10/5/26 UPDATE: This review has been updated with instrumented test results.

The Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport recipe has been pretty simple. Take the base engine and place it in the Vette’s wide-body envelope with all the available chassis upgrades. They call this the “sweet spot” because you get all the handling and braking of the monsters at the top of the lineup but without the expense and complexity of their beastly engines. In this case, propulsion comes courtesy of the new naturally aspirated LS6 V-8 from the base Corvette Stingray, which got an injection of at least 40 horsepower and 50 pound-feet of torque just in time for the arrival of this generation’s Grand Sport.

Actually, we should say Grand Sports, because there’s a new variant that goes by the name of Grand Sport X (and takes the place of the outgoing E-Ray model). It’s a bit of a mouthful, we admit, and we’re always saying GSX around the office. You have our permission to do the same.

While the base Grand Sport (wrap your head around that one) delivers the same 535 horsepower and 520 pound-feet as the Stingray, the Grand Sport X packs a mighty 721 horsepower thanks to the addition of a front-axle electric motor plucked from the ZR1X. Its tiny battery pack is situated in the center of the car in the tunnel between the occupants. This so-called eAWD hybrid system adds 186 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of instantly available torque to the front axle, a boon at launch—and also when pulling out of corners, thanks to insane levels of torque vectoring. There is a slight penalty for all of this, of course, as the GSX gains just over 300 pounds (ours weighed in at a nice round 4000 pounds), most of it up front between the wheels. On the other hand, it pips the regular Grand Sport for fuel economy, earning 18 mpg combined for the X versus 17 mpg combined for the regular edition.

The X comes standard with numerous goodies that are optional on the Grand Sport, including carbon-ceramic brakes, Magnetic Ride Control, enhanced powertrain cooling, and Performance Traction Management. The Grand Sport X features monster all-season Michelin tires, sized 275/30ZR-20 in the front and 345/25ZR-21 at the rear, and the touring suspension (softer springs and damper tuning, essentially) for $112,495. The Sport Performance package swaps in stiffer springs and a calibration for the adaptive magnetorheological dampers to match, plus Michelin Pilot Sport 4S summer tires, for just $500 more. That’s the version we’ve tested here, and the all-important summer-tire and suspension upgrade on our admittedly optioned-up 3LT example is the very last insignificant-looking item listed under our as-tested price.

What’s odd is that there’s no Pilot Sport Cup 2R tire option, even though that tire appears on the regular Grand Sport’s options list. GM representatives couldn’t explain why this difference should exist, because there’s no physical reason for it. They are merely assuming, for now, that the regular Grand Sport is more likely than the Grand Sport X to be taken to a track day. With that in mind, GM trotted out a pair of sample cars so equipped for us to test on the Atlanta Motorsports Park circuit: a Grand Sport on Cup 2R tires and a Grand Sport X on Pilot Sport 4S tires.

Right off the bat, the Grand Sport on Cup 2R tires proved to inspire more confidence through the turns, whereas the GSX on its Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires tended to squirm around a bit. But the Grand Sport X absolutely hooked up on corner exits because the mighty pull from its front axle led to considerably more terminal velocity at the end of what passed for a straightaway at this tiny club circuit. We ran the car almost exclusively with the Charge+ setting activated, which kept the battery topped up to about 80 percent despite our frequent deployments. Ultimately, the course was way too tight to really show off what this car could do in terms of lap times, but the difference was clear enough to imagine what might happen if these two were on the same rubber. The delta will also be plain to see at our Lightning Lap event at Virginia International Raceway, where the straightaways are considerably longer and speeds are much higher.

Back at our test track, the Grand Sport X absolutely blew us away with a 2.3-second run to 60 mph, the 186-hp front axle helping to lop off 0.4 second from the regular Grand Sport in the process. At 100 mph, the gap widens to a massive 1.2 seconds, as the GSX does it in 5.6 seconds compared to 6.8 for the GS. The hybrid assist is designed to persist for a full quarter-mile at wide-open throttle, and indeed the GSX flashes through the lights in 10.3 seconds at 131 mph. As expected, the Pilot Sport 4S tires hold lateral grip down a bit, as the GSX scores 1.08 g’s while the Grand Sport on its optional Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires orbits to the tune of 1.18 g. It turns out that longitudinal grip is a wash, though, as the GSX manages stops from 70 and 100 mph in 141 and 281 feet, respectively, more or less equal to the 144 and 286 feet for the Cup 2R–equipped Grand Sport.

On the road, the Grand Sport X drives like a cross between a Grand Sport and an E-Ray, because that’s essentially what it is. It has a pleasant temperament that doesn’t give away anything about its prodigious power, and its ride is as well sorted as any Stingray equipped with the Z51 Performance package. The carbon-ceramic brakes feel powerful, with an utterly firm pedal, even though regenerative braking is going on in the background. The all-season-tire setup is slightly vaguer when it comes to steering feel, and the tires tend to exhibit faint pinging and cavity resonance on some surfaces. The summer-tire-equipped car responded to the helm a tad more swiftly and gave us more effort buildup, but we were hard-pressed to find anything more substantial.

Basically, we’re zooming in and picking nits. With a Grand Sport X, you’ll be more than happy whichever way you decide to go, and the base price difference is negligible: $112,495 for a 1LT with all-season tires or $112,995 for summers. Sure, our as-tested price may have been just north of $140,000 because we had a 3LT model with numerous options, but none of them make much difference to bottom-line performance. Choose your weapon.