Hybrid Corvette E-Ray to Serve as Indianapolis 500 Pace Car
Chevy’s hybrid, all-wheel-drive, mid-engined C8 Corvette E-Ray will serve as the Indianapolis 500 pace car later this month at the hallmark event’s 108th running.
The E-Ray is Chevy’s quickest Corvette ever, with a claimed 0–60 time of just 2.5 seconds. It pairs a 6.2-liter, naturally-aspirated, 495-horse V-8 turning the rear wheels with an electric motor on the front axle that motivates the front wheels. The combined system output is a meaty 655 horsepower, and that electric drive unit alone is good for 160 hp and 125 lb-ft of torque.
We first rode in the E-Ray back in January of last year and quickly discovered that this was a very unique experience within the Corvette world. It was the first all-wheel-drive Corvette to reach production, and the first to employ hybrid tech in service of greater performance.
Then, last fall, we finally got behind the wheel of the E-Ray and confirmed that the hybrid drivetrain had serious performance potential, while also feeling like the ideal grand touring Corvette of the C8 pack.
The Artic White E-Ray should shine brightly leading the pack of speedway-spec IndyCars. It’s a clever nod from the series to choose a performance-oriented hybrid to lead the lineup, especially since the series finally announced that it will incorporate a hybrid component into the race cars’ drivetrains beginning in July.
The E-Ray will join a long list of Corvettes that have paced the greatest spectacle in racing; to date, no model has lapped ahead of the IndyCar field more than a Corvette. We’ve seen that past iterations of Corvette Pace cars have become sought-after collectibles, so we’re just warning you: Don’t be surprised if some sort of commemorative E-Ray Pace Car edition pops up at your local dealership soon after the race.
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Kind of plain for a pace car.
That’s okay, it’s not gonna sit still for very long, so reading a lot of decals might be problematic anyway. 😛
Much preferred over the 1998 abomination.
Of course with Indy going hybrid ( sometimes ) it makes perfect sense. I rather like the simple plain jane appearance. Many of the previous pace cars have gone a bit too far on the graphics for my taste.Then I think the all body color option on the new Vette is a drastic improvement over the contrasting trim bits as well. Still I wish Roger would bring back the a different year a different manufacturers pace car program. I understand the why but still.
I admit pace cars don’t matter to me at all in the racing these days. I think it would have been cooler to debut the ZR1 myself or go with the Z06 instead but in the end it doesn’t matter.
It would be cool to see how fast F1″s could go at Indy!! I would prefer that over the semi hybrid cars coming…bring on the technology and see how fast they can go, just mot ALL ELECTRIC. If that comes, motorsports will be dead..