The 2015 Chicago Auto Show is wrapping up, and it doesn’t get to make the same big announcements as a couple of its sister shows in the United States. I’m taking a flyer to change all that in defense of midwestern importance.
Tucked in between Detroit’s North American International Auto Show in January and the New York International Auto Show each spring (with the Geneva Auto Show also squeezed in there to choke the automotive news calendar a bit more), the big show at Chicago’s McCormick Place offers all of the gleaming metal and hot models without any of internationally significant “car of the year” announcements.
Detroit gets to announce North American Car of the Year, and New York’s town criers herald World Car of the Year. The Chicago Auto Show gets to show off some new models, but the show lacks a really big finish.
To that end, I’m going to lend my lonely voice to the Chicago finale and announce my Midwestern Auto Show Car of 2015 (or at least the first two months of it, given it’s only February). There’s no trophy because we’d need too big a base to fit all of that name. And, I’d like an unnecessary drumroll, but I’m more likely to find some different and equally unnecessary thing to bang on here in Chicago – like Jay Cutler’s helmet.
Related: 2015 Dodge SRT Charger Hellcat
Let’s stow the jokes and just go ahead to select the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 as the best car I’ve driven thus far in this spritely young year. It was on full display on the Chicago Auto Show floor throughout the event’s run, and it looks great with its modernized, sweeping and bulked up take on classic Corvette styling. But, you can only get a true appreciation for a car like the new Z06 on a proper racetrack.
Chevrolet invited me to the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch outside Las Vegas for a day of Corvette track testing. The desert facility offers multiple courses, and its twists and turns allowed automotive writers in attendance to push the American Supercar as far as possible without really flirting with its 200+ mph top speed.
With an MSRP of about $79,000, but with trim levels that’ll take up much closer to $100K, the 2015 Z06 doesn’t mess around with measly six cylinder engines that pretend to be powerful with aid of umpteen turbochargers. It offers a massive, supercharged 6.2 liter V8, packing 650 horsepower. Whether on track or driving desert highways, the power was immediate, dominating and chilling. A twitch of the anterior tibial (the muscle that enables the foot to move upward, by the way) sends the car into an angry frenzy from any gear.
Because there is a God, this 2015 Corvette comes standard with a seven speed manual transmission on the floor. Grab a gear and roar. However, the new optional automatic transmission with paddle shifters is shockingly good. In fact, in timed laps, the automatic version outran the manual consistently. That’s a badge of honor to the new car’s engineers out in Troy, Michigan. And, unlike American performance cars of the past, there’s no sign of the numb, clunky straight axel handling. The independent suspension is computer adjustable, allowing what is a fairly big performance car to handle as well as its rivals form overseas.
I digress for a moment before concluding: Don’t call it a ‘Vette, anymore than you’d call Ford’s classic everyman sports car a ‘Stang. Both offenses label you a nuclear clown who should be beaten to death via tire iron. Moving on…
Fuel economy numbers are officially Who.Cares mpg as Z06 exists to thrill and amaze. Trees be damned.
Until we see what the upcoming new Ford GT can do when it arrives sometime in 2016, the Corvette Z06 will remain America’s premiere claim to supercar status.
