The Thrill of Drag Racing: A Head-to-Head Showdown Between the Ford Mustang GT500 and Chevrolet Corvette C8

As I stood at the starting line, ready to take on the mighty Ford Mustang GT500, I couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement and nerves. The drag strip beckoned, and I was eager to put my Corvette C8 convertible to the test against this American muscle car legend. With its 760 horsepower engine, the GT500 seemed like a formidable opponent, but I had faith in my car's ability to deliver.

The sound of the revving engines filled the air as we prepared for our first run. The Mustang's powerful exhaust note was music to my ears, but I knew that traction would be the deciding factor on this short track. As we launched off the starting line, the GT500 surged forward, its massive engine propelling it down the strip with ease. I, on the other hand, felt a surge of adrenaline as our Corvette C8 convertible shot forward, its lighter power-to-weight ratio allowing it to quickly close the gap.

The initial acceleration was neck and neck, with both cars feeling almost equally responsive. But as we entered the final stretch, the GT500's sheer power advantage began to take its toll. The Mustang's engine kept revving higher and higher, while my Corvette struggled to keep up. I pushed the throttle harder, trying to coax every last bit of speed out of my car, but it was clear that this was going to be a close run.

We took our first runner-up finish with the Corvette C8, narrowly missing out on victory by a whisker. The Mustang's power advantage had been too much for me to overcome, at least in the short distance of the drag strip. But I knew that if we could just get traction, things might be different. So, I decided to tweak my launch control settings and see how it would affect our next run.

For our third and final attempt, I made some adjustments to the suspension settings, hoping to improve our car's ability to grip the ground. The Mustang had proven to be too powerful in terms of raw acceleration, but I was confident that with a better setup, we could give it a run for its money. As we took off on our last try, I felt a sense of determination wash over me. This time, I knew we could do it.

The final stretch was intense, with both cars pushing their engines to the limit. The Mustang's power roared through the air, while my Corvette C8 Curbate responded with its own brand of ferocity. We were side by side, neck and neck, as we hurtled towards the finish line. I could see the checkered flag waving in front of me, tauntingly out of reach.

And then, in an instant, it was all over. The Corvette C8 crossed the line a fraction of a second before the Mustang GT500, securing our first-ever win against this iconic American muscle car. It was a moment of pure elation, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride knowing that my car had delivered under pressure.

But even as we celebrated our victory, I knew that there was more to our cars than just brute power. The Corvette C8's clever use of traction control and suspension settings made it a masterclass in exploiting the track conditions to our advantage. As I reflected on the racing experience, I realized that this was what made our Curbate so special – its ability to adapt and respond to different driving conditions.

As we returned to the road course for our final drive, I couldn't help but notice how much the car's setup had changed. With the drag strip out of the way, I switched back to a more conventional setting, and the difference was almost imperceptible. The Corvette C8 felt just as smooth and responsive on the track as it did on the short strip.

In fact, as we navigated the winding roads and corners of our test course, I began to appreciate just how different the driving experience was in drag mode versus normal operation. With the suspension settings soft and light, the front end leaned away from the turn, requiring a delicate touch to maintain traction. It was a strange and disorienting sensation, but also one that revealed just how cleverly the Corvette C8's advanced technology had been designed.

As I wrapped up our testing session with the Corvette C8, I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at its sheer capabilities. From its incredible acceleration to its spacious interior, this car was a true marvel of modern engineering. And while it may not have come out on top in every aspect of the drag strip battle against the Mustang GT500, I knew that our Curbate had shown itself to be more than capable of holding its own.

The competition between these two American muscle cars has always been fierce, and today's head-to-head showdown was no exception. While the Ford Mustang GT500 took the win in the short distance of the drag strip, we Corvette C8 owners can take heart knowing that our car's unique blend of power, traction, and handling made it a worthy adversary.

As I left the test track behind, I couldn't help but wonder what other adventures lay ahead for my trusty Corvette C8. The road might be long, but with its advanced technology and responsive chassis, this car was ready to take on anything that came our way. Bring it on!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi guys i'm shmee hello and welcome back to the channel where today is going to be an exciting one putting these two cars up against one another here on the drag strip in texas i'm out here during the where's schmie u.s edition tour in the gt500 today visiting hennessey who have kindly lent me the corvette c8 convertible for the purpose now today's video is sponsored by wijo whose connected car technology features in the c8 and we'll touch more on that later on but these two are going to be fascinating against one another in just a moment two very iconic american cars the gt500 the ultimate ford mustang muscle car the corvette c8 the latest generation the first mid-engine generation but two cars that actually cost about the same amount now what this is going to come down to is traction in the gt500 the c8 will be better off the line i suspect but we're gonna see exactly what happens after a quick overview with both cars before it's time to get three races back to back to see how they stack up there are a whole host of reasons why i think this is going to be a really interesting matchup and i'll give you my predictions in a moment as to what i think is going to happen before we do line the two cars up but we're looking at two of the latest american sports cars to arrive on the market the ultimate mustang in the form of the gt500 and the latest corvette the c8 the mid-engined version both cars though very similarly priced now corvettes for the c8 start from sixty thousand dollars that famous entry price add seven and a half for the convertible then go up to the 3lt specification of this add some options and you're at 91 000. the gt500 starts at 72 000 for the non-trackpack car which would make much more sense for a drag race like this the additional drag from the wing but in this spec goes up to 97 000 so on this we have the disadvantage of the track pack on the c8 we have the disadvantage of the convertible meaning a little bit more weight and also slightly more drag as well so i think fairly evenly matched up from that perspective of course when it comes to power in here we've got the naturally aspirated 6.2 liter engine 495 horsepower in there we've got the supercharged 5.2 liter engine 760 horsepower massive numbers but much harder to get the traction down and of course the c8 with the weight of the engine in the back helps significantly getting the grip through the rear wheels which will no doubt help it get off the line a little bit faster so this is why i think it's going to be quite a match up both have launch control both have dual clutch gearboxes the 8 speed and the c8 the 7 speed in the gt500 but i've never actually driven a c8 convertible so maybe i'll take this for a couple runs around before we get back for the start of the race this is my first time in the convertible i've driven in the regular c8 which has the removable tiger roof that you can stir away in the back by the engine let's just get this started v8 thunders into life 6.2 liters of naturally aspirated v8 one of the only naturally aspirated v8s on the market in total now we can pop it into gear drive off we'll head off with the roof down for the moment we've also got the toggle here where you can change the driving mode you rotate this just behind sport and then let's say up into track mode you can see we've got the slightly reduced rev limit at the moment you've also got the lap timer the pdr if you want to use that but let's go out for a little drive just get a small feel for this car and you can instantly tell that it's a lively thing you get that bark that snap on the shifting we've got the air conditioning blowing very strongly let's turn that down just a notch and you get a small feel for what this is about i did have that full opportunity to drive it but we'll get this up to temperature a little bit so that it's ready to do the race this is always a great place to take a car for a drive an opportunity to get a feel from it and here you get those pops and snaps out of the exhaust but what i am actually going to do is slow down just to pop the roof up because for any kind of performance driving racing that kind of thing you probably want to have this done and it's got a hard top the first corvette to have a hard top roof mechanism you can see the two parts of that folding open the rear deck lid will then tuck back down doesn't exactly take very long significantly easier than the operation to open the roof and then you also have the rear window which you can independently control you can lower it if you want a little bit more sound then of course go back into manual the button here i'm just going to press that we've got a lot of different gears put the foot down a little bit away we go and it sounds the part significantly quieter though than the gt500 but what i'm looking forward to seeing though is how this looks up around the track we know that these things are magical to drive very very very quick especially for the price but on a drag strip i'm not entirely sure before we get underway then with this drag race today's video is sponsored by wejo we joe's connected car technology is currently in 10.3 million cars like the corvette c8 and they actually collect 12 billion real-time data points per day technology that is of course shaping up the significant future of cars like this connected car data is very much in real world usage many different cars are connected in different ways but cars like the corvette c8 are using wijo's technology which enables the car to communicate all sorts of different things to gather diagnostics data that can lead towards future design decisions they can help as well detecting any issues with the car perhaps before even the driver is aware of them as well as in the future offering in-car purchases usage-based insurance and even automated roadside assistance amongst others the purposes of this are widespread but for example with city planning they can help with increasing safety and reducing emissions while also improving transit times across the us and a recent example of the data coming together here in texas when the weather was significantly colder than it is today with the snowstorms cars like these were reporting back the wipers running unusual braking patterns to give early notice of upcoming hazardous driving conditions wijo's aim is to deliver services and partner with the right organization so that we can all benefit from these services like you find in the corvette c8 talking of which we're about to put it up against the gt500 a few words of that 760 horsepower from the 5.2 liter supercharged v8 all to the rear wheel 7 speed as opposed to the 8 speed that you find in the c8 plenty of noise in fact so much noise that when you run the two side by side this is absolutely deafening let me just take a step on board so we can get this started ahead of taking them out we'll get them lined up properly in just a moment you see what i'm talking about now to do the drag race we will put the cars into the right modes we will be using the launch controls i think it's time probably to get ready for this with the two cars side by side quickly some predictions about what's going to happen before alex from hennessey joins and drives the c8 i will take the wheel of the gt500 of course this car with 265 horsepower more you would expect is going to steamroller through but getting that power down is a challenge whereas the c8 has the weight over the back and is significantly lighter i think the c8 will get on the move and the gt500 is going to pull on through now let's see if that's exactly what happens we're all lined up then i've got the left side alex from hennessey is over there in the corvette c8 on the right we're going to do three runs to see how this goes i've got some ideas but let's uh let's get it started alex are you ready i'm ready i'm gonna try and spank you well let's see how it's gonna go let's get this started let's do three runs and see how they go all right here we do here we go here we go he's got the go he's just ahead of me oh this is where the power is gonna pull me all through pure horsepower exactly as expected wow that's uh 760 horsepower for you pulling through like a freight train oh yeah but it's incredibly impressive how quickly that corvette gets off the line the weight over the back gets the traction certainly the first the first part of the dragon is off all right pulling back around then getting lined up are you ready to go for number two oh yeah i'm ready i'm kind of worried now because you have all that horsepower and you reeled me in all right ready and set let's get on the launch and let's go there he's off i might not be able to catch this time the power isn't enough for the lack of traction no he's through just ahead of me you had it lack of traction for me at the start couldn't get the grip couldn't get off the line there's just not enough power to catch you in the strip we're using come on baby we won we have 250 less horsepower it's all about traction isn't it there's so much more to this game it's not just brute power for the third run here i've decided to turn down the rpm on my launch control slightly to see if that helps me get some grip but this is it this is it we've had one one each so far let's see what happens on run number three all right one to one this is the tie breaker pressure is on get the revs go yes yes i've got it this time i mean he's ahead of me right now but this is where the power comes through wow that was surprisingly close that was epic i mean we were really quite close there it's all about traction though isn't it if this can get the grip this will get through absolutely uh if we had any more distance you would keep running away from me the thing with having the car in the drag strip mode is that of course it puts the powertrain into maximum attack but it leaves the suspension in the softest possible settings with the magnaride which is all to do with allowing the car to pitch so that you get as much weight as possible over the rear axle to get the grip the funny thing about that now though is that when we come on the road course back up towards the top you've got the steering in normal the suspension in drag strip i.e super soft and it gives a very strange very wallowy drive going around a race track in drag strip mode would be a complete and total mess because the front just leans away when you go around any corner it's actually fascinating how much the technology and the adjustable setup of the car allows that to differentiate as we pivot the front corner completely rolling over there around the corner yeah different type of driving experience to any of the other modes but just shows you how critical the computers are to exactly what's going on when you do this kind of thing well that went more or less as expected two wins to the gt500 and one win to the c8 pretty much depending upon traction when it's on the move the gt500 with its significant power advantage just storms on through but to get on the move that's where the c8 accelerates into its own the power over the rear axle being significantly lighter than the ford mustang and just able to take off before the gt500 is playing catch-up and eventually overtaking but we've seen that in that car it is quite difficult to get it to grip to get it to stick down on the ground and that's what it comes down to if it was a rolling race it would be a clear winner every time i think the gt500 dropping the gears and just getting on the fly but this is a pretty special car in fact both of them are incredible cars when you consider their value for money performance bang for buck that they offer competing with significantly more expensive european equivalents let's say but the corvette an awesome car i haven't shown you everything around it what i love about this car is how much storage space you get for a mid-engined supercar let's just open up the trunk very quickly pop this up you've got a big amount of space back here if you don't have the convertible you have the space as well significantly larger with the engine sitting behind obviously in this case we've got the folding hardtop and you have soft close on this as well tuck it down and it tucks itself in the stingray graphic there on the back but obviously a much more compact car than the gt500 when you look at them sitting side by side not having to stuff a massive engine up front but really these two head to head have been quite fantastic and also to get to drive this again i think it's a really really interesting car especially when you consider that they start at 60 000 now some of you might be saying it wasn't fair to bring this we should have waited for the z06 the z06 which might be a fairer competitor but of course the price would be lifting as well going in above the gt500 sorry it's very windy here also today out on the drag strip but a huge thanks to hennessey the opportunity to drive with the c8 convertible today and for alex to join as well and of course to wijo to learn about the connected car technologies that feature inside the c8s and the benefits that can come from those also for now though back on the road with the gt500 i hope you enjoyed this video thank you very much for watching do let me know if those are the results that you expected from the drag race featuring these two that's it for now though i'll see you again very soon cheers youhi guys i'm shmee hello and welcome back to the channel where today is going to be an exciting one putting these two cars up against one another here on the drag strip in texas i'm out here during the where's schmie u.s edition tour in the gt500 today visiting hennessey who have kindly lent me the corvette c8 convertible for the purpose now today's video is sponsored by wijo whose connected car technology features in the c8 and we'll touch more on that later on but these two are going to be fascinating against one another in just a moment two very iconic american cars the gt500 the ultimate ford mustang muscle car the corvette c8 the latest generation the first mid-engine generation but two cars that actually cost about the same amount now what this is going to come down to is traction in the gt500 the c8 will be better off the line i suspect but we're gonna see exactly what happens after a quick overview with both cars before it's time to get three races back to back to see how they stack up there are a whole host of reasons why i think this is going to be a really interesting matchup and i'll give you my predictions in a moment as to what i think is going to happen before we do line the two cars up but we're looking at two of the latest american sports cars to arrive on the market the ultimate mustang in the form of the gt500 and the latest corvette the c8 the mid-engined version both cars though very similarly priced now corvettes for the c8 start from sixty thousand dollars that famous entry price add seven and a half for the convertible then go up to the 3lt specification of this add some options and you're at 91 000. the gt500 starts at 72 000 for the non-trackpack car which would make much more sense for a drag race like this the additional drag from the wing but in this spec goes up to 97 000 so on this we have the disadvantage of the track pack on the c8 we have the disadvantage of the convertible meaning a little bit more weight and also slightly more drag as well so i think fairly evenly matched up from that perspective of course when it comes to power in here we've got the naturally aspirated 6.2 liter engine 495 horsepower in there we've got the supercharged 5.2 liter engine 760 horsepower massive numbers but much harder to get the traction down and of course the c8 with the weight of the engine in the back helps significantly getting the grip through the rear wheels which will no doubt help it get off the line a little bit faster so this is why i think it's going to be quite a match up both have launch control both have dual clutch gearboxes the 8 speed and the c8 the 7 speed in the gt500 but i've never actually driven a c8 convertible so maybe i'll take this for a couple runs around before we get back for the start of the race this is my first time in the convertible i've driven in the regular c8 which has the removable tiger roof that you can stir away in the back by the engine let's just get this started v8 thunders into life 6.2 liters of naturally aspirated v8 one of the only naturally aspirated v8s on the market in total now we can pop it into gear drive off we'll head off with the roof down for the moment we've also got the toggle here where you can change the driving mode you rotate this just behind sport and then let's say up into track mode you can see we've got the slightly reduced rev limit at the moment you've also got the lap timer the pdr if you want to use that but let's go out for a little drive just get a small feel for this car and you can instantly tell that it's a lively thing you get that bark that snap on the shifting we've got the air conditioning blowing very strongly let's turn that down just a notch and you get a small feel for what this is about i did have that full opportunity to drive it but we'll get this up to temperature a little bit so that it's ready to do the race this is always a great place to take a car for a drive an opportunity to get a feel from it and here you get those pops and snaps out of the exhaust but what i am actually going to do is slow down just to pop the roof up because for any kind of performance driving racing that kind of thing you probably want to have this done and it's got a hard top the first corvette to have a hard top roof mechanism you can see the two parts of that folding open the rear deck lid will then tuck back down doesn't exactly take very long significantly easier than the operation to open the roof and then you also have the rear window which you can independently control you can lower it if you want a little bit more sound then of course go back into manual the button here i'm just going to press that we've got a lot of different gears put the foot down a little bit away we go and it sounds the part significantly quieter though than the gt500 but what i'm looking forward to seeing though is how this looks up around the track we know that these things are magical to drive very very very quick especially for the price but on a drag strip i'm not entirely sure before we get underway then with this drag race today's video is sponsored by wejo we joe's connected car technology is currently in 10.3 million cars like the corvette c8 and they actually collect 12 billion real-time data points per day technology that is of course shaping up the significant future of cars like this connected car data is very much in real world usage many different cars are connected in different ways but cars like the corvette c8 are using wijo's technology which enables the car to communicate all sorts of different things to gather diagnostics data that can lead towards future design decisions they can help as well detecting any issues with the car perhaps before even the driver is aware of them as well as in the future offering in-car purchases usage-based insurance and even automated roadside assistance amongst others the purposes of this are widespread but for example with city planning they can help with increasing safety and reducing emissions while also improving transit times across the us and a recent example of the data coming together here in texas when the weather was significantly colder than it is today with the snowstorms cars like these were reporting back the wipers running unusual braking patterns to give early notice of upcoming hazardous driving conditions wijo's aim is to deliver services and partner with the right organization so that we can all benefit from these services like you find in the corvette c8 talking of which we're about to put it up against the gt500 a few words of that 760 horsepower from the 5.2 liter supercharged v8 all to the rear wheel 7 speed as opposed to the 8 speed that you find in the c8 plenty of noise in fact so much noise that when you run the two side by side this is absolutely deafening let me just take a step on board so we can get this started ahead of taking them out we'll get them lined up properly in just a moment you see what i'm talking about now to do the drag race we will put the cars into the right modes we will be using the launch controls i think it's time probably to get ready for this with the two cars side by side quickly some predictions about what's going to happen before alex from hennessey joins and drives the c8 i will take the wheel of the gt500 of course this car with 265 horsepower more you would expect is going to steamroller through but getting that power down is a challenge whereas the c8 has the weight over the back and is significantly lighter i think the c8 will get on the move and the gt500 is going to pull on through now let's see if that's exactly what happens we're all lined up then i've got the left side alex from hennessey is over there in the corvette c8 on the right we're going to do three runs to see how this goes i've got some ideas but let's uh let's get it started alex are you ready i'm ready i'm gonna try and spank you well let's see how it's gonna go let's get this started let's do three runs and see how they go all right here we do here we go here we go he's got the go he's just ahead of me oh this is where the power is gonna pull me all through pure horsepower exactly as expected wow that's uh 760 horsepower for you pulling through like a freight train oh yeah but it's incredibly impressive how quickly that corvette gets off the line the weight over the back gets the traction certainly the first the first part of the dragon is off all right pulling back around then getting lined up are you ready to go for number two oh yeah i'm ready i'm kind of worried now because you have all that horsepower and you reeled me in all right ready and set let's get on the launch and let's go there he's off i might not be able to catch this time the power isn't enough for the lack of traction no he's through just ahead of me you had it lack of traction for me at the start couldn't get the grip couldn't get off the line there's just not enough power to catch you in the strip we're using come on baby we won we have 250 less horsepower it's all about traction isn't it there's so much more to this game it's not just brute power for the third run here i've decided to turn down the rpm on my launch control slightly to see if that helps me get some grip but this is it this is it we've had one one each so far let's see what happens on run number three all right one to one this is the tie breaker pressure is on get the revs go yes yes i've got it this time i mean he's ahead of me right now but this is where the power comes through wow that was surprisingly close that was epic i mean we were really quite close there it's all about traction though isn't it if this can get the grip this will get through absolutely uh if we had any more distance you would keep running away from me the thing with having the car in the drag strip mode is that of course it puts the powertrain into maximum attack but it leaves the suspension in the softest possible settings with the magnaride which is all to do with allowing the car to pitch so that you get as much weight as possible over the rear axle to get the grip the funny thing about that now though is that when we come on the road course back up towards the top you've got the steering in normal the suspension in drag strip i.e super soft and it gives a very strange very wallowy drive going around a race track in drag strip mode would be a complete and total mess because the front just leans away when you go around any corner it's actually fascinating how much the technology and the adjustable setup of the car allows that to differentiate as we pivot the front corner completely rolling over there around the corner yeah different type of driving experience to any of the other modes but just shows you how critical the computers are to exactly what's going on when you do this kind of thing well that went more or less as expected two wins to the gt500 and one win to the c8 pretty much depending upon traction when it's on the move the gt500 with its significant power advantage just storms on through but to get on the move that's where the c8 accelerates into its own the power over the rear axle being significantly lighter than the ford mustang and just able to take off before the gt500 is playing catch-up and eventually overtaking but we've seen that in that car it is quite difficult to get it to grip to get it to stick down on the ground and that's what it comes down to if it was a rolling race it would be a clear winner every time i think the gt500 dropping the gears and just getting on the fly but this is a pretty special car in fact both of them are incredible cars when you consider their value for money performance bang for buck that they offer competing with significantly more expensive european equivalents let's say but the corvette an awesome car i haven't shown you everything around it what i love about this car is how much storage space you get for a mid-engined supercar let's just open up the trunk very quickly pop this up you've got a big amount of space back here if you don't have the convertible you have the space as well significantly larger with the engine sitting behind obviously in this case we've got the folding hardtop and you have soft close on this as well tuck it down and it tucks itself in the stingray graphic there on the back but obviously a much more compact car than the gt500 when you look at them sitting side by side not having to stuff a massive engine up front but really these two head to head have been quite fantastic and also to get to drive this again i think it's a really really interesting car especially when you consider that they start at 60 000 now some of you might be saying it wasn't fair to bring this we should have waited for the z06 the z06 which might be a fairer competitor but of course the price would be lifting as well going in above the gt500 sorry it's very windy here also today out on the drag strip but a huge thanks to hennessey the opportunity to drive with the c8 convertible today and for alex to join as well and of course to wijo to learn about the connected car technologies that feature inside the c8s and the benefits that can come from those also for now though back on the road with the gt500 i hope you enjoyed this video thank you very much for watching do let me know if those are the results that you expected from the drag race featuring these two that's it for now though i'll see you again very soon cheers you\n"