Diving face-first into the 25-degree toilet bowl, the Porsche tortures its driver with 2.2 g's of lateral thrust. Hammering into turn 1 with its V-8 needling the redline, the Z51 Corvette's head-up display clocks 145 mph.
Two makers from the opposite ends of the earth are vying for the sub-$100,000 supercar crown. The new Chevrolet Corvette, standing on half a century of heritage, backs its bid with 400 hp. Porsche's sixth-generation 911 Carrera in full S armor is the fearless rival. One will be hailed the best sports car reasonable money can buy.
This is not a numbers game with arbitration by calculator. We'll crown our king by living with the contenders for as long as their makers can spare them, by assessing their vital signs, and by racing one silver Corvette Z51 against one yellow 911S around the western hemisphere's most taxing test track. Driving fun will be a critical factor.
In engineering terms, Chevrolet and Porsche agree on little but this: speed is good, the middle of the car is the right place for the transmission, and rear wheels work best for propulsion. Chevy sticks its potent pushrod V-8 way up front. Porsche hangs a smaller four-cam flat-six way out back.... Read full article