Archived Comparison
From the February 1990 Issue of Car and DriverTESTED
"Ladies and gentlemen! In this corner, weighing 3380 pounds, with a 250-hp uppercut, the Kentucky killer, the mainstream mauler from Bowling Green, a squeaky-clean face we all know and love: the Chevrolet Corvette!
"And in this corner, weighing a chunky 3533 pounds, with a 300-hp jab, the Oriental challenger, the upstart built for the human race, the twin-turbo terror from Tokyo: the Nissan 300ZX Turbo!"
This fistfight was premeditated. Malice aforethought. Just look at the evidence. What do you suppose the gentlemen in Tokyo had in mind when they ram-loaded the 300ZX with two water-cooled turbos, a pair of intercoolers, variable valve timing, four-wheel steering, driver-adjustable shocks, 8.5-inch-wide rear wheels, Z-rated rubber, and—most important of all—a $33,000 base price? Hey, we're adults. Let's just say it out loud. Nissan has yanked off the gloves, and the body blows are raining mercilessly onto the fiberglass flanks of America's favorite sports car.
Never has the Corvette faced a fiercer challenge. Last November, when we first tested the 300ZX Turbo, we said, "Finally, a Japanese sports car that can run with the big dogs." What we really meant was, "Finally, a sports car, from anywhere, that delivers the styling, acceleration, roadholding, and top speed of the Corvette—at the same price as the Corvette."
Our last such showdown, in fact, pitted a Corvette Z51 against a Porsche 911 Club Sport—a car that in September of 1988 cost half again as much as the Chevrolet. And the Porsche still didn't win. Now we're at it again, only this time—for the first time—the combatants' dollar-to-speed ratio is dead even.
Let the hostilities commence.
