Stupid question prolly, but Eli5: how is the c8 so fast when it's only got a bit more power than a 5.0 and weighs more?

[Zent]

Looking online it seems the c8 has about 490 hp which is only about 30-40 hp more than the 5.0 and its a bit heavier too, yet it does 0-60 in 2.9s which is insane!! How is it able to do that with only a bit more power and more weight?

Though it seems like the current gen Mustang GT's are about as fast as the past gen vettes

and the current gen vettes seem to be as fast as lambos now and look kinda like them too xD

My friend got a c8 and it's pretty nice though I worry because under the hood are all these plastic tube/pipes and apparently you can easily break them while doing something as simple as a engine filter change!

I like how the mustang is still super pragmatic. Simple synthetic blend oil, easy to change filters, back seats with a nice size trunk etc... I was on the fence about getting a gt500 but it's too much a gas guzzler and I was a bit worried about long-term reliability and I hear it's not a good idea to DD

Also theres some pretty crazy maintenace with the c8. You gotta change the dual clutch transmission filter which costs hundreds and even the oil change is expensive! Though I guess i'd still take a c8 over some european exotic

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[KingKona]

It's 200-300 pounds lighter, has 50 more lb-ft of torque, has a much lower center of gravity, and has the majority of it's weight over the rear wheels.....so physics is on it's side.

Plus it's transmission is.....amazing. DCTs are the bomb.

There really isn't any difference in oil change costs. You should be using 100% synthetic in your Mustang too.

Dunno about the trans filter change costs. I watched a video and changing it is easy.

 

[Firsttexan]

Weight, gearing and a rear engine for outstanding traction.Very little powertrain loss.

 

[theruleslawyer]

Think about how much you struggle with traction off the line. The c8 was designed for much more optimal weight transfer. The FR design of the c7 was holding it back. That plus dct transmissions are fast as hell. It feels like about 300hp is that max useful for a FF on the street. Probably 500ish for a FR. MR is even better without going to a awd layout.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

0-60 is a metric where the mid-engine helps the C8 because it has a lot more weight over the rear tires to improve traction. The C8 weighs about 3,650 lbs, while a GT PP1 Premium is about 3,850 lbs, so the C8 is lighter, and more powerful.

More power+less weight+better traction = much better 0-60. Although some of the "base" C8s are in the low 3s 0-60, they don't have the Z51 gearing and tire advantage off the line.

If you look at the 1/4 mile trap speeds, the C8 is only a couple of mph higher than the A10 GT, which is the difference in power to weight ratio.

 

[compprep]

^^^^^
No video,

 

[Firsttexan]

Think about how much you struggle with traction off the line. The c8 was designed for much more optimal weight transfer. The FR design of the c7 was holding it back. That plus dct transmissions are fast as hell. It feels like about 300hp is that max useful for a FF on the street. Probably 500ish for a FR. MR is even better without going to a awd layout.

With the new motor, the C8 is going to be a rocket. C8 is the only Chevy I would consider now days.

 

[coz0502]

Looks like you got your answer, I have nothing more to add other than I've seen a lot of articles and pictures about the C8 and thought it was cool. But then I saw one in person and really liked it. What a beautiful car, the one I saw was white and had black wheels with polished lip. I was blown away by how much better it looked in person. This was several months ago at a car show. I had seen a few driving but the first time I got to really look at one. The guy was mobbed with people talking / asking him questions about it.

 

[07S281E]

The same reason the 500ish HP Porsche GT3 accelerates so fast. The weight over the rear wheels allows it to put more power down.

 

[Gabelo98]

0-60 is a metric where the mid-engine helps the C8 because it has a lot more weight over the rear tires to improve traction. The C8 weighs about 3,650 lbs, while a GT PP1 Premium is about 3,850 lbs, so the C8 is lighter, and more powerful.

More power+less weight+better traction = much better 0-60. Although some of the "base" C8s are in the low 3s 0-60, they don't have the Z51 gearing and tire advantage off the line.

If you look at the 1/4 mile trap speeds, the C8 is only a couple of mph higher than the A10 GT, which is the difference in power to weight ratio.

this is far from accurate a stock 2020 A10 Mustang GT was tested at a 3.8 0-60 at best then 1/4 of 12.4@116 and that varies from test to test depending what your reading the C8 Corvette is pretty consistent at 2.9-3.0 0-60 and 1/4 at 11.2@124-125 no where is that close whatsoever

 

[theruleslawyer]

If i could have a weekend only toy it would be a c8. Tbh id rather have a c7 since the trunk layout makes it usable as a dd. If the used market wasn’t insane id probably have picked up a lightly used c7 over the mach 1.

 

[traxiii]

I want to know how they're doing it for so few bucks more than a Mach 1.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

this is far from accurate a stock 2020 A10 Mustang GT was tested at a 3.8 0-60 at best then 1/4 of 12.4@116 and that varies from test to test depending what your reading the C8 Corvette is pretty consistent at 2.9-3.0 0-60 and 1/4 at 11.2@124-125 no where is that close whatsoever

My values are accurate as I was comparing trap speeds of the A10 GT to the C8, and the base C8 is indeed slower 0-60 than the Z51 C8. Here's the exact results from the magazine tests:

2018 Mustang GT A10 PP1:
Car and Driver: 0-60 in 3.8 sec, 1/4 mile in 12.1 @ 120 mph ( 2018 Ford Mustang Automatic – A Quicker Pony Car (caranddriver.com)
Motor trend: 0-60 in 3.9 seconds, 1/4 mile in 12.1 @ ~119 mph ( 2018 Ford Mustang GT First Test: Should You Pony Up for the Automatic? (motortrend.com)

2020 Corvette Z51:
Car and Driver: 0-60 in 2.8 sec, 1/4 mile in 11.2 @ 122 mph ( 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Is More Than the Best Corvette Ever (caranddriver.com)
Motortrend: 0-60 in 2.8, 1/4 mile in 11.1 @ 123 mph ( EXCLUSIVE: 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray First Test: The C8 Keeps Its Promises (motortrend.com) )

The "base" Corvette test, the only one I'm aware of is by Motortrend: 0-60 in 3.3 sec, 1/4 mile in 11.5 @ ~122 mph ( 2020 Chevrolet Corvette 1LT First Test: How Does the Base Car Perform? (motortrend.com) )

So, the Corvette is indeed exactly what I said: base is slower 0-60 than the Z51 because it doesn't have the same gearing or tire advantage; the C8 traps a couple of mph higher than the A10 GT on average, because it was a better power to weight ratio. It traps way higher than the M6 GT, yes, but that wasn't what I was comparing it to. But no C8 yet has trapped 124 or 125 mph in a published test. The best I've is 123 mph, while other tests show 122 mph pretty consistently.

Show me a current gen GT published test that went 12.4 @ 116 mph. All the 2018+ M6s went 12.6 @ 114-115 mph, while the two tests above are the 10 speed auto. and much quicker than the M6.

 

[Firsttexan]

The same reason the 500ish HP Porsche GT3 accelerates so fast. The weight over the rear wheels allows it to put more power down.

And it weighs less than 3200lbs

 

[Firsttexan]

Looks like you got your answer, I have nothing more to add other than I've seen a lot of articles and pictures about the C8 and thought it was cool. But then I saw one in person and really liked it. What a beautiful car, the one I saw was white and had black wheels with polished lip. I was blown away by how much better it looked in person. This was several months ago at a car show. I had seen a few driving but the first time I got to really look at one. The guy was mobbed with people talking / asking him questions about it.

I have worked on many. Having owned many Vettes from 63-81. This was the first model in my experience, that didn't smell like a new boat.

The C8s that have been through my hands have been flawless.

The first one I did was blk. The customer called about 30 mins after leaving my shop upset to point of almost crying. Someone WALKED across the top of his hood while parked at the bank. Bumper, hood and fender. Messed it all up. After wet sanding the whole front end and re-installing the Ceramic. No issues!! The body panels are extremely strong.

Now the convertible. It's got a little issue.

Watch the video I did for the customer. Chevy missed this one! I pity the owner that doesn't know this before washing.
In case you don't want to click. The rear window area holds 2-3 gallons of water.

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