The new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is expected to set a blisteringly fast time around the famed Nurburgring in Germany.
Chevy even teased fans by showing a video of the car at the nearly 13 mile-long racetrack.
Still, no official time has been released for the ZR1.
The regular ZR1, if you can call it regular, makes 1,064 horsepower from its 5.5 liter twin-turbo V8, the most powerful V8 ever produced in America, according to General Motors. There is a more powerful version too, the ZR1X.
Many fans expect the car to lap the ‘ring faster than Ford’s new Mustang GTD – an 800 horsepower, $320,000 highly tuned version of the famed pony car – after Ford posted the fastest time around the track for a U.S. production car ever at 6 minutes and just over 52 seconds. The GTD beat the previous record of 7 minutes and 1 second held by the Dodge Viper ACR, set in 2017.
To put that time into perspective, the fastest electric production car in the world, the Rimac Nevera, makes over 1,000 horsepower more than the GTD and lapped the ‘ring more than 13 seconds slower.
And the ZR1 could still beat the GTD’s time around the track, which is often used as a performance benchmark for car manufacturers due to its combination of slow and fast corners, various track surfaces and historic prominence, among other things, according to Car and Driver.
But we just don’t know how fast the ZR1 is until Chevy spills the beans. Anything else is just speculation.
And speculate people did.
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Some commenters after Chevy released its Nurburgring teaser video postulated the date on which the video was released, June 28, was evidence the car lapped the track in 6 minutes and 28 seconds.
That would be fast, absurdly fast, the fastest production car around the track ever, in fact.
A time of under 6 minutes and 30 seconds would dethrone the king of the ‘ring, the exceedingly rare, expensive and fast Mercedes AMG One.
The One, which makes 1,049 horsepower and retails at $2.72 million with an expected production run of 275 cars, set a time of just over 6 minutes and 28 seconds.
Corvette Global Executive Chief Engineer Tony Roma after the teaser video came out told Carbuzz his car is unlikely to beat the Mercedes.
“I wish the car was that fast. I’ve seen so many things online, but just stay tuned,” he said.
(13) GTD Driver Orey Fidani, Matt Bell, Lars Kern, Marvin Kirchhöfer, Team AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R during sunset of the Rolex 24 IMSA Race on January 25h 2025, at Daytona Speedway in Daytona, FL.
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He did say they’ll have something soon though.
“All I can say is, stay tuned. We did go and drive around the Green Hell, and we’re pretty proud of how the car did. And so, we’re going to release more details when the time’s right. Very soon, very soon,” he added.
Roma also said it’s extremely difficult and expensive for Chevy to set a lap time in this day and age, noting his team has no base in Germany near the Nurburgring and they have to rent the entire track out to do a record attempt.
Renting out the ‘ring is not cheap or easy either since the track is open to the public Monday through Friday from mid-March through Mid-November.
Roma also talked about how hard Ford worked to achieve its time with the GTD, noting the car made two record attempts before getting its final time.
“You can see the effort Ford had to put into the GTD,” he said. “And they had to go back twice to get decent weather.”
#33 CORVETTE RACING Chevrolet Corvette C8.R LMGTE Am racecar driven by Ben Keating (USA), Nicolas Varrone (ARG), Nicky Catsburg (NLD) during the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – FIA WEC race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on April 29, 2023 in Spa, Belgium.
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Many have speculated the ZR1 will beat the GTD just based on how the ‘Vette trumps the GTD in nearly every category except price. The ZR1 weighs several hundred pounds less and makes more than 200 horsepower more, both key factors in making a car go fast around a track.
But power and weight aren’t the only things to consider.
Judging by the performance numbers alone, one might even think the ZR1 could actually have a shot at taking down the One. Both cars make around 1,050 horsepower, weigh within about 200 pounds of each other, are mid-engined and sport the same Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires, if the Chevy is equipped with the ZTK package.
But for all the money, time and effort GM engineers have spent making the ZR1 extremely fast, Mercedes has likely spent a bit more developing its car. The price difference between the One and the ZR1, which costs between about $170,000 and $200,000 depending on options, is more than $2.5 million. And it’s unlikely all that cash only buys a Mercedes badge.
The Mercedes also uses multiple electric motors in addition to its turbocharged V6, extensive aerodynamic engineering, Formula 1-like pushrod suspension and a carbon fiber chassis.
However, should the regular ZR1 fail to beat either the GTD’s or One’s times, Roma could return to the ring’ with more.
The ZR1X has an additional 186 horsepower from an electric drive unit on the front axle, making the car all-wheel-drive as well, according to Chevrolet.
That’s an earth-shattering 1,250 horsepower on tap, or exactly 201 more than the One makes.
No matter what, the late “godfather” of the Corvette, Zora Duntov, is likely quite proud of how fast his car has become, even if GM decided not to name the ZR1X after him.
After all, the mid-engined Corvette we have today likely would not exist without Duntov, according the Car and Driver.