Corvette ZR1 Is Road & Track Magazine’s 2026 Performance Car of the Year

Road & Track magazine’s Performance Car of the Year award recognizes the best of the best in enthusiast cars.
This year, the Chevy Corvette ZR1 bested all contenders in an exhaustive test, earning the title of 2026 Performance Car of the Year.

“Performance Car of the Year is a test of driving, not value, but by any measure, the Corvette is an astonishing bargain,” said Road & Track Director of Reviews Mike Duff. “It also takes the Corvette dynasty to a whole new plane of awesomeness, one that prompts the tantalizing question of whether Chevrolet will ever be able to raise the bar further.”

The Corvette is no stranger to Performance Car of the Year glory. The C7 Corvette Stingray captured the inaugural Road & Track Performance Car of the Year award in 2014, the C7 ZR1 did the same in 2019, and the C8 Z06 took the crown in 2023.
This fourth victory makes the Corvette the winningest model in the history of the award.
No other model has managed to win more than twice.

The 1,064-horsepower, twin-turbocharged Corvette ZR1 features the most powerful V8 engine produced in America from an American automaker1. Couple that with the optional ZTK Performance Package which incorporates a high-downforce aero package, ultra-high-performance tires, and carbon-ceramic brakes, and you have a true world-beater.

Performance Car of the Year testing is done both on the racetrack and on some of America’s greatest roads.
This year, Road & Track visited Northern California’s Thunder hill Raceway Park to push PCOTY contenders to the limit, then toured the scenic byways of Napa Valley.

“Winning Performance Car of the Year is amazing because this is the type of award our team had in mind when we developed the new ZR1,” said Chris Barber, Lead Development Engineer for the ZR1.
“We aimed to make this car a standout – fun to drive, incredibly fast, yet comfortable and approachable.
The ZR1 faced stiff competition, and I'm very proud that it stood out. Our team is thrilled to have a second PCOTY win for the eighth-generation Corvette.”

Corvette has been on a recent winning spree. TopGear.com recently named the ZR1 its 2026 U.S. Supercar of the Year, and the car also won Hagerty’s Ultimate Lap Battle. The ZR1 also holds six lap records across some of North America’s greatest racetracks, and its 233-mph top track speed makes it the fastest Corvette ever.
The ZR1 and hybrid ZR1X are also the fastest cars from an American manufacturer to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife racetrack in Germany.

As for the question R&T poses, about whether Chevrolet will be able to raise the bar, the electrified, all-wheel drive ZR1X with 1,250 combined horsepower2 just became the quickest-accelerating American production car, with a sub-2-second 0-60 mph time and a quarter-mile time under 9.0 seconds3. Team Corvette will never rest on its laurels.

1 Corvette is assembled in Bowling Green, Kentucky of US and globally sourced parts
2 1,064 horsepower from the LT7 5.5L V8 engine plus 186 horsepower from the eAWD (electric drive unit).
3 On a closed course. Based on initial vehicle movement. Requires available ZTK Performance Package.