What’s the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette’s MPG?

What Car Shoppers Need to Know

• The base rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet Corvette gets an EPA-rated 25 mpg on the highway and 19 mpg combined.
• Fuel economy drops off for higher-powered and more expensive models.
• Few similarly powerful cars match the Corvette’s efficiency.

When it comes to cars that can accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than three seconds or top out near 200 mph, fuel economy is rarely a high priority. But affordability has always been core to the Chevrolet Corvette’s mystique, and keeping the gas bill reasonable is part of minimizing ownership costs — even as the mid-engine current-generation car continues to access increasingly elite levels of performance.

Related: Is the 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Still a Performance Bargain?

By the Numbers

What’s even more impressive than the Corvette’s fuel economy, according to GM Authority, is the fact that it could be rated even higher if not for its buyers’ preferences. Since the majority of Stingray buyers opt for the Z51 Performance Package, the EPA’s ratings are based on that configuration. Prior to the Z51’s dominance, the Corvette was rated at 15/27/19 mpg, but the Z51 package has brought that down to 16/25/19 mpg.

With an electric motor driving the front wheels, the all-wheel-drive Corvette E-Ray makes a total of 655 horsepower with just a single mpg hit to its highway economy. Fuel-economy predictably dwindles with increasing power for the rest of the lineup, which for 2026 includes the Z06, ZR1 and ZR1X.

Corvettes more powerful than the E-Ray are all subject to a gas-guzzler tax. Officially, gas-guzzler taxes apply to vehicles rated lower than 22.5 mpg combined. You will note that all Corvettes are rated lower than 22.5 mpg combined — but all are not saddled with a tax because the EPA uses a different set of tests to calculate a different combined mpg figure when determining eligibility for the gas-guzzler tax. Why? Because government.

Versus the Competition

For a car with 495 hp and 470 pounds-feet of torque, the Corvette Stingray’s EPA-rated 16/25/19 mpg city/highway/combined is rather remarkable. Much credit for the highway and combined figures goes to the LT2 6.2-liter V-8’s standard cylinder-deactivation system, which shuts down four cylinders when the engine’s full power isn’t needed.

Among the cars listed below, only the Porsche 911 betters the Corvette’s fuel economy. The 911 starts more than $60,000 higher than the Chevy, needs about a second longer to accelerate from 0-60 mph and tops out some 10 mph slower. For perspective on the extreme end of the Corvette lineup, the ZR1X is reportedly quicker and some $400,000 cheaper than the Lamborghini Revuelto, which is rated at 10/17/12 mpg.

Real-World MPG

While many vehicles struggle to match their EPA estimates — particularly cars that encourage heavy-footed driving the way the Corvette does — our real-world experience suggests that owners should be able to hit those numbers comfortably. Cars.com Detroit Bureau Chief Aaron Bragman spent nearly 400 miles testing an early Stingray and averaged an observed 25.4 mpg. After a 130-mile highway drive averaging 79 mph, the car reported a trip fuel economy of 29.1 mpg.

With the Corvette’s eight-speed automatic transmission geared for a nearly 200 mph top speed, the engine chugs along at about 1,500 rpm at 75 mph. On a lengthy highway slog outside of Las Vegas, our Managing Editor Joe Bruzek was able to sustain more than 30 mpg in a base Stingray.

More Corvette News From Cars.com:

• 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Up Close: If This Is the End, What a Way to Go
• 2025 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray Review: Grand Sporting, Grand Touring
• Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Returns With 535-HP, 6.7-Liter V-8 and Available AWD
• Chevrolet Celebrates U.S. Semiquincentennial With 2026 Stars & Steel Collection
• Chevrolet Announces Pricing, New Package for 2026 Corvette ZR1X
• Research the Chevrolet Corvette
• Add Cars.com as a Preferred Source on Google

Related Video:

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.