What if I told you that the 2022 Chevy C8 Corvette Z06 wasn’t going to feature a turbocharged engine? Would you be sad, depressed, or upset? Well, you shouldn’t be, because a new report claims exactly that and it’s very good news. A more potent turbocharged engine will be found in a model that sits above the Z06, but the Z06 will feature a free-breathing, 5.5-liter, flat-plane V-8. Why is this good news? Well, grab a coffee and let me explain.

The Z06 Will Rev Higher Than a Lamborghini or Ferrari

One of the great things about a naturally aspirated engine is that they can rev higher when engineered quickly. The V-10 in the Lamborghini Huracan, for example, can run all the way up to 8,500 RPM while the Aventador SVJ’s V-12 will hit 8,700 rpm before bouncing back. The Ferrari 812 Superfast can even rev as high as 8,900 before bouncing off the limiter, and the last-gen Porsche 911 GT3 and GT3 RS can rev all the way up to 9,000 rpm on the nose. Why does any of this matter?

According to Motor Trend, the Z06’s V-8 should deliver right around 625 horsepower and up to 485 pound-feet of torque. That does put it at a deficit compared to the old Z06, which delivered 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque from a 6.2-liter LT4, but the mid-engined Z06 should be faster in a straight line and around curves, so the deficit doesn’t matter.

Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT350R with 526 horsepower, so the V-8 in the Z06 is going to be king of the crop when it comes to naturally aspirated engines. >The source that gave MT this info said the engine is “going to be a screamer,” and that sounds pretty good to us.

So, to sum it all up, the Corvette Z06 will be the most powerful and highest-revving naturally aspirated V-8 on the market unless something new pops up between now and 2022. It will probably be on par with the next-gen 911 GT3 in terms of max engine speed, and Chevy should have ironed out all the finer details since it’s using a similar engine in the C8.R race car, albeit tuned down to just 500 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque. If you want more power or a turbocharged engine, you’ll have to wait for the C8 Corvette ZR1, which is said to have the same engine with twin-turbo induction that should be good for around 800 ponies. A hybrid model will come after that with the same twin-turbo V-8 and an electric motor for as much as 1,000 horsepower. Unfortunately, the same source claims that there will be no Corvette Grand Sport in this generation, so you’ll have to come to terms with that, though.