Four years ago, Motor Trend pitted two iconic cars against each other, the Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Chevrolet Grand Sport, which resulted in the German car completely dominating the American muscle. This 2017, the same players are on it again, with the same cars but with a lot of new surprises.
The Porsche houses a flat-six, 3.8-liter, turbocharged engine that produces 580 horsepower at 6750 rpm. The Carrera distributes power on all wheels and can seat up to 4 passengers, including the driver, which also makes it great for a small family car to go on a nice weekend drive.
The Corvette Grand Sport, on the other hand, is powered by a 6.2-liter V8 engine that produces up to 460 horsepower at 6000 rpm. Power is transmitted to the rear wheels, and the car only has room for the driver and one additional passenger.
Both cars have good fuel consumption estimates, with the Carrera scoring 22-mpg city driving, and 28 mpg on the highway, and the Corvette having an estimate of 16 mpg on the city, and 25 on the highway. Both cars feature stability and traction control and run on unleaded premium, according to Motor Trend.
Depending on the budget, the Corvette is more affordable with a base price of $66,445 compared to the Carrera, which starts at $104,450. Both used the major price addition to performance upgrades and only used around $25,000 to $36,000 for the extras.
Looking at the test data, the Corvette definitely shows a huge power advantage, but the Porsche is actually quicker. One reason is the quick shift times of the Carrera compared to the manual shifting of the Corvette which would rely on how quick the driver changes gears.
However, the Corvette stops shorter, winning a stop of 90-feet compared to the other car's 97-feet. The stopping power can be a big factor for drivers that are pushing limits on the drag strip or the racetrack.
Power, speed, seating capacity, fuel consumption or budget, these will be all be defining factors. The consumers will be the verdict whether they will choose the 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport or the 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera S.
