The 2020 C8 . V8 in the middle. . No . Very starting price. You know all of this! Now hear what the thing sounds like.

over at recently got behind the wheel of the mid-engine Corvette at Thunderhill as part of Road & Track’s “Performance Car of the Year” test. Because of embargo reasons, he can’t release any driving impressions until later this month, but you can see the video of the lap here.

As if to head off the comment section critics, here’s our old pal Travis Okulski with an explanation of what you’re seeing:

Now, before the armchair driver coaching begins, a few caveats. These are Matt’s first sighting laps at Thunderhill West and his first time in the car. They are not timed, they are not flat out, not every shift is run to redline, not every line is perfect. Matt also doesn’t speak, so don’t expect this to be any sort of review. But the video does let you listen to the LT2 V8 for a few minutes, which should be worth your time:

Just from watching, I can tell you the car certainly does sound like it has a V8, though, from the cabin recording, it doesn’t sound like a particularly exciting V8. But this is just from a cabin recording! I don’t really know what it sounds like from the outside yet.

And the shifts come very, very fast. It has a dual-clutch, after all.

The car Farah’s got also has the Z51 pack, which means it has bigger brakes, improved cooling, a performance exhaust and upgraded suspension system. If you want to track the new Corvette, this is the one to use.