2008 Pratt and Miller Chevrolet Corvette C6RS - First Drive Review
What could possibly lie beyond the Chevy Corvette ZR1? This.
BY glenn matterson
May 2008
The Chevrolet Corvette has more power than most people would ever want. For those who aren’t satisfied with the 430 horsepower found under the base Corvette’s long, shapely hood, though, the truly decadent 505-hp Corvette Z06 steps it up a big notch to become one of the most capable and quick sports cars on the planet. Still want more? In 2009, the Corvette ZR1 returns as the new so-called King of the Hill, with 638 horsepower and a $100,000 price tag.
Then there are those for whom even that won’t do. And for them, Pratt & Miller builds the C6RS.
“The C6RS is what a Corvette can become when not restricted by the requirements of assembly-line-based manufacturing,” says spokesman Brandon Widmer of Pratt & Miller Engineering and Fabrication, the outfit GM hired to build its enigmatically successful C5.S and C6.R race cars. That’s right, the same cars that have been pummeling the field in American Le Mans Series races for years, and the same cars that have clinched five class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. If anyone knows how to make a Corvette more exciting, it’s these guys.
The C6RS was born when Chevrolet approached Pratt & Miller to develop some Corvette accessories in February 2006. Soon, however, it became clear that a full upgrade package would require a complete reengineering. “With the C6RS, we analyzed every major component of the production Corvette, looking for opportunities to optimize design for performance, durability, quality, and aesthetics,” says Widmer.
The result is the stunning coupe seen here. After our first drive of the thrilling coupe at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, we’d say that Pratt & Miller’s holistic efforts have paid off. The C6RS is a very refined, comprehensively modified, and extremely fast Corvette-based super-sports car. It clearly has the soul of a race car but is actually a fully finished, fully refined road car that would be impossible to replicate piece by piece. And at a price of about $260,000, it’s not one you’ll see every day.
C6.R-Inspired Styling
The C6RS is a stunning piece of sculpture. Every body panel except the roof, targa bar, decklid/backlight, and door skins have been replaced by unique, aerodynamically optimized carbon-fiber panels. “Many design cues come from the C6.R race car,” Widmer tells us, referencing the ‘“waterfall style” hood, the center-lock wheels, and the car’s most distinctive element, some four feet of front-fender louvers.
More carbon fiber can be found underlining every lower edge, jutting out from the chin spoiler, underneath the flared door sills, and across the whole rear end in the form of a wide air diffuser. The C6RS rides on a suspension lowered by 1.5 inches, so Pratt & Miller saw fit to incorporate a lift system to raise the car for steep driveway approaches, as well as drop the car an inch for a little bad-boy slam when parked at the local show-and-shine.
Certain aesthetics, such as the lights, are unchanged—a missed opportunity to impart some additional exotica, perhaps? But still others are altered, if only in subtle ways: The door pulls, for example, are filled in by a fraction of an inch; the fender ducts and the hood nostril are enlarged; the tacked-on Corvette flag icons front and rear are shaved to about half their thickness. A full-width rear lip spoiler spans the tail, looking better than the tacky black mini-lip on the Z06.
Look closely, and you’ll see a bit of C5 in the rear end. The reason is that the haunches stretch out farther laterally before dropping over the wheels, creating more of a slab-sided look, whereas the Z06 goes more for the flared-lip look. From behind, this makes for one massively wide derrière. A cool detail: The reverse lights are integrated into a thin LED strip just above the tailpipes.
