Corvette ZR1 beats 1,000 hp Ferrari and Lambo

now my question to you is - why didn’t Chevy do this before ? what was stopping them from releasing a 1,000 hp Corvette in the past ?

there is NO new tech in this Vette. no electric anything. it’s just a regular twin turbo V8. they could have released it 10 years ago.

and the answer is simple - they didn’t NEED to.

the industry had a sort of a tacit agreement to keep cars slow and PRETEND that they are trying to make them fast, and then Elon came in and just basically ruined the entire auto industry by making the Plaid which worked for like 3 years and now Tesla is itself ruined but so is everybody else.

the entire Auto industry is in trouble now because there is nobody at this point, not even Elon, who has any idea how to sell cars and also consumers have no idea what they are supposed to be wanting …

Top Gear did several reviews of the Corvette - none of them had any instrumented tests versus the competition and all concluded that Corvette was not good without giving any reason why.

because reality is they can’t explain why it’s so cheap for the performance and also they can’t admit that basically every supercar is overpriced. they have in the past faced this issue with Nissan GTR which had 911 Turbo performance for $80,000. then Plaid, and now it’s ZR1s turn.

the job of Auto Journalists is basically to peddle manufacturer marketing to you and cars like GTR, Plaid and ZR1 throw a monkey wrench into their whole business of “explaining” to people ( on behalf of manufacturers who are paying them off ) that you need to pay a lot of money to get decent performance.

but yeah ZR1 is about 900 lbs lighter than Model S plaid and still has 1,000 hp. it is slower to 60 mph because it has RWD but it will be faster in basically everything that isn’t a drag race in a straight line from a standing start.

however with ZR1 it can’t be your only car because it basically has no storage so that makes it effectively more expensive than Plaid and GTR combined because those are practical daily drivers whereas ZR1 is weekend / track toy.

on the flip side the sheer lack of practicality of Corvette is also what makes it cooler than Plaid or GTR who may BE fast but they don’t LOOK that fast.

at least the Plaid looks expensive. GTR looks like dog shit and only impresses car buffs who know what it is.

the only excuse Chevy may have here for not doing this sooner is that the previous gen of Corvette had engine in the front so it didn’t have enough weight on rear wheels to put down 1,000 hp in a RWD car. which is true, but also they could have gone to mid-engine sooner or they could have given the old Vette AWD like Nissan GTR.

and in fact they can STILL make it even faster by using the electric front axle from the E-Ray on this ZR-1. this would not only take it to 1,200 hp but make it AWD in which case it would absolutely cream those Italian supercars.

but again, nobody wants to make cars as fast as possible - they just say they do. in reality they just want to make them fast ENOUGH.

anyway i maintain what i said before - this new generation Vette is a worthy alternative to 911. every version released so far - the Base, the Hybrid AWD ( E-Ray ), the Z06 and ZR1 are all competent and dollar for dollar hold their own against the 911.

frankly the ZR1 is probably better than any 911 ever made, but Top Gear will never admit this because they are European. we know they are full of shit, however, because they refuse to do any serious comparisons and simply claim that Corvette is somehow not on the same level without giving any explanation why. reality is they simply can’t admit the truth.

in 911’s defense it does have rear seats, but i am not sure if it can work as your only car like Plaid or GTR.

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The only problem ZR1 has is styling, a little bit more elegance and it would completely obliterate EU supercars. Also agreed it needs an AWD version otherwise a little bit of rain and you are fucked.

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https://www.motor1.com/news/762434/corvette-zora-spy-shots-undisguised-at-nurburgring/

There is that 1200hp AWD version

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i heard the name Zora a few years ago but wrongly assumed that was just another name for ZR1 but now i see it’s a separate car …

one possibility not mentioned in the article is that the car spied could have the engine from Z06 with electric front axle rather than engine from ZR1 with electric front axle …

i mean the article makes a good case that this new car has electric front axle but they didn’t say why they believe it has turbos ( other than that that’s what the rumors say )

even without the turbos this would be an excellent car superior to the ZR1 in the real world where it is almost impossible to put down 1,000 hp through the rear wheels only …

i guess it will come down to whether they have enough cooling capacity in the radiators and such for both the turbos and electric motors … or maybe if they don’t have enough cooling they could lower the boost and use smaller intercoolers such that the total HP is still around 1,000 but with AWD and less turbo lag …

but whatever they end up doing it should be a very serious car.

as for the price i think the article was a bit optimistic. i think what may happen is they may throw in everything that is optional in ZR1 as standard on the ZORA and jack up the price accordingly …

if those carbon wheels alone are a $14,000 option on ZR1 you can see how this can escalate quickly LOL

https://www.motor1.com/news/750492/chevrolet-corvette-zr1-configurator-fully-loaded-price/

it would make sense too because with both turbos and electric motors that would be a lot of weight so they would have a good argument for trying to reduce the weight by using a bunch of carbon fiber as standard then using it as excuse to jack the price up

and just generally prices tend to go up exponentially with performance. you can’t just add the cost of the electric motor to the ZR1 and assume that will be the price of Zora.

i think, instead, prices will follow a certain relationship to 911 line up. namely every version of Vette will be faster and cheaper than corresponding version of 911. but in case of the Zora the corresponding version of 911 will be the GT2 RS which is like $400,000 …

yes base Corvette is HALF the price of base 911 but there would be a bigger delta in performance between base Corvette and Zora than there is between Base 911 and GT2 RS.

because Base 911 already has twin turbos and AWD whereas GT2 RS in fact loses the AWD while adding nothing and still triples in price versus the base just for a higher tune …

with Corvette going from base to Zora you first double the number of valves ( going from base to Z06 ) then add electric motors and turbos and ultimately end up with 2.5 times the HP of base whereas with 911 the top version is not even 2X power of base …

in other words while base Vette is 1/2 price of base 911 i think Zora will be more like 3/4 the price of GT2 RS so closer to $300,000 …

but again, i don’t think you need 1,200 hp. i think you could get let’s say the E-Ray and drive the car that looks almost the same as Zora while also being faster than what anybody realistically needs on the street and the prices for all the Vettes except ZR1 seem to have finally come down to MSRP so it is now the value it was meant to be …

so this is basically like Acura NSX

but instead of 3.5 V6 it has 5.5 V8 and instead of 600 hp it has 1250 hp and instead of ugly Acura interior straight out of a compact crossover it has interior that is actually appropriate for a sports car.

the NSX was discontinued because it had the right tech but the wrong package …

this ZR1X has the right tech and the right package.

this car should be better than anything in the 911 range and not just because of more HP, but because it combines this HP with proper weight distribution and power to all wheels … of course 911 also has decent weight distribution and power to all wheels but this has 2 more cylinders and 1.7 more liters of displacement …

as i said before 911 is compromised by its layout where they put rear seats where the engine should be and the engine is too far back so it can’t be made very big … the VW group reserves the correct configuration for the Lambos ( or limited run Porsches like 918 ) … the 911 is really meant to be like a classic car with modern amenities than a true modern car …

this is probably why 911 is so popular - because few other cars are so iconic from historical perspective while also fairly modern at the same time …

this ZR1X is a true modern car … it breaks with the Corvette heritage of front engine but does so for a very good reason … 911 will never do this. VW has other cars for that.

the other thing is that even in Bugatti Tourbillon they didn’t put in the turbos because they figured 1800 hp is enough … but for this ZR1X they really pulled out all the stops. this is as fast as a car can be made without going to extremes like electric turbos or carbon fiber body.

if i had ~ $250,000 to spend on a car the only reason i wouldn’t get this ZR1X is because i don’t need a car this fast. Even a 911 is too fast for the road. I would probably get a Bentley Coupe in that price range and leave racing from the red light to Teenagers.

but my condolences to British Car Reviewers who are on life support because they have to explain how this Vette isn’t as good as European Supercars.

i am sure we will hear from them how it’s not about acceleration or track times … except it only became not about those things when they started losing that game.

but this is also why i got rid of all my friends - because i don’t want to live by idiotic ideas of others. today one thing is cool tomorrow another - you can spin that hamster wheel or you can simply disconnect from people who don’t see how it is slavery.

of course it depends on personality. i am naturally a loner so it’s easy for me. you are naturally social so it is not an option for you.

from engineering perspective i approve of this ZR1X if your goal is to go very fast. as for whether it is cool or en vogue etc. you will have to poll your social circle for that.

Plaid has already made acceleration figures irrelevant and this ZR1X now will make track times irrelevant.

What are we supposed to want in a car now ? This is a question only the hoes will be able to answer as they are the ultimate arbiters of such things.

By the way you are correct re overkill on speed, after Plaid which I floored in total maybe 5 times in 1 year of ownership - I realized that there is such thing as “enough” power. Just need to be in the 3-4 range of 0-60 and its plenty for daily driving.

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