The Tighter Corvette Grand Sport Might Be the LT One for You

The Corvette Stingray? Too cold.
The Corvette Z06? Too hot!
The Corvette Grand Sport? Juuuuuuust right.

Announced at the Geneva International Motor Show, the Grand Sport is essentially a lesson in tuning and weight management. But let’s back up for a second to review where this guy stands in the lineup.

The base Vette uses a naturally aspirated 6.2-liter LT1 V8 to push 460 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque. It gets to 60 in 3.7 seconds and that’ll cost you $56,000 base. The Z06, which costs $80,000 base, gives you a supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V8 for 650 horsepower and 650 lb-ft. That’s good for a 2.95 0-60 walloping.

The Grand Sport’s numbers don’t exactly fall right in the middle. It still uses the LT1 and has the same power output. But its handling is vastly heightened. It has the wider Z06 body and Magnetic Ride Control, it uses Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, it gets massive Brembo brakes, and better stabilizer bars and springs were added. Chevy used lessons learned from the Z06 to tune the chassis and improve cooling. That drops the 0-60 time to 3.6 seconds and even quicker around a curvy track. And yes, both the 8-speed auto and the 7-speed manual are both available.

Hilariously, there’s another additional Z07 performance package, which provides carbon ceramic brakes and Michelin Sport Cup 2 tires. Without that, the car pulls 1.05 Gs in the corners. With it, that number hikes to 1.2.

Oh, can’t forget the color accents, as well, designed by Brett Golliff. This exact model is the more rare Grand Sport Collector Edition that has Watkins Glen Gray Metallic paint and Tension Blue hashes and interior. These hit showrooms this summer.

[Via Chevrolet]