The AWD Corvette ZR1 Is Gunning For Nürburgring Glory
When the Corvette moved to a mid-engine layout for the C8 generation, it opened up myriad opportunities for experimentation and innovation, and now it's time to explore another with the car many believed would be called Zora. What we're referring to is effectively a ZR1 with the electric front axle of the hybridized E-Ray, but according to recent teasers from GM, it seems the Zora name has been shelved. Instead, a new teaser campaign indicates that the most extreme C8 to date will be denoted by the letter X. Will this be the Corvette XR1? The Corvette ZRX? We'll find out tomorrow. In the meantime, our spies have caught the new car testing near the Nürburgring.
The 815-horsepower Ford Mustang GTD recently set a new benchmark for American cars at the Nürburgring, setting a lap time well below 7 minutes. But it may not stand for long, if CorvetteBlogger is to be believed. The publication claims that General Motors has been testing multiple ZR1 examples around the Nordschleife and has booked time for a possible lap record attempt later this month. Presumably, GM would want to set a time with the "regular" ZR1 first, and if that doesn't achieve a new record, perhaps the "X" version with AWD and more power could. According to our spies, the car formerly expected to be called the Zora could produce as much as 1,224 hp, so it certainly wouldn't be short on grunt.
The prototype in these images looks just like any other ZR1, except for its unusual exhaust tips, which are placeholder items only there as part of the testing program. Still, our spies say the noise was anything but subtle, particularly when shifting gears at high rpm. We expect the production version of whatever we're looking at to be just as similar to the ZR1, with cosmetic changes only likely to extend as far as wheel, trim, and paint options. Hopefully, Chevrolet will have lots to share with us tomorrow. Regardless, we're told to expect the latest and most extreme version of the C8 to arrive at dealers sometime in late 2026.
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