2019 ZR1 Comes With New 755 HP LT5 Engine
The new ZR1 Corvette may be the C7's swan song but it's going out with a loud boom thanks to a new engine. Check out what GM has to offer with the return of the king.
By the numbers
The Corvette has been a mainstay in the automotive world for over fifty years but the new ZR1 has set a benchmark as the fastest street car that GM has ever put forth. The thing about the ZR1 designation is that one has not been available for every generation of Corvette so that the team of engineers can really work to make each one special for enthusiasts. Since 1970, just four generations of Corvette have been bestowed with a ZR1 package that held a bevy of performance upgrades. The last ZR1 hit the market in 2009 with 638 horsepower coming from an LS9 in the body of a hopped up C6 with Z51 suspension options. That big optional rear wing on the back can generate 950 pounds of downforce at the track according to Chevy and can be adjusted around 5 degrees manually. The standard wing, while more sedate, can still create 70 more percent of downforce than the Z06's aero kit. Make no mistake that all the goodies are on top of the car as underbody aero was developed with the help of the Corvette Racing Team.
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Cool hand Luke
That new gaping maw of a front bumper not only scares slower drivers glancing in their rearview mirrors but also fixes the cooling issues that have plagued the Z06. The good folks at Chevy have installed FOUR new radiators to hit a sum of 13 heat exchangers on the car. Another perk of the front bumper is that there are new intake openings to feed all these new cooling components. Aiding in the pursuit of speed are heaping handfuls of carbon fiber. The ZR1 is to date the vehicle that has used the most carbon fiber of any Chevy product. The curb weight of the uber Vette sits at just 3,560 pounds which is the same as a Z06.
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Fastest Vette ever
Where a normal C7 is like a lean and sinewy as a long distance marathon runner the ZR1 is a chiseled brute of an Olympian that intends to knock the teeth out of nearly any car that comes its way. So what's going on under that transparent hood window? A 755 horsepower and 715 lb-ft of torque supercharged LT5 that's putting out 101 ponies than the Z06 and 300 more than the base Stingray. The LT5 uses the same pushrod overhead valve setup that Chevy has used for decades because if it ain't broke why the hell would you fix it? Oh, and the valve count for that beastly 6.2-liter V8, that would be 16!
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Shifting into gear
The ZR1 is available with a seven-speed manual with rev-matching that's geared more towards track duty; however, for another first time ever there will also be GM's 8-speed automatic. The ten-speed auto just didn't fit as it was never really intended to go in the C7. For manual purists, the final drive ratios are 3.42 (manual) and 2.41 (automatic). If you are thinking about which transmission to go with when you are checking off an order sheet, take a note from Tadge Juechter, chief Corvette executive engineer, who says that the manual is the way to go for hard driving.
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Because racecar
Moving to the underpinnings of the car, the ZR1 has a double wishbone suspension all around with cast aluminum upper and lower control arms. The package also has transverse-mounted composite springs and a Magnetic Ride Control coming standard on the car. Every ZR1 comes equipped with 2-piece carbon ceramic brake rotors with 6-piston front and 4-piston rear aluminum calipers. Tire duty goes to Michelin Pilot Super Sport run-flats sized R285/30Z/R19 and R355/25Z/R20 in the back.
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Not for the faint of heart or wallet
“I’ve never driven a Corvette like this before, and nobody else has either because there’s never been one like this before,” GM product chief Mark Reuss said in a statement. “Its unprecedented performance puts all other global supercars on notice that the ZR1 is back.”
The new ZR1 goes on sale next spring with pricing expected to be north of $110,000. Yes, I know that's a lot to pay, but you are getting a car that any other brand would slap at least another $100 grand onto. We can look forward to a drop-top version of the car coming at some point soon since that prototype has been spotted out and about in Detroit.
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