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at 1 22 mph, but the point is made: The mid-engine layout
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6[A\b_Z\QRVaa_N[`Z\T_V¼R`V[a\NYNVQONPXQNVYfQ_VcR_tling Grattan’s 2.2 miles of heaving
pavement in each car, engineering
theory won: The C8 turned a best
lap of 1:26.1, the C7 a 1:27.0. A
roughly one-second difference
might not sound like much, but
consider that after just a half-dozen
laps, the C8 would cross the finish
line as the C7 pulls onto Grattan’s
straight. The C8 braked later into
several corners and accelerated
harder out of others—though the C7
narrowed the gap in a couple spots.
Through the 100-mph sweeper
feeding the main straight, the C8
was about 3 mph faster. It hit 142
mph before braking into Turn 1 to
the C7’s 140, and then braked with
1.16 g’s to the C7’s 1.00. It registered
a max of 1.32 g’s in the banked Turn
8 hairpin versus the C7’s 1.30 g’s.
But such close lap times
don’t convey how much easier it is
to go fast in the C8. It cuts more
cleanly into turns, and its rear tires
are more planted exiting them;
the C7’s tail is nervous and twitchy
by comparison. Indeed, the C8
feels as approachable on the track
as it does on the road. That’s a
rare combination, one worthy of
respect. The C8 has ours. —RCEngineering theory states that, all
things being equal, a mid-engine
car’s rear-biased weight distribu-
tion should enable it to lap a race-
track quicker than a front-engine
car. To find out if Chevrolet has
turned theory into reality, we pitted
the C8 against the front-engine C7Why Was 7
Afraid of 8?
We pit the C7 against the 8
to see if the mid-engine model
is quicker around a track.at Michigan’s Grattan Raceway.
Both cars were equipped with
Z51 packages, adaptive dampers,
and eight-speed automatics. Both
had additional wheel camber dialed
in as recommended for track use.
Both wore Chevrolet-developed
Michelin summer tires, though the
C8 had the latest Pilot Sport 4S
rubber, whereas the C7 wore the
older Pilot Super Sports. We turned
off stability control so that we
could detect even the most minute
chassis differences, and we turned
on the Racelogic VBox LapTimer.
After about a dozen laps bat-1:27.0 1:26.1