ZR1 = 638 hp and 604 lb-ft

[SVT666]

Chevrolet releases official Corvette ZR1 performance numbers, including top speed
April 25


Chevrolet introduced us to its ZR1 super Corvette last January at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, but didn't have any concrete performance numbers at the time. We were promised at least 100 horsepower per liter ? meaning a minimum of 620 horsepower ? but were left to guess just how far over that magic equation the LS9 would be. But the hyper 'Vette is back from testing and we now have a definitive answer.

According to the Corvette ZR1's SAE Certification, the 6.2L supercharged LS9 motor pumps out 638 horsepower and 604 lb-ft of torque ? proving Chevrolet officials were sandbagging back in January.

In addition to the LS9's power ratings, GM also revealed that engineers have taken the Corvette ZR1 to 205 mph on a test track in Germany ? putting the ZR1 is an elite class of supercars.

The ZR1's fuel economy ratings aren't in yet, but GM assures us that range-topping Corvette will be the most fuel efficient 600+ horsepower car in the world ? a rather strange distinction.

With nearly 640 horsepower on tap and a 205 mph top speed, we can't wait to see the ZR1 go head-to-head with some of the world's best.

[Champ]

GTR does 243mph, with a combined EPA of 44mpg.

[280Z Turbo]

GTR does 243mph, with a combined EPA of 44mpg.

Fuck that car.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

I'm playing the Mega Million tonight!! 

[MX793]

I would have expected a bit more than 205 mph with that much power on tap.  Doesn't the Z06 muster like 198 with "only" 505?

[Raza]

I would have expected a bit more than 205 mph with that much power on tap.  Doesn't the Z06 muster like 198 with "only" 505?

Downforce issues?  You think they pegged it back?

[MX793]

Downforce issues?  You think they pegged it back?

I assumed the two would have essentially the same aerodynamics, in which case I would have expected 210+ mph.  If the ZR is putting down more downforce, that would certainly eat into it's top speed.

[sportyaccordy]

I assumed the two would have essentially the same aerodynamics, in which case I would have expected 210+ mph.  If the ZR is putting down more downforce, that would certainly eat into it's top speed.

GT-R generates 5 tons of downforce w/a .19 drag coefficient

No but seriously though I don't have an answer for your query.

[sandertheshark]

I get giggle fits looking at those numbers on the ZR1.  I can't help it.

[TBR]

That must mean it sucks extra-hard, wouldn't it be so much more awesome with 200hp? (I am being sarcastic, I am tired of hearing people, and magazines, say the ZR1 would be better with less power before ANYBODY has even driven it)

[Soup DeVille]

I think we need to officially change the name of "The Fast Lane" to "The GT-R/Vette forum with occasional dabs of retro pony car talk thrown in."

[the Teuton]

I think we need to officially change the name of "The Fast Lane" to "The GT-R/Vette forum with occasional dabs of retro pony car talk thrown in."

Better?

[Soup DeVille]

Better?

All I'm saying is: there are other cars in existence worth discussing.

Oh, and welcome back!

[CALL_911]

Better?

Uh, YEAH.

[sandertheshark]

All I'm saying is: there are other cars in existence worth discussing.

But not that are exactly news right now.

All I've got on my auto news pages are a bunch of tuner 911s and M3s and Ferraris, and a big pile of GTR/GT2/ZR1/SRT8 stuff.

[the Teuton]

All I'm saying is: there are other cars in existence worth discussing.

Oh, and welcome back!

Danke.

Also, you're right.  There's other news going on in the world besides gas prices and Democratic candidates, yet that's all I ever hear about.  Why?  Because it's "hot off the presses."  Likewise, so are these two cars.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

I'm struggling real hard to give a damn.

I never thought i'd say this but this car is overpowered, the Z06 could barely deal with 505HP.

It's time to move the vette into real supercar territory, put the damn motor where it belongs.

[Tave]

GT-R generates 5 tons of downforce w/a .19 drag coefficient

No but seriously though I don't have an answer for your query.

Don't the F1 and S7 also generate a lot of downforce with low drag?

And I realize that doesn't have anything to do with anything either.

[S204STi]

Meh, leaf springs FTL.

[sandertheshark]

I'm struggling real hard to give a damn.

I never thought i'd say this but this car is overpowered, the Z06 could barely deal with 505HP.

It's time to move the vette into real supercar territory, put the damn motor where it belongs.

The Z06 is the twelfth fastest production car around the Nurburgring.  The ZR1 is, apparently, tied for eighth, with the mother-fuckin' Bugatti Veyron.  If that's not "real super car territory" I don't know what the fuck is.  Neither of these cars have any trouble handling their power as long as the driver knows what he's doing.


(That said, I dream of the day Chevy makes a mid-engine Vette, and calls it the Corvette XP.  Especially if they offer it with a 400+hp four-rotor engine.  And then make absolutely unholy motherfucker withe a twin-turbo LS7 producing exactly 880hp.)

[TBR]

I'm struggling real hard to give a damn.

I never thought i'd say this but this car is overpowered, the Z06 could barely deal with 505HP.

It's time to move the vette into real supercar territory, put the damn motor where it belongs.

They need to talk to Porsche....

[FlatBlackCaddy]

The Z06 is the twelfth fastest production car around the Nurburgring.  The ZR1 is, apparently, tied for eighth, with the mother-fuckin' Bugatti Veyron.  If that's not "real super car territory" I don't know what the fuck is.  Neither of these cars have any trouble handling their power as long as the driver knows what he's doing.


(That said, I dream of the day Chevy makes a mid-engine Vette, and calls it the Corvette XP.  Especially if they offer it with a 400+hp four-rotor engine.  And then make absolutely unholy motherfucker withe a twin-turbo LS7 producing exactly 880hp.)

It may offer super car performance, but it's not a supercar. No more than the GT-R is(even though, once again, it offers supercar performance).

The current corvette will forever be in the catagory of cars like the mustang, 350Z, GT-R, Porsche 911 etc.

It is not in the same catagory as such supercars from ferrari, lamborghini etc.

My point was simply that if they want to be there they have to evolve the corvette. personally i don't have a godlike view of the name corvette so i don't care if they make a new mid engined supercar above the corvette and name it something else. However GM seems to have the belief that nothing is higher than the vette(in name).

[sandertheshark]

So what you're saying is a Chevy will never be in the same league as a Ferrari.

Never mind the fact that the ZR1 can outrun anything Ferrari has ever made.

How exactly would rearranging the layout make Chevrolet Corvette a "Supercar"?

Acura NSX - Is that a supercar?  It was in 1991.  What about in 2005?  Did just having a mid-engine layout make it a supercar, or did the fact that it out-performed most anything on the road when it first came out?

Porsche Cayman S is mid-engined.  It has more power than an NSX.  It's about as fast as a base Vette.  And it's got a "supercar" marque.  Does that make it a supercar?

How about the Lotus Exige?

What I'm confused by, Caddy, is how exactly you define "supercar."  Because most people define it with a combination of pedigree and performance.  The Vette's got both.  Does the location of the engine really enter in to the equation?

[Tave]

The normal Vette isn't a supercar, but the Z06, and even moreso the ZR-1, are IMO.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

So what you're saying is a Chevy will never be in the same league as a Ferrari.

Never mind the fact that the ZR1 can outrun anything Ferrari has ever made.

How exactly would rearranging the layout make Chevrolet Corvette a "Supercar"?

Acura NSX - Is that a supercar?  It was in 1991.  What about in 2005?  Did just having a mid-engine layout make it a supercar, or did the fact that it out-performed most anything on the road when it first came out?

Porsche Cayman S is mid-engined.  It has more power than an NSX.  It's about as fast as a base Vette.  And it's got a "supercar" marque.  Does that make it a supercar?

How about the Lotus Exige?

What I'm confused by, Caddy, is how exactly you define "supercar."  Because most people define it with a combination of pedigree and performance.  The Vette's got both.  Does the location of the engine really enter in to the equation?

I guess the location doesn't matter, i guess for that matter the design doesn't matter either.

So i guess the corvette is a supercar, so is the GT-R, hell so is my EVO IX. All of these cars offer performance and pedigree.

[565]

All I'm saying is: there are other cars in existence worth discussing.

Oh, and welcome back!

You should definitely start more topics on them then. This forum could use more traffic and topics of discussion of all kinds of fast cars.  I guess there are alot of Mustang, Vette, GTR threads because there are alot of fans of these cars.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

"So what you're saying is a Chevy will never be in the same league as a Ferrari."

You must not have read my post very well.

I never said they couldn't be, but in order to truely be in the same class they have to do what ford did with the Ford GT.

[565]

"So what you're saying is a Chevy will never be in the same league as a Ferrari."

You must not have read my post very well.

I never said they couldn't be, but in order to truely be in the same class they have to do what ford did with the Ford GT.

The new Ford GT is an automotive footnote.  It was in production for all of two seconds.

[the Teuton]

This is getting into a semantics debate.  The E63 AMG is about as quick as most of the aforementioned cars.  It is a sedan.  The Evo is a sedan.  A 500 hp STI would still be a sedan, and it would still have its limitations.  A 7:35 'Ring time is most certainly a good qualifier for a supercar.  Need I bring up how far we've come from the first official 200 mph car, the Diablo, in 1990?

[565]

This is getting into a semantics debate.  The E63 AMG is about as quick as most of the aforementioned cars.  It is a sedan.  The Evo is a sedan.  A 500 hp STI would still be a sedan, and it would still have its limitations.  A 7:35 'Ring time is most certainly a good qualifier for a supercar.  Need I bring up how far we've come from the first official 200 mph car, the Diablo, in 1990?

Supercar is a vague term and we can fight it out forever what is considered a supercar and what is not.  Basically we can all agree a Mclaren F1 is a supercar (or hypercar) and an EVO is not, and that stuff that falls in the middle will be quite a bit more wishy washy.  It purely becomes a matter of opinion.

One of my friends considered my Z06 a supercar (before the C6 Z06 was released), and it certainly ran with Modenas and 911 Turbos, but I wouldn't consider it a supercar in my wildest daydreams.

To me a supercar is not so much about performance, or about balance and communication, or even about pedigree.  It's all about a sense of wildness, a sense of casting caution into the wind during development, of not holding back and thinking sensibly.  For example, to me a very faulted Diablo is definitely a supercar, but the amazing 911 GT2 is not.  A Zonda is definitely a supercar but the ZR1 (which will probably be faster) is not.

Here is my supercars from "normal" manufactures list according to 565.

In my opinion Porsche has only made 3 true supercars in modern times.  The 959, the 911 GT1, and the Carrera GT.

In my opinion, BMW's closest thing to a modern supercar would be the M1, but I don't think they've put anything out recently that qualifies as a true supercar (Z8 definitely falls short).

Mercedes has had two supercars in modern times, the SLR, and the CLK-GTR road cars. None of the AMG monsters qualify.

In my opinion Audi's R8 just barely misses the mark for Supercardom in my opinion.  None of their S line qualifies.

VW had that Nardo W-12 concept that would qualify, but it was never built.

In my opinion GM has yet to build a true modern supercar, and this new ZR1 will not qualify.

Ford has only built the new GT to qualify as a modern supercar (even though I still maintain it's an automotive footnote).

Chrysler has yet to put a supercar into production (though the ME-14 or whatever it was called would have been), the Viper does not qualify

In my opinion Nissan has built only one modern supercar to date, the R390 GT1 road car.

Toyota's only true supercar has been the TS020 road car (too bad there was only like 1 built).  The LFA when its released will be their second.

Honda has yet to built a supercar (sorry NSX).  The new NSX may qualify.

Subaru and Mitubishi have no supercars.

Hyundai has no supercars.


These are obviously just my opinions.  I'm curious what you guys think qualifies as a supercar.