Since Chevy announced the impending return of the Corvette ZR1, fans have barely been able to contain their excitement. The C8 Corvette Stingray and performance variants such as the Z06 are already continuing the vehicle’s fine tradition, with the Corvette Z06 winning the 2023 MotorTrend Performance Car of the Year Award. If you didn’t think there was any possibility Chevy could improve upon this sports car that rivals many supercars, you’re about to be proven wrong in the best way.
In my humble opinion, the Chevy Corvette is one of the 10 most important vehicles in American automotive history, if not world car history. Now, Chevy is renewing the model that has long been considered the crown jewel of the Corvette family. Whether you’ve been a Corvette loyalist for decades or are a new follower, this preview will tell you what you need to know about the latest and greatest Corvette ZR1. Prepare to be impressed by America’s new supercar.
A Brief History of the ZR1
For those who aren’t familiar with the ZR1 lineage, a quick recap will help you understand why it’s held in such high regard. The first Corvette ZR1 was produced from 1970 to 1972 as a track-ready package for the famous shark nose C3 Corvette Stingray. For just over a grand—$1,010.50, to be exact—car owners received the new LT1 small block engine with 370 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque. This traded a little power compared to the available big block engines for better balance, turning, and stopping distance. The original ZR1 also upgraded the transmission, improved the brakes and cooling, added an aluminum radiator, and fine-tuned the suspension for better handling. In turn, “luxury” accessories such as the radio, power windows, power steering, and AC were dropped.
The original Corvette ZR1 is extremely rare, with only 53 made over a three-year span (even rarer is the C3 Corvette ZR2 package featuring the LS6 big block engine; only 12 are known to exist). Still, it set the standard for combining power and handling in one mind-melting package. Since the initial run, Chevy has brought back the ZR1 name on three separate occasions. Here are the highlights of each.
The C4 Corvette ZR1 (1990-1995) was the longest-running ZR1 iteration. Co-designed by Lotus, it was the fastest Corvette ever produced at the time, sporting an LT5 V8 engine that offered up to 405 hp when the regular C4 Corvette had just 250 hp, plus an adjustable Bilstein suspension and beefier transmission. It maintained the regular Corvette interior features, too.
The C6 Corvette ZR1 (2009-2013) again set the bar for “fastest Corvette,” breaking the 200 mph barrier thanks to a supercharged LS9 engine with 638 hp and 604 lb-ft of torque. It also had bigger tires, Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, adaptive suspension, and an assortment of lightweight carbon fiber body parts to keep you glued to the road.
The C7 Corvette ZR1 (2019) amped up the use of forced induction with an exclusive supercharged 6.2L LT5 engine that made an ungodly 755 hp, helping the car exceed 210 mph. The Brembo brakes returned, the aerodynamics were based on the Corvette factory racing program, and an optional rear wing added downforce for precise turning. The interior also had every luxury add-on you could think of, including lightweight carbon fiber seats and a matching steering wheel.
How Much Power Does the C8 Corvette ZR1 Pack?
When you know all the benchmarks past ZR1s have hit, it becomes easier to see why people were eager for a new chapter in the story. Just writing about previous versions of the ZR1 has gotten my adrenaline pumping. The question became how Chevrolet would manage to top the C7 Corvette ZR1. The C8 Corvette Z06, the previous highwater mark for the eighth-generation Corvette, first hit the roads in 2020, yet it still can’t even match the top speed of the C6 ZR1, which is a testament to how far ahead of the pack the ZR1 is.
Apart from the first ZR1, power has been a major selling point of each rendition of this nameplate. So, the question of how much power the latest ZR1 would offer was a big one, but Chevy blew everyone away when it revealed that the new car delivers a mind-bending 1,064 hp and 828 lb-ft of torque. This hypercar level of power is thanks to a twin-turbocharged version of the 5.5L LT6 V8 engine that is the heartbeat of the Corvette Z06. With more power than multi-million-dollar icons like the Mercedes-AMG ONE and McLaren Senna, the ZR1 is a car for the history books.
What Else Has Chevy Done to the ZR1?
If the newest ZR1 was simply a Z06 with much more power, that alone would be enough for many performance demons like me. But the new twin-turbocharged engine is just the start of the many performance features found on this car. Massive 15.7-inch carbon ceramic brake discs come standard for impressive stopping power, and the side air ducts have been enlarged to provide direct cooling to the rear rotors. A split rear window serves as a callback to the signature feature of the C2 Corvette and hides additional cooling for the engine compartment. The front trunk has also been sacrificed in favor of an aero passthrough, increasing downforce and adding yet more cooling.
Interestingly, the one change that wasn’t made to the ZR1 is larger wheels and tires or stickier rubber. It uses the same staggered setup as the Z06, with 275/30R20 front and 345/25R21 rear. The two tire options––standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires or optional Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires as part of the ZTK package––are also unchanged from the Z06. Given the tremendous power and rear-wheel drive layout of the ZR1, it remains to be seen how manageable this choice will be to anyone other than Chevy’s skilled test drivers.
The standard ZR1 offers a top speed of over 215 mph and a quarter-mile time of under 10 seconds. But if you’re willing to trade a few mph of top speed for increased downforce and cornering performance, then the ZTK Performance Package adds a massive rear wing, front dive planes, and a Gurney lip. This aero package contributes 1,200 lbs of downforce and requires a special suspension calibration for the adaptive dampers to maintain ride quality. Chevy has been spotted testing this version of the ZR1 at the iconic Nürburgring in Germany and claims to have exceeded 200 mph on the track, although we don’t yet have an official ‘ring time for the car. Chevy understood that a new ZR1 had to live up to some astronomical expectations, and it delivered in a way that no one expected.
Prepare for a Corvette Unlike Any Other
Corvette Executive Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter has been quoted as saying, “There’s a Corvette for everyone.” If that’s the case, then the C8 Corvette ZR1 is for drivers who want to drive the most extreme Corvette ever to come off the assembly line. Even a quick look at the specs shows that the C8 ZR1 is a true supercar that borders on hypercar territory. Every ZR1 has taken the Corvette generation it was based on to stratospheric heights of performance, and the latest ZR1 is easily the most exciting version yet.
