The host of the video talks about how they made a handful of runs with the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray to see what kind of power it puts to the wheels. They don’t give us a rundown of what it makes on each run but at one point, they show the readout on the screen with three runs displayed across the top. The runs turned out results of 416 horsepower and 410lb-ft of torque, 414hp and 409lb-ft of torque and 416 horsepower and 411lb-ft of torque. However, at the end of the video, they proclaim that the C7 Corvette makes 411 horsepower at 5,850rpm and 407lb-ft of torque at 4,900rpm. Considering how much lower that is than the screenshot that we get earlier in the video, we can only guess that this is an average number reached by a making a bunch of runs that we didn’t get to see that pulled the average down away from those peak numbers of 416 horsepower and 411lb-ft of torque.
The stated power output of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray by General Motors is 460 horsepower and 465lb-ft of torque but that power is measured at the transmission – not at the wheels. Wheel horsepower is a far more accurate measurement of how much power the driver actually has on hand when he or she puts the hammer down and with 411 (or 416) wheel horsepower, the 2014 Corvette is one of the most powerful cars on the road today. It is also the most powerful “base” Corvette ever offered but we knew that before it hit the dyno.
The good news for prospective buyers of the 2014 Corvette Stingray is that with 416 horsepower at the wheels and 460hp at the engine, the C7 Corvette only loses about 10% of power as it passes through the transmission and rear differential on the way to the wheels. That is an incredibly impressive number as the industry “standard” figures that the average rear wheel drive car loses about 15 to 18% between the engine and the road. Of course, there is also the possibility that General Motors has slightly understated the power output of the new C7 Corvette and if we were to use the figure of 15% drivetrain loss, the LT1 is actually making around 489 horsepower. There is also the possibility that the dyno used by Edmunds was adjusted to the friendly side of things but in the long run, there is just too much speculation to guess why the new Vette makes so much power. The important part is that it does make all of that power and with over 400 horsepower at the wheels – the 2014 Corvette Stingray should keep up with the best sports cars in the world…even in base trim.
Crank up your speakers as the sound of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is almost as sweet as the output. The video also offers a great look at the C7’s thin film transistor (TFT) display in action. Enjoy!