Porsche 911 GT3 vs Chevrolet Corvette Z06 comparison: Ultimate track showdown

Ever since Porsche first launched the 911 GT3 in 1999, it’s been the default choice if you’re serious about taking your road car onto a track. 

There’s a reason for that. Porsche developed the GT3 to take a thrashing. The earlier 996 and 997-generation cars were built around the bombproof Mezger engine and became the go-to choice for those seeking a welcome degree of functional over-engineering.

Later 991 and 992 variants have used a different engine, the so-called Mader unit, and, after some initial teething issues, it too has become a byword for mechanical toughness. But even this mechanical masterpiece has run into the buffers of emissions regulations.

That’s why this latest version of the 911 GT3, the 992.2 iteration, makes no more power than its predecessor and has a 20Nm deficit in torque. For the very first time in its life, the 911 GT3 might well be vulnerable to competition.

That competition doesn’t come much fiercer than that posed by the Corvette Z06. This mid-engined monster fronts up with a 5.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 that develops an easy 100kW more than the German car. It’s just as mechanically robust, it’s a whole lot cheaper, and it turns more heads.

The Porsche 911 GT3 is the yardstick against which all performance track day cars are judged, but the sun sets on every empire. Is the GT3’s era finally over? It’s a huge question for performance car fans. 

The format for this test comprises a session on-track at the Calder Park National Circuit. We’ll delve into the data from that session to see which of these two cars delivers the results flat-out on-track and which serves up the bigger thrills.

After that, we head out to one of our favourite hill routes to see which vehicle manages its compromises for road use more smartly. After that we’ll bring you a verdict. No horses for courses. No punches pulled. That’s what you came here for, right?

Let’s get the unseemly matter of money out of the way first, because things here go quite asymmetric. 

The retail price for the Porsche 911 GT3, whether it's manual or automatic, is $449,100 plus on-roads. The one we tested also wears $127,980 worth of options. Perhaps we should have warned you before dropping that one on you.

Whereas you could only specify the Weissach Package on RS-badged 911s, for the first time, you can build it onto the standard GT3. It’s combined here with the Lightweight Package, and in total they feature Carbon-Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) parts, including the roof, rear wing and side plates, anti-roll bar, coupling rods, shear panel on the rear axle, wing-mirror shells and front air blades.

The package also includes extended leather and Race-Tex interior trim as well as CFRP door pulls. This GT3 was also specified with the no-cost Clubsport option and comes with gold magnesium wheels. We suddenly became very wary of kerbs after seeing that $33,480 line item.

By contrast, the Corvette Z06 looks positively affordable. It lists in 3LZ trim at an RRP of $336,000 for our MY25 example, but this one also gets a go-faster pack, the Z07 Performance Package, which adds carbon-ceramic brakes, Magneride adjustable dampers, and a carbon-fibre aero package. 

It’s also supposed to include a set of sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tyres, but this particular vehicle is riding on a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. It’s a great road tyre, but it’s clear from the off that it’s not going to do the 'Vette many favours on-track.

The eagle-eyed among you might have spotted that Aussie Z06s don’t have the same centre exhaust as US market cars. There’s a reason for that and, yes, it too comes down to emissions.

Australian cars are fitted with a different exhaust system that incorporates a petrol particulate filter. This drops power from the US-spec 500kW down to a still-healthy 475kW. Likewise, torque drops from 623Nm to 595Nm.

There are a number of big differences that we could comment upon here, but the key difference between these cars isn’t the price or the power. It’s their liaison with the bitumen. 

While our Corvette rides on that Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyre, the Porsche features a more track-oriented Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyre, which delivers considerably more traction on a circuit, but which finds itself a little more compromised for road use in terms of refinement and all-weather ability. 

Let’s get to Calder.

After laying dormant for competition use for nearly 20 years, Calder Park was recommissioned for 2023, with club and state-level racing returning to this iconic venue. The home of the Australian Grand Prix from 1980 to 1984, Calder once attracted world champions such as Alan Jones, Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg.

Nowadays, the aspirations are considerably more modest, but the 2.3km National Circuit still presents a particular challenge to any performance car. 

The start/finish straight is a 965m barrel into a hairpin right, whereupon the track returns via three very different right/left chicanes before presenting a tight bend with a complex challenge of surfaces to get back onto the straight.

It’s surprisingly technical and tests power, brakes and agility. It lacks a big-commitment high-speed corner like Doohan at Phillip Island or The Sweeper at Winton, but with lap times hovering just over a minute, repeatability is a big plus.

With more weight to stop and a tyre that could struggle with 475kW out of each of the tight corners, the Corvette would clearly have to lean heavily on its power advantage at Calder. 

Prior to the test, we’d envisaged that the car from Bowling Green, Kentucky would demolish the 911 on the straight, whereupon Weissach’s finest would then proceed to eke the time back on the twisty bits. 

It didn’t quite work out like that, but more on that later.

For the purpose of consistency, we drove both cars in their Sport and Track modes, the latter being used to set the lap times. Both gearboxes were operated in their manual modes via the wheel-mounted paddles. Because it was a near 40-degree day, we kept the air conditioning fired up on both cars.

The Corvette’s ideal traction and stability-control settings lie somewhere between Sport and Track. In the former, it was just too cautious, tamping down power at the slightest hint of wheelspin. 

In Track mode, it was spectacularly lenient, requiring the driver to manage significant oversteer on the way into the corners on a trailed brake pedal and on the way out under acceleration.

As a result, the Corvette demanded a more disciplined, and therefore slightly slower, driving style than the 911, waiting for the nose to approximate straight ahead before carefully feeding the throttle.

It was certainly not lacking in drama, the flat-plane V8 roaring down the main straight with real purpose. 

Some have groused at the sound of this V8 – the first engine designed exclusively for the Corvette since the DOHC LT5 from the 1990s ZR-1 – but at full noise on-track it certainly gets your attention.

It lacks the purity of the screaming top registers of something like a Ferrari 458 Italia, the more restrictive exhaust seeing to that, but it’s a monster of a powerplant, angry and full-throated at maximum attack.

Stand trackside as the Z06 comes past at flat chat and you won’t think it’s in any way anodyne. The sound reflects and phases off the concrete walls and stands at Calder, creating a mighty sonic wave. You can’t help but laugh out loud at it. The engine sounds unburstable.

Peak speed along the straight was 232.7km/h before punching the Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes hard. The track narrows and dips sharply downhill in the middle of the braking zone, making this corner an absolute killer for the stoppers.

A shimmy, a squiggle and 222 metres later, the Vette entered the corner at 90.8km/h. For what is an innocuous-looking long hairpin, this is an easy corner to get wrong. There was some experimentation to be had with the line through here. The Corvette is definitely more forgiving of some line choices than others.

Turn-in feel is a little approximate in the Z06 and the steering doesn’t really communicate tyre loading as well as we’d like. You find yourself reacting to rather than pre-empting what the car is doing at the limits of grip. Throughout this corner, it feels as if you’re chasing the Corvette somewhat. 

It does react crisply to your interventions, but there’s a layer of opacity here that just nicks away at your confidence a little.

Patience is required on corner exit, opening the steering as early as possible and carefully feeding the throttle, trying to provoke neither excessive wheelspin nor a big traction-control intervention. The Corvette’s ‘squircle’ steering wheel gives you a pretty clear idea of straight ahead. It looks a bit odd, but we like it.

The run to the first chicane is scary. It’s here that you feel the brutality of the Z06’s acceleration as it hooks up and goes, jetting from 72.2km/h to 121.3km/h in about 110 metres before you have to leap onto the picks again.

There’s something about the power delivery here that feels almost runaway, as if you’re not going to be able to rein in the Corvette, such is its potency. This section has me getting a bit dry-mouthed at how fast the Corvette will feel on-road if you ever get the opportunity to really mat the pedal. 

Tyre temperature is key to this chicane. That and not getting too greedy on the right-hander, prioritising your exit instead of the left for the run up the next straight.

Go in too hard on a cold tyre and you feel the nose skating wide and that’s the lap done for. Again, a measure of patience is required in order to get the car pointed straight for the run up and over an unsighted crest.

In the Z06’s Track mode, if you stay committed in second here, you’ll encounter manic wheelspin as the vehicle goes light over the crest, and there’s little you can do other than back out of the throttle. It’s best to snick up into third early to ensure traction all the way to the next flick-flack.

This one is fast. The Corvette decelerates to 117km/h ahead of these bends, but in reality it could probably jet through 10km/h faster. It's a hard line to master. Next time, maybe.

The exit onto the next straight shows where many drivers have dipped a wheel into the dirt on the right, and there are the remains of tyre arcs that head straight into the concrete wall on the left. 

Because it’s a day, the dirt was dry and tacky, so running wide here doesn’t spell an automatic end-swapper.

The subsequent chicane is a little longer and more straightforward, but you approach even faster, so it’s another test for the brakes. Exit out of this one, and a kerb juts into your exit line. I try nerfing it a few times to see how the Corvette copes. Pretty well, all told. 

Yes, the spring rates are 200 per cent stiffer at the front and 100 per cent stiffer at the rear than the garden-variety Corvette Stingray, but it’s by no means an unyielding platform. Get too enthusiastic, however, and this kerb can bounce you up onto one side at a fairly rakish angle.

From there it’s a sharp right and then a traction test as the track crosses the drag strip. Then pin the throttle and hang on for the line. Given the savagery of the Z06’s acceleration, it’s surprisingly easy to think you’re foot to the boards when you’re in fact part-throttle.

A little more resolve pays dividends at the other end of the straight. The Corvette Z06 is one of those cars that asks some hard questions of its driver.

The Corvette’s best lap of the session was 1:05.02. A more focused tyre would have probably shaved at least a second off this time. The repeated point-and-squirt nature of the back section of Calder just doesn't do the traction-limited Corvette any great favours.

A handful of laps sees the tyres wave the white flag and demand some cooling. A lot is being asked of them, and while the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S is amazing in its bandwidth, these tyres have been set an extreme task today and one where they’ve been overmatched by the small matter of 475kW and soaring track temperatures.

Can we let you in on a secret? This test nearly didn’t happen. Keen to get some static photography done as early as possible, we lined the cars up on an apron next to the circuit, only to spot a huge screw embedded into the Porsche’s front tyre.

It was clearly one of the fixings for the tyre wall, and it looked to have spelled the end of any sort of driving. Fortunately, after some investigation, these fixings flicked off the treadblock and hadn’t compromised the air seal. Game on.

The 911 GT3 is all business: the learning curve isn’t anywhere near as steep as the Corvette Z06, and I've had plenty of past experience such that getting back in the hot seat isn't overwhelming.

Straight off the bat, it feels serious. The hip-hugging bucket seats pinion you into position, while the view in the mirror is just a cat’s cradle of carbon-fibre, first roll cage and then rear wing. 

Somewhat surprisingly given the amount of option spend poured into this 911, it runs normal cast-iron brake discs and not Porsche’s excellent carbon-ceramic discs. Bang the brakes and there’s a puff of pad material, but plenty of stopping power and feel.

As a result, the 911 brakes later than the Corvette, continuing for another 10 metres at speed before the brakes are applied. With 226kg less mass to contend with, you feel more confident to push the braking distances out, and with more communicative steering, find greater resolve on turn-in.

Greater resolve, but not greater speed. The data trace shows a 7km/h speed advantage for the Corvette in the initial phase of the corner. The Porsche is able to deploy meaningful power far earlier from mid-corner, realising a speed advantage that it doesn’t cede along the next straight.

Without wishing to sound like a broken record, it’s the tyres again. At 100km/h, the Corvette’s rear tyre contact patch is both longer and wider than the Porsche’s, offering a massive 31 per cent more rubber to the road. Quality beats quantity, though.

The Porsche’s tyre compound is stickier and more tenacious, and more than overcomes this statistical disadvantage as a result. Weight distribution has little to do with it. In fact, the Corvette’s 40:60 front-to-rear weight balance is even more tail-biased than the 42:58 of the rear-engined Porsche.

So while the 911 doesn’t feel anything like as manic in the sprint to the first chicane, it’s carrying more speed out of the first corner. Less point and squirt, if you like.

Although it feels impossible on-road, you can push the 911 GT3 into understeer on the tight 90-degree rights if you go in too hard and/or lift off the brake pedal too quickly. So even though the 911 initially feels as flat as a tack, at elevated speeds you need to manage weight transfer. It’s a GT3, but the laws of physics still apply. It’s been made a little easier this time round, though.

This 992.2-generation of the GT3 features revised suspension geometry that includes an additional measure of anti-dive. In effect, it adopts the revised ball joint and lower control arms of the 992.1 GT3 RS’s front suspension. The steeper angle means that, under braking, it generates a torque that helps counteract the suspension’s natural compression, reducing nose-dive.

All very technical, but does it work? Porsche claims that from 200km/h, the 992.1 GT3 would dive 12mm at the front. With this new car that’s reduced to 6mm. It doesn’t sound a lot, but it’s noticeable on-track, where the amount of fore/aft pitching is significantly reduced on the entry to corners.

This car also features revised bump stops on the dampers, specifically designed to give the pistons within the dampers more travel, especially when bouncing over kerbs. We are thankful for that through Calder’s fast switchback, where the Porsche gobbles up bumps that send the Corvette airborne.

The seven-speed PDK transmission is lightning-quick in its response and almost unfaultable here. It’s happier being downshifted to a point near the redline than the Corvette’s gearbox, but otherwise there’s very little to pick between them. 

The GT3 offers the choice of a three-pedal manual, but here at Calder it’d be considerably slower around the lap. Does that matter? I guess that depends on your perspective. Some love to delve into data and figure out how to get faster, others just want to revel in the sensations of the experience, so there’s really no right answer.

For us, a 911 GT3 in this sort of specification makes more sense with the slick-shifting PDK. It makes it an angrier, more urgent car that you feel more inclined to drive to its limits. If it were the manual, we suspect we'd dial back a few degrees mentally.

It’s easy to work into a more consistent flow across a series of laps in the Porsche than the Corvette. That’s not to say that the high points in the Porsche are necessarily higher than the Z06, it’s just that its on-limit behaviour is better communicated and easier to manage.

The sound is something else too. It's common to be pushing the limiter on occasions because the top notes of this flat-six are just so addictive. You want more. It’s a pure, clean sound, not as angry or as intimidating as the fusillade from the Corvette, but still absolutely scintillating.

Flash across the line and the VBOX shows that at 1.03.69, the Porsche is a clear 1.33 seconds quicker than the Corvette. That’s significant across a track that’s only 2296 metres long.

So first blood to the Porsche then? In terms of outright lap time, yes, but the real answer isn’t as clear cut as the VBOX lap timer made it look. 

Put identical Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres on the Corvette  – and they’re supposed to be part of the Z07 pack that our Corvette otherwise wears – and the results would have been a whole lot closer. In that regard, it's fair to say that the 'Vette emerges with its honour intact.

The data throws up some absolutely fascinating insights. There’s a point where both cars are lineball at 100km/h while accelerating out of the final corner onto the straight. They’re still absolutely neck-and-neck at 180km/h as they flash over the start/finish line.

Yet at 455m into the lap, when the Corvette needs to start braking for the first corner, the Z06 is registering 232.7km/h and the 911 GT3 237.6km/h. That particular fact had us all shocked and wasn't something we appreciated until we started crunching the numbers after the track activity.

How does a 375kW car with a flat-six atmo engine accelerate down the straight faster than a 475kW V8?

It’s certainly not down to aerodynamics. The Corvette features a 0.37 drag coefficient, the Porsche a 0.35 figure, but the 911 presents a greater frontal area, almost cancelling out its slipperier shape. So, all other things being equal and taking weight into account, the Corvette should only require 4.7kW more to achieve the same terminal speed on Calder’s straight than the Porsche.

Gearing is the answer, as prosaic as that sounds. The new 911 GT3 features an 8 per cent shorter final drive than before, whereas the Corvette, which ought to wield an advantage with its eight-speed transmission, reserves gears six, seven and eight as long overdrive gears. To illustrate that point, those ratios have theoretical (clearly) in-gear speeds of 405km/h, 518km/h and 696km/h respectively.

In other words, the Porsche makes more of what it has. In contrast its top gear redlines at 299.24km/h and gears two, three and four are shorter than the 'Vette’s. Fourth gear in the Porsche is geared to 201km/h, while it revs out at 233km/h in the Corvette. 

This means that at the end of the straight, the Corvette is nudging the limiter at the top of fourth, while the Porsche is plugged straight into the meat of the torque curve in fifth. Details like these matter, and it’s why the 911 GT3 emerges as the more effective track car than the Corvette Z06. In the gears that matter it punches harder, earlier.

The 911’s stability control and traction-control calibrations are also better than the Corvette’s. Whereas the Z06 often kills power quite markedly when it detects wheel slip and is then slow to reintroduce it when traction is regained, the Porsche’s traction logic always defaults to quelling as little power as possible to keep the vehicle stable. 

In many cases, you hear rather than feel the Porsche's stability control at work; a very light fluttering sound signalling that power has been capped rather than killed.

Buyers will love the Corvette’s in-car data displays and the brilliant performance recorder, which can do most of the functions of a VBOX data logger, overlaying the vehicle’s camera footage with performance data. It’s very trick, and it’s something that owners will doubtless love.

We also had the chance to give the two cars a quick squirt down Calder’s drag strip. The Corvette recorded 3.54 seconds and the 911 GT3 tripped the clocks at 3.60 seconds. With a few repeats we could have doubtless gone quicker, but we were focused on performance on the track rather than in a straight line. 

Both cars impressed. The Porsche was purer and more exploitable, the Corvette more dramatic and challenging to get on top of. Neither will disappoint if you’re looking for track day entertainment. 

Money no object? The Porsche would probably get most people's votes, but there would be a stack of capability to lean into with the Corvette on a seriously sticky set of tyres. You'd need to take the brave pills to exploit it, that's for sure.

Far away from the no-holds-barred, full-throttle track action, our Corvette Z06 and 911 GT3 are more likely to spend their time within the confines of lane markings, speed limits and road rules. That isn't to say these cars become a bore, but this comparison was always about which one can impress the most in both road and track domains.

With that in mind, we chose a special stretch of road at the foothills of Victoria's Yarra Valley to find out which one delivers on thrills for the Sunday drive.

The C424 stretch between Launching Place and Gembrook is a sinewy string of corners that's quiet, smooth and challenging for all kinds of cars. But it really comes alive when you've got agile cars like the Corvette Z06 and 911 GT3 at your disposal.

The Chevrolet Corvette feels like the more natural place to start for this road component. You slip into a broad set of comfy seats (which are less bucketed than what's offered over in the States) that feel surprisingly plush for a track-goer, and there's arguably less theatre without a set of monkey bars behind your head.

That being said, there is a great, big 5.5-litre V8 in its place, which is viewable through a small pane of glass as part of the bulkhead between cabin and engine bay.

It's loud. Much louder than we expected for this new type of flat-plane V8, which is meant to be more subdued and sonorous, rather than loud and boisterous as has been the Corvette's character. This new 5.5-litre engine is akin to something hailing from Maranello. It revs higher, by about 2000rpm, and it's here, beyond the 8000rpm rev range, that you want to play the most.

The V8's exhaust note is still as loud and obnoxious as you'd expect, but the flat-plane crank lends a refined quality that makes the noise shriek rather than belch.

While there are multiple drive modes available, including Tour and Track, it was Sport that we spent the majority of our time in. It strikes the best balance, shifting the car's character toward a sportier intent with firm adaptive dampers and a lively driveline that holds onto gears, without becoming so overbearing that you'll wish you were back on a racetrack rather than pockmarked, poorly paved roads.

Of the two cars, it's easily the Corvette Z06 that's more comfortable for road driving. Whereas the 911 GT3 feels lively and on edge at every moment, or near-to anyway, the 'Vette takes longer to kick into the right gear, the suspension is slightly wallowier, and the steering rack isn't nearly as fast as the instinctive GT3's setup.

But, it's still a standout performer in isolation, and its 5.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 give you a proper warp-speed sensation as you pin the throttle. With 475kW sent solely through the rear wheels, traction can be a limiting factor on the road in much the same way as it hampered the Corvette's performance on-track.

Especially without the circuit-biased rubber that the GT3's shod with, the Corvette Z06 draws on its traction-control system's smarts regularly in Sport mode to ensure you're not overdriving the thing or punching the throttle too soon out of corners. You have to be that much more careful with throttle inputs.

It's a different story on the slowdown, though. The braking ability provided by the massive carbon-ceramic brakes is incredibly strong. There’s a reassuring feel to how rapidly the Corvette can pull up to a halt, and the brake feel is predictable at the pedal.

We questioned the suitability of the Corvette's targa-top roof at the racetrack, but it's out on the open road where it became a surprisingly enjoyable value-add to an otherwise razor-focused track car. Being able to pop the Corvette's roof – which is common among all variants – is a neat party trick that adds to the overall Corvette charm.

You hear the engine that little bit better, the sunshine beams through into the cabin, and it makes the interior feel less claustrophobic. That latter point is an important one, because the Corvette can feel snug for both driver and passenger.

The driver is hemmed in by the stupendously long bank of buttons (soon to be fixed on MY26 cars), and the steering wheel doesn't go high enough for taller drivers. You do eventually find your place, but it's not as easy to get acquainted with as the 911 GT3.

If there's one area where the Corvette Z06 trumps the 911 GT3, it's the characterful aura and appeal appreciated by just about everyone you pass. Whereas the 911 GT3 draws an upturned nose and passers-by who simply don't acknowledge you, it's the Corvette that has school kids calling out, and plenty of thumbs-up from other drivers.

It's a phenomenon that's at odds with our predictions, given the fact that Corvettes haven't graced our roads for the past half-century like the 911. However, the attention-grabbing nature of the Corvette is fun for the driver too – it makes you laugh and giggle along with pedestrians and, dare we say, warms your heart.

Compare and contrast to the 911 GT3, in which we both had instances of other motorists cutting us off on the highway, and received no grace from other drivers when trying to merge in stop-start traffic. It definitely feels as though it'd have more appeal on a racetrack or at a car event as opposed to the Corvette's all-round, anytime appeal.

As much as racetracks are what the 911 GT3 was made for, the next-best arena to deploy its performance is on a quiet back road far away from the cut and thrust of suburbia.

It's here where the GT3's rough suspension, creaks and rattles, and lack of noise suppression are forgiven – because the GT3 is not only hyper-focused on going fast, but it's equally as capable at putting a smile on its driver's face.

Getting inside the cabin is a bit more acrobatic thanks to the heavily bucketed Clubsport seats, and there's more sense of occasion thanks to the roll cage behind your head, but it still feels well built and well appointed – as it should for a car that merely starts from $449,100.

The seats are proper bucketed that feel lower positioned than what's offered in the Corvette, but there is more bolstering that ensures both driver and passenger are stuck fast in their pews without the possibility of slippage or movement. Good thing that all the relevant controls fall easily to hand, including the infotainment screen, which also contains a fair amount of the car's controls and settings.

Largely, the 911 GT3’s interior is fuss-free and dedicated to the art of driving fast. There’s no piece out of place or without function, and panels are decked out in beautiful finishes – think fine leather, exquisite stitching, and rigid switchgear. It does feel better appointed than the Corvette Z06 in materials and build, but it costs a whole lot more too.

Interestingly, you still fire up the car using a turn-key switch as opposed to the rest of the 911 range's starter button, but once the naturally aspirated 4.0-litre turns over, you're rewarded with a satisfying bark. Like the Corvette, it's not loud to the point of being antisocial at mundane speeds. But, that iconic flat-six-cylinder makes its presence known – in no uncertain terms – the longer you keep your foot pinned to the plush carpet.

It's joined by all manner of unrefined noises – there are jolts, whines, clicks, and hums as the car moves at all speeds – but this is the price of entry to a 911 GT3. These are the competition car tropes that give the GT3 such a sense of occasion.

Even at modest speeds getting to the C424 itself, the ripping-quick PDK gearshifts are noticeable and appreciated. There's no hesitation as the 911 gets up to speed and the driver has no need or prompt to take care of the seven speeds themselves – the car's that good at serving the right ratio at any given time.

Calling upon another harder-edged driving mode is as simple as flicking the dial on the steering wheel, where Sport and beyond change the car's character markedly.

It's Sport that's the best suitor to our stretch of bitumen, which also opens the car's active exhaust system up to full noise – yikes, it's intoxicating. Whereas the Corvette surprisingly leans more refined in its note, the GT3 is pure shriek and shrill. Revving the GT3 out to its full 9000rpm rev limit is a serious exercise in commitment – it's that loud and that intense.

It's got the bite to match the bark. The powertrain is beautifully linear in how it puts power down to the ground, and you don't have nearly the same hesitation in extracting the most out of it and merely hoping that the traction control kicks in. The up-spec tyres have a big part to play here, but the GT3's powertrain is also more predictable in nature.

A total of 375kW is delivered right at the 9000rpm point, and peak torque of 450Nm is not far behind at 6250rpm. It means you really have to hang onto gears for as long as possible to eke out all the car can give.

The uncanny ability with which the GT3 soaked up bumps on the way out to the Yarra Valley was a welcome surprise in a car designed to stay resolutely flat on a racetrack. Wick the car up into its firmer suspension settings, though, and you're equally rewarded with a chassis that holds its composure as convincingly as the best through switchback corners.

Its steering is not only quick, but incredibly accurate in pointing the front wheels through a bend. You're easily able to make minute adjustments, even mid-corner, to change the car's track and hone your line. The car rockets out the other side purposefully and without flair – it simply takes off and leaves a scintillating, high-pitched cacophony of noise in its wake.

This is the key with the GT3. The ability for it to go fast in whatever setting it finds itself in is proven – especially in capable hands. But, it feels the more approachable of the two so that even amateur drivers feel like heroes behind the steering wheel.

And, the joy it brings whoever's lucky enough to be sitting in the hot seats can't be understated.

Feeling a bit broader, a bit lazier, and generally more comfortable, you might expect the still-ravenous Corvette Z06 as the better car to drive on-road. While it's ridiculously fun in its own right, and even comes with value-adds such as the targa top that the GT3 can't match, it's the Porsche that feels more entertaining on the road.

You don't have to be a whizz behind the wheel to extract incredible performance, and the tactility of its controls make you feel more connected to the car. It sounds like a cliché, but it's true.

Chevrolet's best results in a blisteringly entertaining car in isolation, but stepping up to the hot plate against the GT3 reveals cracks in its execution. Much the same as we found on the racetrack, the Z06's traction-control system gets a solid workout in hastening the incredible 475kW at its disposal.

The driving position isn't as focused, the cabin feels more cramped, its change of direction isn't as sharp, and its soundtrack doesn't hit the same high notes as that experienced in the 911.

In saying all this, the Corvette Z06 earns back points on its cool factor – it appeals to a wider audience than the Porsche, drawing more oohs and ahhs from passers-by.

And, let's be honest with ourselves, that's partially why some buy supercars in the first place, right?

In planning this comparison, we were primarily interested in how close a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 could get to a known quantity in the Porsche 911 GT3. The latter has countless trophies in all manner of motorsport categories, and while it's true that Corvettes compete convincingly on the international racing circuit, it's Porsche that's best known for transposing that experience into its road cars.

The C8-generation is not the first time Chevrolet has created a track-ready Z06 version of its Corvette, but it's by far the most accomplished of the lot.

Chevrolet wants you to believe the C8 Z06 will go as fast around corners as it does down a drag strip. They want the Corvette Z06 to compete on the world stage alongside sophisticated rivals like Ferraris, Aston Martins and Porsches.

And, we can say for the first time, it's now worthy of being mentioned in the same class as those high water marks.

Worth calling back into the equation as well – it's at least six-figures-cheaper than those cars too.

But, money no object, it's the Porsche 911 GT3 that we'd both rather have parked in our garages. That it's able to go fast around a racetrack is a given, but it also makes its driver and passenger giggle with delight on the open road, which is why it's the car that we fought over the keys for on the drive home.

The Corvette came away having earned a healthy dose of respect. But it's Porsche that claims line honours this time round.

Tom started out in the automotive industry by exploiting his photographic skills but quickly learned journalists got the better end of the deal. With tenures at CarAdvice, Wheels Media, and now Drive, Tom's breadth of experience and industry knowledge informs a strong opinion on all things automotive. At Drive, Tom covers automotive news, car reviews, advice, and holds a special interest in long-form feature stories.

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