2027 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport First Test: A Perfectly Magical Mix of Everything

There’s a bit of an open secret when it comes to modern-era Corvettes. Although the glamorous, high-strung variants like the Z06 and ZR1 make all the headlines, the more balanced Grand Sport is really the one to get. Now that it’s finally arrived for the C8 generation, we’ve gotten a chance to see what the 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport can do when the formula is applied to the ’Vette’s mid-engine platform. Spoiler alert: It’s magical.

Our own features editor Scott Evans recently wrote a lovely First Drive of the new Grand Sport that doubled as a meditation on what the future holds for Route 66, which you can read here. Now, we put a Grand Sport through our rigorous first test exercises to see how well its numbers stack up against the other non-hybrid Corvette C8 variants.

The Hardware and Then the Numbers

As a quick recap, the Grand Sport runs with Chevy’s new LS6 6.7-liter small-block V-8 (which sounds phenomenal, by the way). It sends 535 hp and 520 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels by way of an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic. Curb weight comes to 3,708 pounds, and the car was shipped to us rolling on an optional set of super sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R’s. In the front, it features 275-section rubber on 20-inch wheels, in the rear, 345-section on 21s.

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To launch the Grand Sport, we followed Chevy’s (extensive) instructions to the best of our abilities. Its team advised us to launch at 3,300 rpm with 10 percent slip, but because the system can only increase and decrease by increments of 250 rpm, we started at 3,250 and tried all the way up to 4,000 rpm. We had Chevy’s Performance Traction Management system set to Pro mode, and cold tire pressure was pegged to 24 psi.

The best result came from 3,750 rpm and indeed with 10 percent slip. The Grand Sport hit 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds and achieved the quarter mile in 11.0 seconds at 122 mph. Aside from the boisterous engine note, mule-kick shifts, and hard pulls, the launch itself was relatively drama-free once the tires hooked up thanks to launch control expertly putting down the power and controlling wheelspin.

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“Chevy has obviously done a ton of homework with the Corvette’s launch control system, because the C8 never used to be this precise and consistent,” noted road test editor and expert vehicle tester Erick Ayapana. “Bravo.”

Our Grand Sport test vehicle was also fitted with a set of carbon-ceramic brakes as part of the Z52 Track Performance package. They liked and needed a lot of heat in them and returned great bite and easy modulation stop after stop, with those ridiculously performant Cup 2 R’s only helping matters. Stops from 100 mph were extremely steady, with the best halt from 60 mph happening in just 98 feet.

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Chevy delivered the Grand Sport test car to us in a track alignment. We found the resulting front-end grip to be phenomenal and exactly what the C8 needed, as past models have notoriously understeered during our skidpad testing. That tendency is still there, mind you, but it has been minimized, which allowed us to get on the power earlier.

Turn-in was extra quick, with a crispness and perfect weight that reminded us of the ZR1. The Grand Sport posted a ridiculous 1.23 g of lateral acceleration and lapped our figure-eight racetrack-in-a-bottle test in an also dynamite 21.8 seconds at an average of 1.00 g.

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“The vibe is one of balance and grip, all thanks to the wide and sticky Cup 2 R’s,” Ayapana noted. “Overall, the Grand Sport just has a perfect mix of everything. Can’t think of anything it’s lacking. Magical stuff here. Not as magical as a 911 GT3, but pretty darn close.”

Some Friendly Family Competition

Just for fun, we’ve pulled numbers from the standard C8 we tested (pre LS6) as well as the Z06 and ZR1 MotorTrend first tests (reviews here, here, and here) so we can get a look at how the Grand Sport fits in the family.

And you know what? While the Z06 and ZR1 are predictably quicker in a straight line, they’re not that much quicker to 60 mph, though they start to run away from the Grand Sport through the quarter mile. Braking is nearly identical across the board. The Grand Sport put down the highest lateral acceleration and the second-highest figure-eight time. A lot of this has to do with its tires, no doubt. But it’s clear that the Grand Sport’s lower weight and balance factor into the equation, as well.

The Grand Sport Life

Away from our at-the-limit testing, the Grand Sport settles down as a perfectly agreeable daily driver. It handles windy-road carving with acute keenness due to the lack of an electric motor in its nose like the Grand Sport X, so the steering remains light and lively. And 500 hp is a very realistic and manageable amount of power for everyday use. You won’t be able to see much out of it, heavens no, but you’ll feel cool wherever you go.

It has a starting price of $88,495, which makes it around $20,000 more than the regular Stingray but about $50,000 and $100,000 less than the Z06 and ZR1, respectively. That’s a whole lotta car and performance for not that much money.

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The test car came packed to the gills with options, including the Z52 pack ($20,695), carbon-fiber wheels ($15,500), front lift system ($2,995), and a bunch of color and trim options. All told, it was wearing almost $50,000 in add-ons for a total all-in price of $146,580. Nice, but way too much for a Grand Sport. Were it up to us, we’d lose the carbon-fiber wheels for sure and probably the Z52 pack to dramatically lower the price. But keep in mind that the Z52 comes with the carbon brakes and traction management and quad exhaust and the crazy Cup 2 R tires—a lot of the stuff that helped it make all those wildly impressive numbers.

Yet again, the Grand Sport proves to be the one for the drivers. You don’t need to get the most powerful thing to maximize enjoyment. Balance is key here, and as the last major C8 variant to launch before a future generation, the Grand Sport is the sendoff worth waiting for.

Photography byWilliam Walker

Deputy Director of Photography

Like many of my coworkers, my love for cars was cemented at a young age, thanks in part to Hot Wheels, car magazines, and every car poster I could afford when the book fair set up shop in my elementary school library. While most kids went straight for Where’s Waldo? and Goosebumps, I was torn between the poster of the Lamborghini Countach and the ’32 Ford hot rod with airbrushed flames on the cowling. In high school, I worked at Bergstrom's Antique Autos, a historic garage in Port Townsend, Washington. Surrounded by nearly a century of automotive history, I immersed myself in cleaning, sorting, and selling car parts and memorabilia. I also spent countless hours flipping through vintage car magazines and can comfortably say that I've looked through every Motor Trend, Car & Driver, Hot Rod, and Sports Car Graphic up until the early 1980s. Around the same time, I picked up photography—naturally, with cars as my main subject. Despite my high school photography teacher's advice to branch out, I stuck to my passion and attended every car show I could find. This led me to the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, where I earned a bachelor’s degree with a focus on automotive photography. I began my career at Motor Trend as a photography intern. After freelancing for a few years, I joined the Motor Trend team full-time in late 2010. My passion for cars and photography continues to fuel my work, and I hope it shines through in every shot.

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