By Bob Sorokanich, senior editor, GM News
By Bob Sorokanich, senior editor, GM News
To fully understand 1,064 horsepower, you have to feel it.
When Chevrolet announced the 2025 Corvette ZR1, all eyes were on that horsepower figure. The ZR1’s twin-turbo 5.5-liter engine is the most powerful V-8 ever produced by an American automaker – brawny enough to send the new ZR1 ripping from zero to 60 mph in 2.3 seconds, on its way to a track-verified top speed of 233 mph1. The ZR1 makes more than five times the horsepower of a typical family vehicle, like (for example) your author’s daily drive, a Chevy Equinox.
It's fun to tootle along on your commute and wonder what the drive would feel like with quintuple the thrust. But I didn’t truly grasp this king Corvette’s monumental power figure until I belted into the passenger seat of a Competition Yellow ZR1 and let Chris Barber, Corvette lead development engineer, show me around the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas.
Barber and the Corvette crew were at COTA to demonstrate the ZR1’s prowess to journalists and influencers. The choice of venue conveyed a message: This is a serious machine, a true American supercar2, and only a world-class road course like COTA could provide a suitable setting to safely become acquainted with the true capabilities of this Corvette.
All that made logical sense as Barber eased the bright yellow ZR1 out of pit lane and onto the track. Then he nailed the accelerator, and all the logic in my brain suddenly dismantled.
Caption: A blue Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, at the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas.
Off and running
The ZR1 accelerates like a wormhole. We zapped to COTA’s first corner, a nasty hairpin left, like we were teleporting. I’ve been lucky enough to ride in some very serious cars, including purpose-built racing machines. No vehicle ever pinned me to my seatback like this ZR1.
Flinging into Turn 1, we were off and running. Our ZR1 featured the ZTK Performance Package, with an imposing rear wing and a collection of carbon-fiber aerodynamic features that work together to generate immense downforce. Add in ultra-high-performance tires and the largest standard-equipment carbon-ceramic brakes ever fitted to a Corvette, and the ZR1 becomes nothing less than a racetrack monster.
At COTA, every fast, flowing segment is bookended by acute, low-speed corners. Most high-performance cars shine in one part of COTA and dawdle in the next. The ZR1 was unrelenting across every inch of this track. For every straightaway dispatched with rocket-like acceleration, there was an eye-popping braking zone. In corners, the Corvette generated g-forces like I’ve never experienced in a street-legal car. With Barber at the wheel, each lap was an uninterrupted thrill ride. I could barely catch my breath.
Simply put, the ZR1 never runs out of steam. Past a certain speed, even the most high-performance sports cars start to run out of breath, the rush of acceleration dwindling to a trickle. Not so with the ZR1. On COTA’s back straightaway, more than half a mile long, I snatched a glance at the speedometer as it flashed past 170 mph. Then Barber hit the brakes, arced the car into another corner, and – in my mind, at least – broke about six different laws of physics at once.
Barber, I should note, has lots of practice hauling ZR1s around tricky racetracks. As lead development engineer on this new machine, Barber has logged thousands of miles refining the latest Corvette into a masterpiece. Along the way, he set a new production-car lap record at Road Atlanta, one of five records that now belong to the ZR1. As I strapped on my helmet ahead of our ride, I had no doubt that Barber would show me the ZR1’s full capabilities without breaking a sweat.
Caption: A white Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 at Circuit of the Americas.
Staying cool
I, on the other hand, broke quite the sweat, despite the fact that the ZR1’s cabin was a refreshing 67 degrees throughout our three-lap run. This Corvette can pamper its occupants even on a 100-degree Austin day, providing ice-cold air conditioning and cooled seats even as it rockets around the track. Throwing me in the passenger seat of the ZR1 at COTA was like asking me to take a quick jog alongside an Olympic sprinter. My body isn’t conditioned for this kind of performance.
Soon – sooner than I ever anticipated – my three high-speed laps with Barber were over. As we circled the track for a cool-down lap, my circuit chauffeur beamed at the vehicle he had helped to create. “It’s amazing how effortless it is,” he told me. “You don’t have to wrestle the car to get fast lap times. If you know your way around a racetrack, you can get up to speed in this thing more effortlessly than any other car I’ve driven.”
I concurred, or at least I tried. Whatever I attempted to say came out as giggling jibberish. I entered the ZR1 thinking I knew what fast was. I got out in a state of perspiring disarray. Simply put, the 2025 Corvette ZR1 accelerates, brakes, and corners like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. If you want that kind of capability for yourself, the ZR1 is headed to dealerships now.
1On a closed course only. Based on initial vehicle movement.
2Assembled in Bowling Green, Kentucky, of U.S., and globally sourced parts.
To fully understand 1,064 horsepower, you have to feel it.
When Chevrolet announced the 2025 Corvette ZR1, all eyes were on that horsepower figure. The ZR1’s twin-turbo 5.5-liter engine is the most powerful V-8 ever produced by an American automaker – brawny enough to send the new ZR1 ripping from zero to 60 mph in 2.3 seconds, on its way to a track-verified top speed of 233 mph1. The ZR1 makes more than five times the horsepower of a typical family vehicle, like (for example) your author’s daily drive, a Chevy Equinox.
It's fun to tootle along on your commute and wonder what the drive would feel like with quintuple the thrust. But I didn’t truly grasp this king Corvette’s monumental power figure until I belted into the passenger seat of a Competition Yellow ZR1 and let Chris Barber, Corvette lead development engineer, show me around the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas.
Barber and the Corvette crew were at COTA to demonstrate the ZR1’s prowess to journalists and influencers. The choice of venue conveyed a message: This is a serious machine, a true American supercar2, and only a world-class road course like COTA could provide a suitable setting to safely become acquainted with the true capabilities of this Corvette.
All that made logical sense as Barber eased the bright yellow ZR1 out of pit lane and onto the track. Then he nailed the accelerator, and all the logic in my brain suddenly dismantled.
Off and running
The ZR1 accelerates like a wormhole. We zapped to COTA’s first corner, a nasty hairpin left, like we were teleporting. I’ve been lucky enough to ride in some very serious cars, including purpose-built racing machines. No vehicle ever pinned me to my seatback like this ZR1.
Flinging into Turn 1, we were off and running. Our ZR1 featured the ZTK Performance Package, with an imposing rear wing and a collection of carbon-fiber aerodynamic features that work together to generate immense downforce. Add in ultra-high-performance tires and the largest standard-equipment carbon-ceramic brakes ever fitted to a Corvette, and the ZR1 becomes nothing less than a racetrack monster.
At COTA, every fast, flowing segment is bookended by acute, low-speed corners. Most high-performance cars shine in one part of COTA and dawdle in the next. The ZR1 was unrelenting across every inch of this track. For every straightaway dispatched with rocket-like acceleration, there was an eye-popping braking zone. In corners, the Corvette generated g-forces like I’ve never experienced in a street-legal car. With Barber at the wheel, each lap was an uninterrupted thrill ride. I could barely catch my breath.
Simply put, the ZR1 never runs out of steam. Past a certain speed, even the most high-performance sports cars start to run out of breath, the rush of acceleration dwindling to a trickle. Not so with the ZR1. On COTA’s back straightaway, more than half a mile long, I snatched a glance at the speedometer as it flashed past 170 mph. Then Barber hit the brakes, arced the car into another corner, and – in my mind, at least – broke about six different laws of physics at once.
Barber, I should note, has lots of practice hauling ZR1s around tricky racetracks. As lead development engineer on this new machine, Barber has logged thousands of miles refining the latest Corvette into a masterpiece. Along the way, he set a new production-car lap record at Road Atlanta, one of five records that now belong to the ZR1. As I strapped on my helmet ahead of our ride, I had no doubt that Barber would show me the ZR1’s full capabilities without breaking a sweat.
Staying cool
I, on the other hand, broke quite the sweat, despite the fact that the ZR1’s cabin was a refreshing 67 degrees throughout our three-lap run. This Corvette can pamper its occupants even on a 100-degree Austin day, providing ice-cold air conditioning and cooled seats even as it rockets around the track. Throwing me in the passenger seat of the ZR1 at COTA was like asking me to take a quick jog alongside an Olympic sprinter. My body isn’t conditioned for this kind of performance.
Soon – sooner than I ever anticipated – my three high-speed laps with Barber were over. As we circled the track for a cool-down lap, my circuit chauffeur beamed at the vehicle he had helped to create. “It’s amazing how effortless it is,” he told me. “You don’t have to wrestle the car to get fast lap times. If you know your way around a racetrack, you can get up to speed in this thing more effortlessly than any other car I’ve driven.”
I concurred, or at least I tried. Whatever I attempted to say came out as giggling jibberish. I entered the ZR1 thinking I knew what fast was. I got out in a state of perspiring disarray. Simply put, the 2025 Corvette ZR1 accelerates, brakes, and corners like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. If you want that kind of capability for yourself, the ZR1 is headed to dealerships now.
1On a closed course only. Based on initial vehicle movement.
2Assembled in Bowling Green, Kentucky, of U.S., and globally sourced parts.