How Fast Is The Chevy Corvette C7? A Look At Its Top Speed And Acceleration Times

The newest, hottest versions of the mid-engine C8 Corvette are certainly worthy of admiration. Mid-engine supercar-killers with twin turbochargers deserve all the attention they get. While the latest, greatest C8 may be grabbing all the headlines these days thanks to its four-digit horsepower numbers and all, the C7 is still a car worth talking about.

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The seventh generation Corvette lasted from 2014 to 2019, and in that time, there were several versions, from the regular Vette all the way up to the supercar-contender ZR1. Between the base Stingray Corvette and the top-of-the-range ZR1, there were several packages and trim levels to choose from, some with big increases in horsepower and performance. And all of them had their own special appeal. So let’s look back on the C7, paying attention to how much horsepower each model put out, what their top speed was, and how quickly they could accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour because no Corvette should be forgotten — especially one as special as the C7.

When it debuted in 2014, the C7 Corvette Stingray was rated at 460 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque. The engine powering the C7 was Chevy’s LT1 – a 6.2-liter V8 with an aluminum block and a 6,600-rpm redline. According to Chevy, the C7 Corvette with the available Z51 Performance package could go from zero to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds – a very quick car for its era and especially fast when you consider that it was essentially the entry-level model in the Corvette lineup.

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When media outlets got their hands on the 2014 Corvette, the numbers held up, with Car and Driver posting a zero-to-60 time of just 3.9 seconds. At the top end, the C7 had a drag-limited top speed of 181 miles per hour. All the C7’s incredible numbers are even more impressive when you put them into context regarding the C7’s price. In its day, the base price of a C7 Corvette was a performance bargain at just over $50,000. A base model of the Porsche 911 in the same era had similar acceleration numbers and top speed but a starting price that was over $30,000 higher.

Like the standard C7 Stingray, the Z06 was powered by a V8, but the Z06’s V8 was much more powerful thanks to a supercharger mounted on top of the big V8. With 650 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque on tap, Chevy claimed the 2015 Z06 could go from zero to 60 mph in under 3 seconds – 2.95 seconds, to be exact. That claim was nearly spot on, with Car and Driver returning a test time from zero to 60 mph of 3.0 seconds flat. The top speed for this supercharged Vette was somewhere between 185 and 186 miles per hour, with some outlets claiming it was as high as 195 mph, although it’s difficult to find any real-world testing results where that speed was achieved.

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The Grand Sport benefitted from many of the Z06’s performance components, and it was considered one of the coolest Corvette models ever, but it was still powered by the same engine under the hood of the standard Corvette. So, it had the 6.2-liter V8, which meant a lower top speed than the Z06. Depending on the equipment you got with your Grand Sport, acceleration from zero to 60 mph was dealt with in 3.9 – 4.2 seconds. Top speed also depended on which performance package you got, but it ranged between 161 mph and 180 mph.

The ZR1 is at the top of the Corvette mountain. It’s the most powerful, fastest, and most bedroom-poster-worthy version of the C7 Corvette. Under the hood, the C7 ZR1 used a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that produced an incredible 755 horsepower and 715 lb-ft of torque. Along with a number of aerodynamic tweaks to the exterior of the ZR1, the extra power was enough to get it up to 215 miles per hour –- a top speed that Chevy claimed at the time was restricted based on tires.

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The C7 ZR1 was made only for the 2019 model year before it was discontinued and the C8 was introduced. With its 215-mph top speed, the old C7 ZR1 can’t quite match the newest ZR1 with its 233-mph top speed, but as anyone who’s ever been deep into the triple digits will tell you – achieving anything over 200 miles per hour is difficult, thrilling, and impressive.