Lightning Lap Results 2006 to 2024

Lap Time: 2:45.9
Class: LL3 | Base: $122,085 | As-Tested: $147,815
Power and Weight: 655 hp • 3947 lb • 6.0 lb/hp

Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport 4S ZP; F: 275/30ZR-20 (97Y) TPC, R: 345/25ZR-21 (104Y) TP

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. Luckily, the eight-speed auto shifts presciently, which allows you to focus on fumbling with the awkward Charge+ button on the side of the center console.

Aside from that annoyance, the E-Ray is impressive, its track performance confirming its middle-sibling position in the C8 lineup: The 2:45.9 lap time lands between the Stingray Z51's 2:49.0 and the Z06's 2:38.6. (FYI, the online video of the E-Ray's run shows the clock starting before our standard start line due to an incorrect lap-timer setting. We adjusted for that mistake to keep the E-Ray's time accurate.)

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.

The Corvette E-Ray is a big bruiser that can dance and thrill on track, the 31st quickest of the 327 production vehicles we've run at Lightning Lap and a multitalented middle child of the C8 family.

E-Ray ranked 32nd place
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Ranking