Pounce on the pedal of the latest incarnation for Corvette, the souped-up American sports car, and those massive tires lay down Z-rated rubber on the tarmac of a twisty test track.

This slinky new two-seater -- only the 6th iteration in the 52-year history of Corvette -- charges down the track with the strength of 400 horses.

This slinky new two-seater -- only the sixth iteration in the 52-year history of Corvette -- charges down the track with the strength of 400 horses from a new V8 engine making massive torque to spin the rear wheels.

It pins your shoulders to the bolstered leather bucket and pulls G-forces through your eyeballs in the first-gear dash, ultimately propelling 3245 pounds of a mechanical marvel to the mark of 60 mph in only 4.2 seconds and on to the quarter-mile post in 12.6 seconds at 114 mph.

That's the best zero-to-60 time yet for a stock short-block Corvette, but this one also promises the best potential with top speed climbing close to 190 mph.

Not only is it the quickest production 'Vette yet but a dreamboat to drive around a wiggly course like the demanding tangle of off-camber curves, crinkles and carousels built into the new Lutzburgring track in Milford.

For the past eight years we've admired the handling traits of the previous version, code-named C5 due to the fifth-generation platform, which came out as a 1997 model.

That C5 was the first Corvette to ride on single-piece hydroformed rails stretched from tip to tail, which forged an incredibly firm chassis and set up nimble drive manners.

But the new C6 Corvette (code for the sixth platform) can run circles around the C5. It is lighter, faster, far more agile, and a sensuous new shape to the molded body makes it sexier too.

Cast as a pop-top hatchback coupe or drop-top convertible, the new C6 still looks familiar with such Corvette hallmarks as that rocket nose and bubble-butt rump.

However, there are design differences, the most obvious being the exposed headlights on a pointed prow -- first overt bulbs on a production 'Vette since 1962.
The fixed lamps -- a xenon high intensity discharge (HID) low-beam projector lens and tungsten-halogen high-beam projector -- are housed behind polycarbonate enclosures on front corners, with parking lights, side-turn markers and daytime running lights (DRL) also encased.

Lamps on the tail are different too -- they're big and red and truly round, with two sets of twin-pipe performance-type exhaust tips in chrome protruding from the center bottom of the bustle.

Unless you park the new C6 next to a C5, you might not detect the dramatic difference in size between these two Corvettes, but designers lopped five inches off the length and pared one inch from the width, despite drawing the wheelbase an inch longer. From a driver's vantage, the abbreviated length seems more reasonable and makes the overall package easier to toss around on a curvy road. And the longer wheelbase enhances the smooth-ride traits while also adding space to the two-seat cockpit.

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