Perhaps one of the 1997 Corvette’s most significant achievements is that the C5 was immediately recognized as one of the fastest Corvettes of all time and was one of the fastest cars in the world that year.
When equipped with the six-speed manual transmission, it could accelerate from 0-60 mph in just 4.7 seconds, which was a half-second less than the 1996’s LT4 engine equipped C4, and just as quick as the 405 bhp equipped 1995 ZR-1 Corvette. Its top speed was documented at 172 miles per hour, which made it faster than any of the C4 coupes/convertibles and only seven miles shy of matching the ZR-1’s top-speed.
