On a track, these are some of the fastest production cars you can buy, this comparison reveals only one winner.
Here’s another Hagerty YouTube video comparison of a trio of performance cars, with an interesting and detailed breakdown of their performances head-to-head down at Willow Springs.
These sports cars, as Jason Cammisa reminds us, are some of the fastest production cars ever on a track. Now the cars face off against each other to show which car is fastest on a demanding track – what makes it anyone’s race is that each car is different in its engine layout and each has unique strengths and weaknesses.
A C8 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 might seem like an unlikely choice against the other two German heavyweights, but it does have the Z07 performance pack. Here’s what Jason, Randy and the team discover during the entertaining video below.
The Fastest Sports Cars Of 2023: A Head-To-Head Race
As we’ve come to expect, the Hagerty video is cinematic and well-edited, with plenty of polish and humor delivered in Jason’s inimitable style.
Parked up and ready to go are three track focused sports cars – the C8 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (Z07), BMW M4 CSL, and Porsche 992 GT3 RS.
By far, the Porsche GT3 RS is the lightest car here, but it is also the slowest in a drag race; as we’ll see, the hot laps involve more than just specs and when it comes down to the crunch the best combination of qualities will shine.
The Porsche has a 4-liter flat-six engine with 518 hp / 342 lb-ft, a 7-speed DCT and weighs 3211 lbs, while the Chevrolet has a 5.5-liter V8 with 670 hp / 460 lb-ft, an 8-speed DCT and weighs 3670 lbs.
Finally, the BMW has a 3-liter, twin-turbocharged I6 with 543 hp / 479 lb-ft, an 8-speed auto and weighs 3580 lbs.
This Is The Fastest Production Sports Car At Willow SpringsVia: Porsche
Watch the video for the full 17-minute breakdown, but as it turns out, the cars are (somewhat expectedly) very different in their approaches even though these things align between all the cars: they are all rear-wheel-drive.
Their engine layouts are different too, and the Porsche’s rear-engined layout, along with its aggressive aero and lightweight make it a monster on the track.
It proves superior in many situations – although not all – and can pull the highest amount of ‘G’ under breaking: 1.7 g, while the Chevrolet and BMW manage 1.4 and 1.3 g respectively.
All very different cars with the same purpose.
In the end, the Porsche 992 GT3 RS is the fastest car around the track with a time of 1:24.3, but the Chevrolet comes just after with 1:24.9. The BMW passes the finish with 1:28.2. BMW M4 CSL is a limited-edition model and costs from around $140,000; about the same price as a C8 Corvette Z06 with the Z07 package.
Meanwhile, the Porsche 992 GT3 RS retails from around $240,000, making it an expensive, yet capable machine.