Shelby GT500 Embarrasses C8 Corvette in Brutal Drag Race
As expected, C8 Corvette with Z51 package can’t hang with a stock, full weight Shelby GT500 in their first showdown.
Ford’s Mustang and the Chevrolet Corvette aren’t exactly natural foes. But that won’t stop us from pitting them against each other, as we’ve done many, many times over the years. And now that we’ve got both the new Shelby GT500 and C8 Corvette hitting the streets, you knew that inevitably, someone was going to wind up lining them up against each other at the drag strip. But we didn’t have to wait very long, as YouTuber StangMode has already made it happen.
The showdown happened basically by chance, however. “We were taking ‘The Hulk’ to run her full weight with a full tank of gas. Just to do a video like that and see what happened,” StangMode said. “And guess what? We ran into a brand new C8 Corvette. So we lined it up.” The Corvette just so happens to be a research and development vehicle for East Coast Supercharging, which makes this matchup even more interesting. It’s also got the Z51 package, which means it makes 5 more horsepower and 5 more lb-ft than the base model, thanks to a performance exhaust.
On the first pass, the ‘Vette has trouble engaging launch control, while the GT500 runs a 10.7 at 131 mph. The C8 driver figures things out on the second pass, and manages an 11.5-second run at 120 mph with a good launch. “Very similar to the 2018 Mustang GT,” StandMode hilariously points out. For a bunch more money, of course.
In all fairness, the Corvette did spin a little. And it was the first pass they’d ever made in the car. But on the third (second?) pass, the car slows down a little, running an 11.6. The GT500, on the other hand, rips off another 10.7.
Obviously, the GT500 is a faster car in completely stock form. And while some will say that this is a base C8 versus Ford’s top Mustang, these two cars carry fairly similar price tags. That is, depending on how you option them, as well as if you can find a GT500 without some huge markup. But you can also bet that this classic American rivalry isn’t over yet. In fact, it’s just the beginning!
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