What Is The Cheapest Mid-Engine Sports Car You Can Buy New Today?
The cheapest mid-engine sports car that you can buy today is still not exactly inexpensive. It's the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupe equipped with the 1LT trim, which comes in at a base price of $68,300. For that price, you get a well-equipped mid-engine sports car that can surpass the performance of many mid-engine Italian supercars costing several times more than the Corvette's relatively reasonable sticker.
The most basic Corvette Stingray coupe is powered by a 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine that produces 490 horsepower. The engine features variable valve timing, active fuel management, and a dry sump oil system. Power output increases to 495 horses when either the Performance Exhaust, which costs $1,195 extra, or the Z51 Performance Package is specified. The $6,345 Z51 Package upgrades the Corvette's suspension, brakes, exhaust, aerodynamics, tires, cooling system, and rear axle ratio, also adding an electronic limited-slip diff, a requirement for those who plan to use their Stingrays on a racetrack. There is only one transmission choice offered, an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic with paddle shifters.
Other standard equipment on the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 1LT includes leather-trimmed GT1 bucket seats, a removable body-color roof panel, a 10-speaker Bose premium audio system, HD rear vision camera, and a rear camera mirror. The Corvette 1LT rides on 19-inch x 8.5-inch front and 20-inch x 11-inch rear five-spoke silver aluminum wheels, wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 run-flat tires. Higher level 2LT and 3LT trims are also available, as is a proper convertible version.
How does the cheapest mid-engine sports car perform?
The 2025 Corvette Stingray performs very well. Its mid-engine layout places the engine's weight closer to the rear wheels that drive the car, helping its ability to accelerate with less wheelspin. As a result, when Car and Driver tested it, the Z51-equipped 'Vette did 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds and 0-100 mph in 7.2 seconds, with a standing quarter-mile time of 11.2 seconds, with a trap speed of 122 mph. Top speed, according to Chevy, is 184 mph.
The C8's mid-enigne layout also gives it a low polar moment of inertia, which means that it can change directions very quickly. The Corvette Stingray's ability to corner at 1.01g on a 300-foot skidpad shows that the Stingray is stable while doing this. A mid-engine car also provides better braking stability, as shown by the Stingray's tested braking distance of 149 feet while slowing from 70 mph to zero.
Overall, the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupe is a pretty excellent value proposition in the world of mid-engine sports cars. It's not only the cheapest new car of its type, but it also packs a huge amount of performance. The closest competitor, price-wise, is the soon-to-be-discontinued Porsche Cayman coupe, priced at $72,800 MSRP. The Cayman offers a 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-four with 300 horsepower and a 0-60 mph time of 4.7 seconds.