The Power Ratings of the 2015 Corvette Z06 Look Pretty Official on the Dash

The 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is powered – as we expected – by a new supercharged LT4 V8 that the automaker has promised will make no less than 625 horsepower and 635lb-ft of torque. By adding that little “at least”, the company is free to add a touch more power if the need arises before the official specs are announced. Every automaker who offers estimated numbers will offer up with excuses about how the final power figures will be based on testing that is still going on but in the real world, it comes down to not showing your whole hand all at once. The 2015 Mustang made big news with estimated numbers and when Ford announces the official power figures, the company will enjoy another spike in media coverage. The same is true with the estimated numbers for the 2015 Corvette Z06 so while it is getting the lion’s share of attention in the automotive world right now, that attention will fade as time goes by and announcing the official numbers will bring the new Z06 back into the limelight.

These estimated numbers also keep the discussion going about the power figures (after all – here we are talking about the numbers right now) so it was obviously a smart move for GM to stick to preliminary power numbers for the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. However, I have to wonder if those numbers are estimated (meaning that the actual numbers could be higher) or if this is just a familiar game being played by General Motors considering the interesting Z06 badging inside of the new American supercar.

When the 2015 Corvette Z06 debuted yesterday, it was a total mob scene with hundreds of people swarming the cars so I didn’t get a chance to spend any time checking out the interior of the C7 Z06. When I got to the show early this morning, the crowd was thin so I had a chance to really spend some time poking around the cockpit of the new GM supercar. That was when I noticed the unique model badging located below the climate control panel on the center console with the Z06 name, “Supercharged” and power figures of 625 horsepower and 635lb-ft of torque in black, silver and red.

Would GM go so far as to put a badge on the dash of the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 if they really thought that these power ratings would vary when the production models arrive next year? It isn’t outside of the realm of possibility that the badge will be there with different numbers when the Z06 C7’s begin reaching consumers and those figures were simply added for “wow factor” at the Detroit Auto Show but it seems to me that the tiny badge below the HVAC controls in the 2015 Corvette Z06 predict that “at least 625hp and 635lb-ft of torque” actually means exactly 625hp and 635tq.

With some big American auto shows on the horizon along with some European heavy hitters – we are likely to learn more on the 2015 Corvette Z06 over the next few months. In the meantime, click any of the thumbnails on this page to check out our 2015 Z06 gallery!