Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible

The throttle and your first thought is something like, “Great holy [CENSORED] balls of [CENSORED], this thing is brutal.” The 650-hp, 650-lb-ft supercharged V-8 slingshots the Z06 to 60 mph from a rest in 3.3 seconds. The car reaches 150 mph in 17.7 seconds. It scorches a quarter-mile run in 11.4 seconds at 127 mph. These figures are essentially identical to those we’ve gathered from manual-transmission Z06 coupes. To beat those numbers with something else topless, you’re going to either get an automatic Z06 or spend great gobs of cash on a McLaren 650S Spider or a Porsche 911 Turbo S cabriolet. And neither of those cars can claw the road with the 1.14-g tenaciousness of the Chevy, nor come close to its stupendous 138-foot stop from 70 mph.

The ridiculous grip levels translate to cornering speeds on back roads that would be illegal on a freeway, and what acceleration you give up with the seven-speed manual transmission—0.2 second to 60 versus the eight-speed automatic—is more than made up for by the euphoric rush of redline upshifts executed via a progressive, user-friendly clutch and a positive shifter. If there’s any complaint to be made about the convertible, it’s that it looks a bit goofy with the top up. 


The base price is $83,995, a fraction of anything else that can touch it in terms of performance. The money saved can, of course, be plowed back into the options list, and our car had another 10 grand or so in extras. These included the $3270 2LZ Preferred Equipment Group (basically a bunch of convenience features), the $2995 carbon-fiber package (painted carbon splitter, rockers, and rear spoiler), the $1795 Performance Data Recorder (a very worthy add-on that also brings navigation), a carbon interior-trim package for $995, $495 black wheels, and $100 painted carbon-fiber mirror caps.