The 2015 Corvette Z06 takes to the drag strip in what looks to be its the first recorded quarter mile run.

Just outside of Houston, Texas, lies the Royal Purple Raceway, a place that embodies what some may say is the Corvette’s natural habitat. The footage you’re about to watch comes via HorsepowerPhotos, and it shows the Z06 getting ready for Christmas (tree) by bringing its tires to a drag-suitable temperature and then gunning it towards quarter mile heaven.

The result showed an 11.7 sec run at 120.5 mph (194 km/h), which is about half a second off mark. GM’s official quarter mile time for a manual Z06 is 11.2 seconds. And yes, this car is a manual, so we should be willing to forgive the less than perfect run, especially considering all the factors that go into a perfect launch when driving a manual muscle car.

You have to keep in check wheel spin, be surgical with the clutch and the transmission and also pay close attention to your rev meter. Half a second off is not that bad considering all these factors and and the same time, the 650 horse power you’re trying to paint the drag strip with.

We can’t wait to see the automatic Z06 at work, considering the fact that GM claims it can do a 10.95 second quarter mile.

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