The 2027 Chevy Corvette Grand Sport Is Back With a Huge New Engine

• What's new: The Chevy Corvette Grand Sport has rear-wheel drive and 535 horsepower and could cost between $90K and $100K.
• Why it matters: The Grand Sport introduces a new 6.7-liter V8 to the Corvette lineup.
• Edmunds says: Optional Performance and Track packages make the Grand Sport a Corvette Z06 on a budget.

The big news

The Grand Sport returns, filling the performance and styling gap between the standard Corvette Stingray and the track-focused Z06. Available in coupe or convertible body styles, the Grand Sport will also offer all-wheel drive, thanks to the electrically powered front axle from the Corvette E-Ray. This model is called the Grand Sport X, and should satisfy the Corvette buyers who are not afraid of a little bad weather.

Visually, the Grand Sport and Grand Sport X adopt the wider body of the Z06 and feature distinct graphics packages, including the hash marks on the rear fenders. If you're wondering where those came from, they first made an appearance on the 1996 Grand Sport — it's a heritage thing. Grand Sports will also feature a standard performance exhaust system, MagneRide (Chevy's excellent adaptive suspension system) and a shorter final drive ratio to give it quicker acceleration — as if the new engine won't do that all on its own. More on that below.

The rear-wheel-drive Grand Sport is available with two major performance packages. The Performance package adds Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires (a summer performance tire upgrade from the standard all-season tires) and the brakes from the Z06. Going a lot further, the Track package includes carbon-ceramic brakes, a carbon-fiber aero kit similar to what you get on the Z06, and super-sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires. On a car as fast as the Grand Sport, expect those tires to last only a few thousand miles, or a couple of track days.

If you opt for the Grand Sport X, you get carbon-ceramic brakes as standard equipment, but there is a Performance package that includes the aforementioned Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires. Either Grand Sport has the option of a sport exhaust system. This system mimics the four center-mounted pipes on the Z06, and I have to say, it looks better than the standard exhaust. There will also be a special Launch Edition with an eye-popping fully blue interior. 

A new generation of engine

Accompanying the news of the Grand Sport is the reveal of the entirely new engine that will power it and the standard Stingray. This engine, known as the LS6, is the first of an all-new generation of small-block V8s, displacing a whopping 6.7 liters and making 535 horsepower and 520 lb-ft of torque. In comparison, the outgoing V8, named LT2, displaced 6.2 liters and made 495 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque. That should make for quite the performance upgrade. And when paired with the electric motor in the Grand Sport X, power jumps to a maximum of 721 hp.

But it's not only the increased displacement of the engine that gives it the extra power. Chevy utilizes a few tricks from the hot rodder's playbook, giving the V8 a higher compression ratio of 13:1 — the highest of any Corvette engine in history. This V8 also uses forged internal parts, allowing it to breathe through a larger throttle body, tunnel ram intake and better flowing cylinder heads. These changes deliver not only more torque at lower rpm but also more horsepower at higher rpm, which means the Corvette is going to feel more powerful no matter how hard or easy you drive it. There is a weight penalty with this new engine, but Corvette engineers say this new LS6 only weighs about 20 or so extra pounds more than the outgoing LT2 engine.

This engine is a big deal for Chevrolet and General Motors. In the 72 years since the introduction of the small-block V8, this is only the sixth all-new design for what is ostensibly the most popular engine in North America. Even though I'm discussing it with the Corvette in mind, this engine will undoubtedly find its way into future GM vehicles, most notably the upcoming Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size trucks.

How much and how soon

Chevrolet is currently playing hard to get when it comes to pricing for the Grand Sport. Rumors of a starting price of under $90,000 for a Grand Sport and right around $100,000 for the Grand Sport X seem plausible, with the convertibles fetching a bit more than that for each model. I can't pretend that that's not a lot of money, but when you put the Corvette up against its long-term rival, the Porsche 911, it feels like a pretty good deal. Even a BMW M4 Competition is knocking on $90K these days.

Chevrolet says the rear-wheel-drive Grand Sport will go on sale in the summer, with the all-wheel-drive Grand Sport X hitting showrooms in the fall. I'm looking forward to putting the Grand Sport and its huge new engine through our rigorous testing and rating process. Who knows, we might even run it in Edmunds U-Drags. Got any ideas on what we should race it against?