The Corvette has always hit well above its weight class, but the new ZR1 takes this to a completely unprecedented level. With a whopping 1064 hp from its new LT7 V8, the new ZR1 is an apex predator whose diet will certainly consist of many Italian horses and bulls. GM performance was seemingly given the company card and told to go wild as the new ZR1 has no holds barred and will almost certainly be the highest-performing Corvette ever built (at least for now, but more on that later).
America’s Most Powerful V8 (Sort Of…)
The Ferrari SF90, McLaren Senna, AMG One, and Lamborghini Revuelto are all supercar giants whose power ratings fall short of the bow-tie’s new beast, not to mention they all needed hybrid assist to get there. The new ZR1 gets its massive power rating of 1064 hp and 828 lb-ft of torque the (sort of) old-fashioned way. The new LT7 takes the 5.5 liter V8 out of the Z06 and adds some new internals and twin turbos which produce 20 psi; it also has a new intake system that is painted blue to pay tribute to the “Blue Devil” ZR1, which was the first 2009 Corvette ZR1 ever built that was famously swallowed by a sinkhole that opened below the National Corvette Museum before being rescued and restored. All these things work together to make the “most powerful V8 ever produced in America from an auto manufacturer,” which is, in all honesty, just some clever wording Chevy is using to allow them to act like the 1817 hp Hennessey Venom F5 doesn’t exist, which, to be fair, costs three million dollars, so to most of us, it doesn’t.
First Time’s the Charm?
The people at GM Performance know that while specs are important, feats are what really matter, especially feats achieved on a first attempt. On its first lap on the Milford Proving Ground’s MRC test track, the ZR1 clocked at a faster top speed than the previous generation C7 ZR1. Pre-release, the ZR1 was brought to the Nurburgring, where all four test drivers were able to exceed 200 mph… on their very first lap. In case anyone was worried that the new ZR1 wasn’t quick, GM also stated that on its first quarter-mile launch in testing, it clocked a sub-10-second time.
The weight of all of these feats is greatly increased by the fact that they are all first attempts; first attempts mean that these feats are all likely things that the ZR1 does with ease. They could have repeated attempts until they got the times perfect, but GM knows that the first attempts speak louder than any perfected stat measurement ever could. Even Chevy’s estimated top speed rating of 215 mph comes with a positive asterisk of being done with the massive rear wing from the Carbon Aero Package, which produces a staggering 1200 lbs of downforce at top speed. This means that without the Carbon Aero Package, the ZR1 can likely exceed the 215 mph rating by no small margin.
Return of a Design Choice Fit for an Icon
One of the most iconic features of any vehicle to ever grace the road is the split rear window that was present on the C2 generation Corvette Stingray. While it has yet to make its return on any road car, it was present on the C8 Corvette Z06 GT3.R race car. GM said they were biding their time to find the right time to bring back such an iconic feature, they needed a really special Corvette that the design choice would work with.
Throughout the development of the new ZR1, it was consistently smashing the lofty goals set for it in testing with ease, proving time and time again that it was a very special car. Then an opportunity presented itself in the form of a problem, the LT7’s twin turbo setup produces an astronomical amount of heat meaning that the ZR1 needed some way of venting heat effectively. With the rear window being directly over the engine it made sense for vents to be added in that location. The result was not only the return of an iconic design but a functional line of vents splitting the rear window to alleviate heat.
Is There More to Come?
So, while the new ZR1 is a torpedo aimed directly at the status quo of supercars, there has been something scratching at the back of my brain the entire time while reading the GM press release for it. It’s a little rumor that’s been floating around for a while now that goes by the codename Zora. The Corvette Zora is an upcoming range topping Corvette that is taking the technology of the Corvette E-Ray and combining it with the powerplant of the new ZR1. With the knowledge of what the new ZR1 is going to be, this means that with the electric motors of the E-Ray, the Zora will likely be somewhere in the mid 1000 hp range with all-wheel drive. Where the ZR1 is aimed directly at the supercars of the world, it looks like the Zora may be aiming to take down bonafide hypercars.
