The reveal of the 2020 Chevrolet C8 Corvette last week was an invitation-only affair – and among the honored guests was none other than Jay Leno.
The comedian and TV show host had the opportunity to film an exclusive video of the new mid-engine supercar with Ed Piatek, the chief engineer of the Corvette. This particular Corvette is painted in a shade of blue and, while it’s not our favorite color (which, admittedly, is highly subjective anyway…), it is certainly eye-catching.
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Leno starts his tour of the new Corvette with a look at the vehicle’s 6.2-liter naturally-aspirated V8 engine.
This powertrain, dubbed the LT2, has 490 hp and 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) of torque, but if customers want a little more grunt, they can opt for the Z51 Performance Package which increases power to 495 hp and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm). For the first time, the ‘Vette gets an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission driving the rear wheels and helping the supercar rocket to 60 mph (96 km/h) in less than 3 seconds.
Chevrolet didn’t only start from scratch in designing the exterior of the C8 Corvette – the same applies to the interior too. As a result, the appears much more premium than previous generations and is very driver-focused. There is a small steering wheel with a squared-off bottom and top, a large, 12-inch re-configurable gauge cluster and a unique column of buttons that separate the driver and passenger.
Leno also had the opportunity to briefly drive the C8, which probably makes him one of the first people outside of General Motors to get behind the wheel of Chevy’s brand new supercar.