2025 Chevrolet Corvette

The convertible sports a top that powers up or down at up to 30 mph in 16 seconds, and it also has a power rear window to lessen wind buffeting. The coupe is almost a convertible in its own right thanks to a removable top center section that essentially makes it a targa body style. The top stores behind the engine.

The three performance models (Z06, E-Ray, and ZR1) wear a 3.6-inch wider body to tuck in the massive 345-mm rear tires. The ZR1 also gets a front underwing with stall Gurney deflectors, a flow-through hood, side intakes with brake ducts at their trailing edges, and, in the coupe, additional intakes atop the rear fenders and a new take on the 1963 Corvette’s rear split-window design.

The cockpit defines the term driver-centric. An angled line of controls bisects the cabin and is aimed toward the driver, as is the touchscreen. A digital instrument cluster teams with the screen to provide a bevy of performance readouts. Leather and contrast stitching cover most of the cabin, and the look becomes brighter with the available red, gray, tan, blue, or new Habanero upholstery.

How fast is the Chevrolet Corvette?

It’s fast or faster. At its base level, it can vault from 0-60 mph in just 2.9 seconds and cover the quarter mile in 11.2 seconds thanks to the Stingray’s 6.2-liter V-8, which kicks out 490 hp or 495 hp. It’s a strong engine across the rev band, and the car is so quick because 60% of the weight is over the rear axle, which helps the tires get traction off the line. The engine works well with the quick-shifting 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and it makes deep, sonorous sounds.

Big rear tires help the Corvette balance the rear-biased weight on a track or canyon road. This teams with smartly tuned front and rear double-wishbone suspensions to provide great grip, predictable moves, and a flat attitude when the tarmac turns twisty.  The electric-assist power steering is also quick with lots of feedback. 

Strong brakes come standard, but the Z51 Performance Package ups the size from 12.6-inch to 13.3-inch front rotors and 13.6-inch to 13.8-inch rear rotors. Available carbon-ceramic brakes are even better for track driving, as they require more abuse to fade.

Those Brembo brakes help give the Z51 Performance package track capability. The package also sharpens performance with a performance exhaust, an electronic limited-slip differential, a performance axle ratio, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S summer tires, a firmer suspension that can be lowered, a unique rear spoiler and front splitter, and additional cooling. This package is a must for anyone who wants to drive the Corvette hard the way it was meant to be driven. 

Chevrolet Corvette Z06

The Z06 draws its power from the flat-plane-crank LT6 5.5-liter V-8. It produces 670 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque and sounds a raucous battle cry as it spins up to 8,600 rpm. It also cuts the 0-60 mph time to 2.6 seconds.

The Z06 is the most track-ready Corvette so far, as all of its responses are sharper or firmer. It gets bigger shoes with 275/30R20 front front and 345/25R21 rear Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires standard and Michelin Pilot Cup 2 R tires optional. That’s teamed with a stiffer suspension and even bigger brakes. Buyers can also get carbon-fiber wheels, carbon-ceramic brakes, and a Carbon Aero Package with a big wing spoiler, dive planes and a splitter up front, and side skirts. This package adds 734 pounds of downforce at 186 mph, which helps it take corners faster as it sucks to the pavement.

Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray

The E-Ray makes slightly less power than the Z06 at 655 hp, but the front traction and immediate motor response make it slightly quicker at 2.5 seconds in the 0-60 mph run. Chevy tunes the E-Ray more for comfort, putting it on standard all-season tires and making the suspension softer than the Z06 but firmer than the Stingray. It still performs on a track, though, as the front motor adds all-wheel drive that helps pull the car out of corners, adding a little more balance. 

We’ll update this report once we’ve driven the 1,064-hp ZR1.

Chevrolet outfits the ’Vette with standard leather upholstery, and synthetic suede inserts are available. The rest of the materials are high in quality and well put together. That’s good because the Corvette can easily get into the six figures.

The Corvette’s mid-engine design gives the car a front trunk and a cargo area behind the engine. The rear cargo area is wide but narrow, and Chevy says it can fit a bag of golf clubs, though long woods and drivers probably can’t fit. The frunk is on the smaller side, but the two cargo areas combine to create 12.6 cubic feet of space, about as much as a compact sedan. The E-Ray has only 0.1 cubic foot less space due to a smaller frunk. 

Which Corvette should I buy?

With a budget in mind, but still looking for the right amenities and performance features, we’d go with a Stingray 2LT coupe for around $77,000. The 2LT adds heated and cooled GT1 sport seats with memory, a heated steering wheel, a head-up display, navigation, a 14-speaker Bose sound system, the Performance Data Recorder with a camera to record lap times and video, and blind-spot monitors with rear cross-traffic alerts. We’d then add the Z51 Performance Package for about $6,000. The total should come in around $83,000, but that’s based on 2024 prices, and 2025 prices may change.

How much is a fully loaded 2025 Chevrolet Corvette?

The Corvette Z06 runs at least $113,795, but the 3LZ version runs in the mid $130,000s, and that’s before any options. The ZR1 doesn’t have a price yet, but it could approach $200,000.

The Z06 gulps gas at the rate of 12/21/15 mpg in standard form or 12/19/14 mpg with the Carbon Aero Package. It’s also subject to a $3,000 gas-guzzler tax.

The new ZR1 model will certainly be worse than even the Z06. Such is the price for 1,000 hp.