Part of what makes the C8 Corvette Z06 so special is its engine. The naturally aspirated 5.5-liter flat-plane crank V8 makes an impressive 670 hp (679 PS / 500 kW) and 460 lb-ft (624 Nm) of torque, but it seems there could already be issues with the unique powerplant.
A Z06 owner by the name of Marco Garcia reports that his car’s engine failed as it was on the way home from the Chevrolet dealership, and he made a video detailing his less-than-ideal experience. In the video, he explains that the issue arose while he was taking delivery of the car and came to a head on the drive home.
Garcia drove his C8 Stingray to the dealership to pick up his new Z06, and since he didn’t have anyone else with him, the salesman offered to drive the Stingray back to Garcia’s construction yard while Garcia himself took his new Z06. After that, Garcia would then drive the salesman back to the dealership in the Z06 to drop him off. It was on that initial drive to the construction yard that a rattling noise began emanating from the engine, and it continued even on the drive with the salesman back to the dealership. On Garcia’s final trip from the dealership back to his home, the car lost all power, forcing him to pull over on the side of the highway.
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As if that wasn’t bad enough, OnStar wanted him to pay for the tow back to the dealership even though the car was brand new, and the dealer wouldn’t let him drop the car off since they were closed, so he had to get it towed to his construction yard, then again to the dealership the next day. When they dropped it off at the construction yard, they attempted to start the car up again to see the problem from the outside, and immediately, the rattling noise started up and the car began billowing smoke out of its quad-tip exhaust.
According to the odometer, the Z06 only traveled 52 miles (84 km) before its engine failed, which is just barely a tenth of the 500-mile (805 km) break-in period. For those wondering if it was abused before being fully broken in, we wouldn’t rule it out entirely, but it’s worth noting that the car automatically limits the engine’s redline during the break-in period to try and prevent exactly that from happening. This restriction can even be seen on the car’s dashboard in the video, in which the redline begins at 6,500 RPM rather than the full 8,600.
Garcia also mentions in the video that he paid in excess of $180,000 for the car, which was roughly $50,000 above sticker and about $75,000 above the base MSRP of a Z06. We couldn’t imagine shelling out all that money to buy a Z06 only for the engine to fail the same day it got delivered. Regardless, it begs the question of whether this was an isolated incident or if it is indicative of future issues to come with this engine. If it’s the latter, it would be in GM’s best interest to take note of the issue and start working on a potential solution.
