DETROIT, MI - It’s been a great year for the new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the C7. They have been honoured as a contender for AJAC’s car of the year after winning their Best Performance Car group over $50K and managed to steal the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) headlines by winning the North American Car of the Year. 

Well the Corvette news didn’t end there, as they unveiled the brand-new Corvette Z06 during their presentation. The Z06 is the high-performance version of the C7, if the regular base was not intense enough for you.

In terms of the engine, the cat is finally out of the bag. Ahead of the NAIAS press day, it was rumoured that the Z06 would be the first production vehicle to use the 4.5-litre twin-turbocharged V-8 that was slotted to be in the Cadillac Elmiraj concept showcased at last year’s event. 

Well, all those rumours and prognosticators weren’t correct after all. The Z06 supercar will be fitted with an all-new LT4 6.2-litre supercharged and direct injected V-8 engine that delivers 625 horsepower and 635 lb.-ft. of torque through an eight-speed automatic or seven-speed manual transmission. Good luck with controlling that beast! 

To compare from the previous Z06 – it had 505 hp and 470 lb-ft. of torque, clearly making the new version the most advanced and impressive Corvette ever assembled. 

“The new Z06 delivers levels of performance, technology and design that rival the most exotic supercars in the world,” said Mark Reuss, president, General Motors North America. “And the Z06 leverages the engineering expertise of GM, offering the choice of two world-class transmissions, supercar performance without supercar fuel consumption and technologies that make it easier to fully enjoy the incredible experience of driving it.”

The Z06 is not all about power and speed – the exterior oozes aggressiveness and excitement. The exterior is designed with aerodynamics, cooling and efficiency in mind. The front fascia has a mesh pattern that assists in the delivery of airflow to the intercooler heat exchanger. Furthermore, the grille and front fender have vents to allow for more air into the cooling ducts for the transmission, as well as adding downforce at the same time.

The Z06 planned on being one of the stars of NAIAS and it didn’t fail with plenty of press surrounding it throughout the two press days.

Production is expected to begin at the end of 2014 and hopefully soon we will hear about its performance numbers and price.