[elegant]

In a preview to an upcoming magazine issue of "Vette," where there will be a much longer article, here is a preview, talking about how they ran consistent 11.7 quarter miles at 118+ in an automatic transmission StingRay. On their dyno, they developed 410 RWHP and 419 RWTQ. The car they tested was not a Z-51.

"Occasionally, General Motors trusts us enough to hand over the keys to something really cool – in this case, a Velocity Yellow 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. So we do what any quality group of enthusiasts would do. We put the car to the test on the track and on our in-house dyno to bring you proven numbers right out of the horse’s mouth.
The Corvette in question was brought to us with an automatic transmission and devoid of any options save for an NPP exhaust.
Palm Beach International Raceway would prove to be the perfect testing ground for a day of quarter-mile and road course fun. We were impressed when the car ran consistent 11.7-second quarter-mile times (with an 11.736-second best) at 118.76 mph.

“The car was very consistent,” explains Vette editor, Jay Heath, “The best 60-foots (in the 1.73 range) were achieved by simply leaving it in Drive and stomping the throttle. Shifting manually added a tenth or two to the e.t’s.”
Meanwhile, our team was not completely thrilled with the car’s overall performance on the road course.

“In short, the automatic trans clearly isn’t designed for such use. It forced shifts early, wouldn’t shift when requested, and proved generally intractable. Eventually the ECM started cutting the throttle altogether, at which point we called it a day. We’ll need to try a Z51 manual in order to get representative numbers,” Heath reported.
SIM compatriot magazine GM High-Tech Performance Associate Editor DJ Randall, described the C7 as “very manageable,” explaining, “Handling was well behaved on turn-in, and the car’s initial body-roll was limited, allowing for accurate car placement. Directional changes were sharp, like through turns 2 and 7. The car’s low-speed cornering behavior, like around turns 4 and 10, had spots of minimal understeer, quickly transitioning to power-oversteer on track out. With that being said, modulating the throttle was somewhat challenging, as computer controlled throttle application was apparent, but the overall experience was pleasing nonetheless. Drivers who are planning to attend an open track day in a C7 would benefit from a brake pad swap, as the higher heat tolerance would eliminate the brake fade experienced with the stock pads.”
On our dyno the other day, the Vette put down an impressive 410.88 horsepower to the rear wheels with 419.71 lb-ft of torque. It is rated at 460 brake horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque from the factory."