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Photos of steering wheels supposedly belonging to the Chevrolet Corvette C8’s quicker Z06 variant have surfaced on social media, fanning the flames of one of the most hotly anticipated performance cars in recent history.
According to a Reddit post, the image above first reached the internet via Facebook, though its original poster was not identified. Four of the partially disassembled, airbag-less wheels closest to the photographer are labeled “destructive testing,” which suggests that the photo could have been taken anywhere along the line between one of General Motors’s suppliers and government test facilities.
These wheels’ overall shapes and button layout mirror those of the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette, but with top and bottom quarters finished in carbon fiber rather than the entry-level model’s leather. While this alone doesn’t necessarily point to these being Z06 steering gear, as a similarly finished wheel was available for the C7, there’s also a metal plaque at the wheel’s bottom, inlaid with at least three characters. They aren’t quite legible, but they look like they at least could say Z06.
Little is known about the rest of the upcoming Corvette Z06, though rumors of the engine that could power this model are bountiful. GM has confirmed that a twin-cam V8 with a flat-plane crankshaft—derived from the power plant used in the Corvette C8.R race car—will propel a road-legal C8 at some point, and while such an engine seems ideal for the Z06, there isn’t yet indication that this model will be produced in numbers any greater than those required to race the car (minimum 300 road cars).
There are also whispers that the Z06 could pick up twin-turbo power, courtesy of a modified, 4.2-liter Cadillac “Blackwing” V8, but if we had to guess which C8 will get forced induction, our money would be on the seemingly inevitable ZR1.
