Can the Corvette C8 Beat My Shelby GT500 in a Drag Race?

Chevrolet Corvette C8 versus Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
3x races at Hennessey Performance in Texas, US
Does the GT500's power make up for the extra weight and traction issues? The race is sponsored by Wejo and their connected car data technologies as found in the C8.

After quickly clocking up some miles in my Shelby GT500 on the Where's Shmee: US Edition tour, it has now had the oil change service, been on the dyno, and we can say officially broken in, so it's time to put it to the test. To do so, on the strip at Hennessey Performance in Texas, we have it against a latest generation C8 Corvette.

The 8th generation Corvette has 495hp from a 6.2l naturally aspirated V8, now found in a mid-engine configuration. While it's significantly short of the 760hp of the 5.2l supercharged V8 in the Mustang, it's also much lighter and the weight balance helps with traction from the line. The Corvette is a convertible which adds a slight penalty for a drag race, as does the drag of the GT500 track package, however both cars come in at similar price tags just under $100k MSRP.

Sponsoring this drag race is Wejo, a global leader in connected car data and leading the way in one of the fastest growing markets in the world. Over 10 million cars like the Corvette C8 use Wejo's technology to collect 12 billion real-time accurate data points per day, which will create the bedrock of the future automotive experience.

Such software enables cars to offer services to the customer like in-car purchases, mileage based insurance and automated roadside assistance, as well as assisting city planning in terms of road safety, emissions and cutting transit times. Information from the sensors within the car can also alert and report instantly on hazardous conditions, for example picking up on black ice during the recent Texas snowstorms.

Wejo’s goal is to reduce traffic congestion by 10% saving drivers $8.8b annually and making parking two times faster, saving people in for instance New York 53.5 hours annually, but also reducing the time taken for vehicle repairs by 25%, saving up to 3 days per vehicle repair. Other goals are reducing the number of breakdowns by 5% through early intervention and proactive response, which will save US drivers and businesses 1.5m workdays and $450m annually, and reducing the cost of auto insurance premiums in the US by 10%, saving people $148 per year on average. Additionally, Wejo aims at reducing the time taken for insurers to process claims to minutes and they want to allow drivers to pay for things such as coffees and drive thru meals with their cars.

You can find out more about Wejo with the following links:

How will the 3 races go, let's find out with Alex from Hennessey Performance piloting the C8 Corvette against my Shelby GT500!

Results:

As expected, off the line the Corvette hunkers down with the mid-engine layout and gets away from the GT500 which is struggling for traction. On the move it's then instantly clear that the Shelby's superior power will pull it on through and a case of time until it can catch up. However, as experienced in multiple races, it significantly comes down to the amount of time it takes to get the grip as to whether it can catch in our 1/4 mile races.

Thanks for watching, Tim

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:59 Comparison
02:28 Corvette First Drive
04:34 Wejo Technology
05:54 Race Prep
06:52 Race 1
08:15 Race 2
09:15 Race 3
10:23 GT500 Suspension
11:18 Conclusion

#Corvette #Shelby #DragRace

[jasonhobson]

I'd like to see a drag race between these cars where the operators didn't drive like they'd just failed drivers ed...

[januarymorris]

I'm a big mustang fanboy so I expected the mustang to win, but secretly I was a little scared of the c8. I'm assuming the ZO6 when it comes out will beat the GT500. But to be honest the corvettes should probably be racing against the Ford GT instead. And the mustangs should be racing against Camaros

[shealarson]

Got to give it to Ford for making their fastest and most powerful Mustang faster than a stock Corvette. Now, throw a super charger on that Vette and race that Mustang and see how things go.

[matthewelliott]

"I'm gonna try to spank you!" I think American jargon was momentarily lost on

[stephenmoncrieff]

For the amount of difference in HP, this was a much closer race . What will really be interesting is to see this race done with the new Z06 .

[youraveragejoe]

I do really like the C8’s unique interior tbh, quite cool IMO!

[Laakona]

At 3:25 in the Vette, automatic trans and the A/C blowing? Is this a show for the "Ball-less"?

[BrendanEvan]

Hennessy has so many cars Tim could have filmed drag races all day

[joerobertson]

I'd like to see this with a couple of professional drivers who don't look like they're dogging it.

[sameer]

C7 ZR1 with 7 speed manual.
Monstrous power, beautiful exhaust and looks to accompany it.

[Rammyify]

Do it again when the C8 zo6 comes out, would love to see that race.

[burgerbandit]

8:25 You can really see that traction control struggling hard to manage that power properly.

[Jr_]

Why do I see so many C8s being drag raced before the 500 mile break in? Come on Hennessey. Put another 200 miles on that thing real quick, and do it again.

[preocupied]

I would like to see you go against a 2019 ZR1. That would be a fun race...

[mikesfs]

I would really like to see this done one more time but using the newly announced C8 Z06 instead of the regular base model C8. Curious to see how the added power of the Z06 will stack up against the GT500

[aceofspades]

From my perspective it doesn't really matter who wins the drag race.. I'd just be happy to be in either car and be having quite a fun time.

[danieljohnson]

I would rather own the C8. Can't wait for the E-Ray and Z06 variants of the C8.

[leemace]

The noise of the V8s together is epic great video again 👍🇦🇺

[Sparky-wwre]

The c8 Corvette actually suprised me at first. I predicted the mustang with the obvious horsepower advantage would leave the c8 in the dust from the beginning instead of having to play catch up. But this race just shows that traction can be just as important as horsepower, if not slightly more so. Both are phenomenal vehicles special in thier own way. And relatively affordable when compared to some of the german and Italian exotics costing many times as much.

[ajw]

C8 is definitely quite the amazing car. Hope to catch one at the depreciation valley!