Car and Driver's E-Ray Lightning Lap Results

DenisC8

DenisC8

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The E-Ray is no stranger to VIR. During its gestation, the C8 development engineers thrashed it at America's Nürburgring on several occasions. In the process, they learned how to extract the quickest lap time from it, and we were glad they were on-site to share their knowledge.

You see, the E-Ray's small 1.1-kWh battery lacks enough capacity to provide full boost for the entire 4.1-mile lap, and the power supplied by the 160-hp electric motor driving the front wheels tails off beyond 120 mph. That requires the driver to parse out the electrical energy by strategically utilizing the car's Charge+ mode, which allows the battery to deploy some of its juice while holding some in reserve.

Start the lap in Charge+ with a full battery, tap out of Charge+ exiting Snake for a couple of seconds of afterburner acceleration, tap back into Charge+ before the Climbing Esses, and tap out of it one last time for the Back Straight and the remainder of the lap.

the E-Ray track performance confirmed its middle-sibling position in the C8 lineup:
Stingray Z51's lap time 2:49.0
E-Ray's lap time 2:45.9
Z06's lap time 2:38.6

Pushed to its limits, the nearly two-ton E-Ray felt slightly larger and less precise than the 282-pound-lighter Stingray, but it's still well balanced, with virtually no high-speed understeer. It muscled through the slow Turn 1 at 1.12 g's, and the traction afforded by its all-wheel-drive system yanked it out of that corner going 0.6 mph faster than the track-animal Z06. The E-Ray's carbon-ceramic stoppers felt like they could arrest a runaway train, but the propulsion system's limitations showed on the Front Straight, where the car topped out at 147.3 mph compared to the less powerful Stingray at 149.7 (the Z06 touches 159.5 mph there). That deficit in no way diminishes the E-Ray's prowess.
 
I'm glad we have 3 different Corvettes to choose from but I'm not sold on ERAY, sure AWD would be great for winter driving ( how many will really use it Jack Raccoon excluded ) , IMO i believe the initial hype of this model will be short lived, I prefer the no nonsense Stingray vs ERAY
 
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The Z06 is a great car, as is the E-Ray, as is the Stingray.
Why anyone chooses to categorize the E-Ray as a "touring car" is beyond my comprehension.
Chances are, there are maybe 1 or 2 guys in this forum that have the driving ability to push an E-Ray to it's limits and think, "If I only had a Z06".
It may be time to put down that glass of Kool-Aid.
 
DW Ruby said:
The Z06 is a great car, as is the E-Ray, as is the Stingray.
Why anyone chooses to categorize the E-Ray as a "touring car" is beyond my comprehension.
Chances are, there are maybe 1 or 2 guys in this forum that have the driving ability to push an E-Ray to it's limits and think, "If I only had a Z06".
It may be time to put down that glass of Kool-Aid.
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C8 ..... no mater what the trim level , configuration , or whatever the badging on the side or rear panel ... it is a touring car a track beast or a trailer / garage queen

All of the above

The most fun I'v had with my vette was when it was not in motion at all ... at car meets and just shooting the s@#$ about cars with other car guys / gals
( especially the gals ) ;)

And with our beloved Olivia raising our property taxes and all this talk about more speed cameras around the city of toronto you gotta behave

And driving the speed limit in the C8 is about as much fun as driving my Dads Impala except of course for the attention it gets

As for driving ability I can hold my own with even the best F1 driver .... NOT

I can barely handle the Stingray ;)
 
DW Ruby said:
In what way, aside from the noise level?
Please expand on your opinion.
I have orders in for both and one of these days I will need to decide.
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My opinion is 85 % of buyers the Stingray is by far the best choice given its performance and price

The Z06 is too hardcore for the average buyer, ride/sound/price

ERAY has too much unknown for me, I find it gimmicky and I think long term values won't be good

The choice between Z06 and ERAY should be quite simple, even though both cars are similarly priced and both widebody they couldn't be more different
 
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DenisC8 said:
I agree, adding power is cheap, removing weight is expensive. I rather have 500hp in a 3300lb car vs 650hp in a 4100lb car
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I can attest. My former Charger Hellcat (707 HP, 4600 lb) took 3.5 sec 0 to 100 km, the Stingray does it in 2.9 Of course, the Hellcat will walk away from a Stingray at speed. Supposed top is 204 mph.

Sidenote, I was recently at the Spring Mountain/Ron Fellows driving school in Pahrump, NV. Elevation 822 M. Best launch I could do was 3.5 due to thinner air.
On the road course, it felt a bit sluggish out of corners too, especially if I just left it in 4th.
 


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