliant Magnetic Ride Control is a standalone option ($1895), and if you add its adaptive magnetorheological dampers to the Z51 package you also get Performance Traction Management, which allows you to fine-tune the stability-control intervention. The Z51’s configurability goes way beyond the drive mode selector, which can get confusing. The drive mode selector is by the shifter, for example, but the PTM toggle is down by your left knee. Other interior foibles have been around since day one of the eighth-gen Corvette, including turn signal and wiper stalks that are mounted a little too far away, as well as that odd squircle of a steering wheel.

Our 2027 Stingray test car came with the Z51 package and takes the hit to top speed. We’ll never see 200 mph in regular use, but we lust after the shorter gearing at the exit of every turn. The Pilot Sport S5 summer tires and the grip they produce is intoxicating. The Z51 setup has never been better—or more different—than the base Corvette, even though it is but a single option away. The 1LT with the Z51 option costs $79,190, and a Z51-equipped 3LT costs as little as $90,940. Despite a wealth of track monsters with four-figure outputs running amok, the revised Stingray proves that every corner of the Corvette lineup is worth your attention.

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