Please Pick My Jaw Up Off The Floor
There are a lot of jaw-dropping modern cars. Like the Bugatti Tourbillon and it’s naturally aspirated 16-cylinder engine good for 986 horsepower. Or Dodge’s 1,025-horse Demon SRT 170. Neat. Then there’s the 2025 Corvette ZR1. A car that will have that jaw dropping even further as Chevy steps back into the ring with the King of the Hill.
The C8 Corvette Left Me Feeling…Meh
Ok. I have a confession to make. When Chevy unveiled the C8 Corvette, I was…unimpressed. I get it, I get it. The Corvette had hit the limit of its performance with a big V8 lump mounted up front. But man those Corvettes could really kick ass.
So, sure, going mid-engine was the right move from a purely performance perspective. But bro. Taking a Ferrari body-in-white and sticking on the boisterous bits of a Corvette goes together like oil and water. The front end was okay. Bu that sharp-edged side scoop butting out off the fender. Oh dear.
And that rear end with its busy blobs of Decepticon tail lights, curves and creases up the wazoo, and wacky spoilers. Overwrought, your design had arrived. But then Chevy did what they always do. Applied a shit load of power and put those elegant exotics on notice.
I Stand Corrected
There was the Z06 with its screaming flat-plane beast of a V8. Then the E-Ray with its electrified grip and outrageous acceleration. So, I’ll get over my issues with the design. Especially with this, the 2025 Corvette ZR1. It’s the superlative car to end all superlative cars. Some highlights.
The new ZR1 is packing a twin-turbocharged version of the LT6 in the Z06. But it’s not an LT6. More on that in a moment. Chevy says it’s the most powerful V8 ever produced in the USA. With 1,064 horsepower and 828 lb-ft of torque on tap, I’m inclined to believe them.
When the ZR-1 development team took their first laps at Germany’s fabled Green Hell, every driver clocked a top speed of more than 200 mph. The first hard launch yielded a sub-10-second quarter mile. Eat your heart out Dominic Toretto. We don’t know the 0-60 number yet, but we do know Car and Driver did the deed in just 2.6 seconds with the latest Z06. So, yeah.
The Gemini LT7 V8
Ok. About that ZR1 engine. Chevy calls it the Gemini V8. This no doubt has a cool old-timey NASA tie-in, but it also points to the fact that the C8 was originally designed with the end in mind. As in, the engineers always knew this boosted beast was coming. Obviously, Callaway beat them to that punch WAY back in the day. But here we are.
The LT6 V8 in the C8 Z06 is a 5.5-liter flat-plane crank naturally aspirated affair good for 670 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. To achieve the sick figures of the ZR1, Chevy took the LT6 back to the drawing board. What they returned with was so dramatically different, it earned a new moniker. The LT7.
Boost Me Up Buttercup
It’s still a 5.5-liter mill, but thanks to turbos and a bunch of other cool technical stuff, it’s effectively a new motor. Hence the Gemini – Zodiac for twins – naming convention. That “other stuff” includes head castings with unique ports and a larger combustion chamber. It enables the addition of port injection to go with the direct variety. Because this thing is THIRSTY.
Valvetrain timing and the lift profile are setup for forced induction. An all-new intake system tuned for two turbos is fitted. Counterweight changes account for unique pistons and connecting rods. All of which contributes to the compression ratio of 9.8:1 versus 12.5:1 in the naturally aspirated Z06 LT6 twin. Speaking of compression ratios, how about those turbos!
These two ported-shroud, ball bearing, mono-scroll 76 mm snails are integrated with the exhaust manifold and feature electronic wastegates. They’re also capable of squashing air into a 20-psi ball of energy ready to explode.
These Snails Are Intelligent!
An intelligent anti-lag calibration adapts to your driving style. Lift off the gas and the system adjusts the variable valve timing, closes the waste gates, and opens the throttle. All to keep those impellers spinning! According to Chevy, at full rip, those turbos get as hot as the space shuttle on atmospheric re-entry. Dang!
They also claim these fat spirals of forced induction madness inhale enough O2 to fill up an Olympic swimming pool in 4 minutes. Double dang! Hyperbole or not, the 2025 Corvette ZR1 is going to be an absolute sledgehammer of a car. Sorry, not sorry Callaway.
Such a hammer that Chevy limits torque output in gears 1 and 2. Aside from the hilarity of trying to put all that twist to the ground from a standstill, they’re taking pity on the 8-speed dual-clutch transmission. It’s been beefed up with upgrades to the inner and outer input shaft, shot-peened differential gears, and heavily lubricated, but have mercy!
Serious Function From That Wild Form
Whoa! Ok. I’m calming down. The powertrain on the Vette is just so damn outrageous! But there’s more. So. Much. More. MagneRide dampers version 4.0. Carbon fiber aerodynamics galore. 345 section width Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rear tires. Gurney flaps, adjustable wickers, AND a new wheel bolt pattern out back to handle the extra torque! Hey now!
Need more? The optional ZTK Performance package goes hog wild with a rear wing good for 1200 pounds of downforce at top speed. Not to mention stiffer springs and Pilot Sport Cup 2 R rubber. The brakes on this slayer of supercars are carbon ceramic units sized a heady 15.7 inches up front and 15.4 out back. Which according to Chevy, enables the 2025 ZR1 to go from 80 mph to 200 and back to 80 in just 24.5 seconds. Take a second and think about that. I’ll wait.
Engineering Is Neat!
Ok. Back to business. The business end in fact. Hiding in plain sight on the Z06 GT3.R race car is a back end that radiates Corvette nostalgia. The split rear window. A feature not seen since the C2 Corvette 60 odd years ago. Of course, for 2025, it’s been upgraded to a carbon fiber spine that provides heat extraction from the engine bay. Engineering is neat!
The roof is also carbon fiber, because center of gravity and weight. Then there’s the optional set of carbon fiber wheels that drops weight by another 43 pounds. The spectacular Hysteria Purple paint job provides no weight savings. But who cares with a name like that!
Inside, the ZR1 carries the usual C8 themes forward like the Center Console Wall of Buttons. A new Habanero design adds, ahem, spice to the cabin. And a variety of ZR1 badges are plastered about. But don’t miss the boost gauge for this first-ever factory turbocharged Corvette! And hat tip to the digital rearview mirror. God knows you can’t see shit out that divided rear glass framed by a ludicrous rear wing.
Dare Ya To Drive The Droptop
Did I mention you can get this thing as a convertible? That is truly crazy. Just imagine the weird things that could fly into the cockpit while hurtling down the autobahn at 215 mph. But then, crazy is the name of the game for the 2025 Corvette ZR1.
Callaway may have been the first to recognize the glory that is a twin-turbo Corvette. But Chevy picked up the thread, removed all limits, and cooked up something truly special here. It could be considered the magnum opus of Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter.
Immortalizing Tadge Juechter
A man with a 47-year career, 31 of which have been spent perfecting the Corvette, he is the subject of a rather unique ZR1 Easter egg. That being his face etched into the rear glass, like forever.
Corvettes have always been the subject of debate around the hard-to-ignore value versus performance ratio in comparison with the likes of Lamborghini and Ferrari. With the C8 ZR1, that debate is over. For something in the neighborhood of $180,000, this Chevy makes those exotics the definition of absurdity.
Dear Chevrolet – please – take my money.