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The Herald
01-08-2025
- Automotive
- The Herald
The Chevrolet Corvette is now the fastest American car around the Nürburgring
The 500kW Corvette Z06, driven by Aaron Link, completed a lap in 7:11.826. Meanwhile, Brian Wallace clocked a 6:50.763 in the 782kW Corvette ZR1 — 2.691 seconds quicker than the 608kW Ford Mustang GTD managed in May. This makes it the fastest lap recorded at the Nordschleife by a vehicle from an American manufacturer. The standout performance came from Drew Cattell, a GM vehicle dynamics engineer, who recorded a 6:49.275 lap in the electrified, all-wheel drive 932kW Corvette ZR1X. According to Chevrolet, this is the fastest Nürburgring lap by a non-professional driver on the list of official records. It's also 0.053 seconds quicker than the time set by the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. All three Corvettes used were US production-spec models, with modifications limited to track-mandated safety equipment, including a roll hoop, full containment race seat, fire extinguisher and six-point harness. The lap times were recorded under the Prototype/Pre-Production category, as the ZR1 and ZR1X are not sold in Europe and the Z06 used was a North American variant.
TimesLIVE
01-08-2025
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
The Chevrolet Corvette is now the fastest American car around the Nürburgring
The Chevrolet Corvette has made a strong showing at Germany's Nürburgring Nordschleife, with three models setting notable lap times around the fearsome 20.76km circuit. In a demonstration aimed at showcasing its performance credentials on one of the world's most demanding tracks, Chevrolet brought three production-spec Corvette variants, each piloted by a non-professional driver. The results offer a compelling snapshot of the brand's capabilities. The 500kW Corvette Z06, driven by Aaron Link, completed a lap in 7:11.826. Meanwhile, Brian Wallace clocked a 6:50.763 in the 782kW Corvette ZR1 — 2.691 seconds quicker than the 608kW Ford Mustang GTD managed in May. This makes it the fastest lap recorded at the Nordschleife by a vehicle from an American manufacturer. The standout performance came from Drew Cattell, a GM vehicle dynamics engineer, who recorded a 6:49.275 lap in the electrified, all-wheel drive 932kW Corvette ZR1X. According to Chevrolet, this is the fastest Nürburgring lap by a non-professional driver on the list of official records. It's also 0.053 seconds quicker than the time set by the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. All three Corvettes used were US production-spec models, with modifications limited to track-mandated safety equipment, including a roll hoop, full containment race seat, fire extinguisher and six-point harness. The lap times were recorded under the Prototype/Pre-Production category, as the ZR1 and ZR1X are not sold in Europe and the Z06 used was a North American variant. All three Corvettes used modifications limited to track-mandated safety equipment, including a roll hoop, full containment race seat, fire extinguisher, and six-point harness. Image: Supplied 'No car manufacturer has done a Nürburgring lap attempt like this before,' said GM president Mark Reuss. 'From development to production and now at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the Green Hell, we have shown there is no limit to what our GM engineers and vehicles can accomplish. These are the best Corvettes in history.'
Car and Driver
31-07-2025
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
The Corvette ZR1X Is the Fastest American Car At the Nürburgring
A month after dropping its first teaser, Chevy has finally revealed its Nürburgring times, with the ZR1X now officially the fastest American car around the circuit. In fact, Chevy also brought the Corvette Z06 in addition to the ZR1 and ZR1X, all three of which were driven by in-house development drivers. The Z06 posted a time of 7:11.826, the ZR1 a time of 6:50.763, and the ZR1X a time of 6:49.275. The Nürburgring Nordschleife is made up of 73 corners over 12.9 miles. In every corner of the automotive world, it's hailed as the benchmark track for performance cars. Now, one month after teasing its attempt there, Chevrolet has confirmed that the ZR1X holds the fastest lap for any car from an American manufacturer. In fact, the ZR1 now owns the top two spots of the podium for American production cars. Chevy not only brought the 1250-horsepower ZR1X, but also the 1064-hp ZR1 and the 670-hp Z06. A new video released by Chevy in conjunction with the times lays out the automaker's goals. In addition to setting a sub-seven-minute lap, Chevy, of course, wanted to become the fastest American manufacturer around the circuit—mission accomplished—but it wanted to do it with in-house drivers. If you remember the ZR1's domination of America's most famous racetracks earlier this year, that won't surprise you. This go-around, vehicle performance manager Aaron Link piloted the Z06 to a time of 7:11.826. ZR1 vehicle dynamics engineer Brian Wallace set a 6:50.763 lap in the ZR1. Unsurprisingly, given its immense power, the ZR1X set the fastest lap of the three, with vehicle dynamics engineer Drew Cattell coaxing out a 6:49.275. Those times put the ZR1 twins in fifth and seventh place on the all-time list for production cars around the 'Ring. First place in the category is a lofty 6:29.090 set by Maro Engel in the Mercedes-AMG One. Most important for Chevy, the pairing is squarely ahead of the company's crosstown rival, the Ford Mustang GTD, which was driven to a 6:52.072 earlier this year with professional driver Dirk Müller behind the wheel. Chevrolet Despite the three times being recorded under the Prototype/Pre-Production category, all three cars were built to U.S. production specs, aside from a handful of safety modifications recommended by the track. Those modifications included a roll hoop, a full containment race seat, a fire extinguisher, and a six-point safety harness. The categorization comes as a result of the ZR1 twins not being sold in Europe, and the Z06 being built to U.S. standards. Somehow, as if these times aren't enough, the Chevy team left the door open for further development in the future. "So what's next for us?" Link asked near the end of Chevy's documentary. "I think historically, Corvette's always got something else coming, right? We don't stop," responded Chris Barber, the lead development engineer on the ZR1. Jack Fitzgerald Associate News Editor Jack Fitzgerald's love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn't afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. Read full bio
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
How We'd Spec It: 2025 Chevy Corvette ZR1
Like so many other car enthusiasts, we're champing at the bit for the arrival of the C8-generation Chevy Corvette ZR1. Earlier this week, we learned that the ZR1 set not one but five course records at famous tracks around the country, which has only made us giddier to get behind the wheel. Plus, watching GM's Aaron Link drive the 1064-hp Corvette to a new production-car record on VIR's Grand Course has us counting the days until we can test our mettle at our annual Lightning Lap. Until then, though, we set out to configure our ideal versions of the ultimate Corvette. Our creations are varied—with some more unhinged than others. One caveat for the pricing of our builds is that Chevy hasn't yet received EPA certification for the ZR1, meaning we don't know its exact gas-guzzler tax. So, for anyone using this as a shopping guide, you'll need to factor in roughly three to four thousand dollars more per car. I have bent Chevy's configurator to my will. I have mixed Sebring Orange Tintcoat ($995) with Edge Blue forged aluminum wheels ($1495). Why are the lug nuts chrome? Just to sow even more chaos. You can do a lot with $205K; I have done too much. I tried to add paint-matching stripes, but even the configurator refused such atrocities. That led me to yellow dual-racing stripes ($1195) that match the painted six-piston front calipers ($695). I have opted for the Artemis interior, because the only thing more upsetting than a gorgeous car with an egregious color combination, is that same car, but with a green interior. You might've noticed that despite my desire to overwhelm the ZR1 with as many options as possible, I've neglected to add the giant wing. Why? I want to observe the horror in the eyes of people behind me in traffic using the glass mirror instead of through its rearview-mirror camera display. I've added the Corvette Museum Delivery ($1495) just so others must bear witness to my hellish creation. After this, it would be right of Chevy to shadow-ban me from ever leasing an Equinox. They wouldn't have the gall. Probably. The reckless decisions I've made here are a rapid assault on their crown jewel. After I finished this build, I clicked "enlarge photo," and for a moment nothing happened. Was it a hiccup in our office Wi-Fi or does the configurator feel trepidation? If there's one silver lining here, it's that this machine will be one-of-one. And no matter what that must look like, it's worth it to me. —Austin Irwin The ZR1 is a beautiful machine. I was fortunate enough to attend its launch in Miami last summer, and the wing is even bigger in person than in the pictures—or maybe it was just cold the day of the photoshoot. Jokes aside, the whole car had such a strong presence, even more than the Z06. Standing next to the ZR1, it felt like if I dropped my AirPods in its abyss of an air intake up front I would never get them back. The design is a fantastic example of a car that looks like it's going 200 mph while sitting completely still. To quote Car and Driver technical editor Mike Sutton when he went on a high-speed journey in one, 'That was the most effortless 205 I've ever seen.' I decided to go full-ZTK track car for this build. There just isn't any other way to spec this car when it looks like that and is breaking track records across the country. I chose the coupe and opted for the 3LZ trim, mainly to snag that 14-speaker Bose sound system. I went with Torch Red paint to keep it flashy but not yellow flashy and selected the 20-spoke Carbon Flash forged-aluminum wheels, a $995 option. Sitting behind those are Edge Red brake calipers for $695. Then, to add some more race-car points, I felt the $1195 full-length racing stripes in Sterling Silver look really good here. I brought that silver accent into the cabin with the Sky Cool Gray option, specifically with the nappa leather and perforated microfiber inserts, which automatically add the carbon-fiber and microsuede-wrapped steering wheel for $695. The aforementioned ZTK Performance Package adds a better suspension and a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires for $1500, and the mandatory Carbon Fiber Aero package adds the beautifully aggressive aero bits for $8495. Both are very necessary, in my opinion, because—seriously—what a car. —Carter Fry You should need a special driver's license to own and operate the 1064-hp road-legal rocket that is the new Corvette ZR1. Alas, all you need is upwards of $175K, which guarantees you can afford a ZR1 but not that you can handle one. Regardless of qualifications, both giddy rich folk and poors like me can now configure an ideal version of the ultimate Corvette. I'd go for the coupe body style in 3LZ guise, which is an $11K upcharge over the 1LZ version but unlocks seats that are better suited for lapping racetracks. The pricier trim also offers wider interior customization, if that's what you're into. I'm into the ZR1's Hysteria Purple paint color, a no-cost option. I'd also shell out the roughly $14K it costs to fit the carbon-fiber wheels that reduce unsprung mass by about 40 pounds and make my American-made hypercar as exotic as possible. The $695 bronze-painted brake calipers are a nice touch. Inside, I'd have the entire cabin dipped in the beautiful 'natural' (i.e. tan) tone. The more supportive competition seats add $500, and opting for the Stealth Interior package darkens the aluminum trim, so I'd spend the $595 there. But I'd avoid the available carbon-fiber trim because—frankly—the glossy finish looks cheap yet costs up to $4995. To make the ZR1's retro split rear window stand out, it can be painted to match the body color for $995. Money well spent, IMO. While I'd rather skip the $8495 Carbon Aero package, with its enormous rear wing, front dive planes, and a hood-mounted Gurney flap, it's handcuffed to the $1500 ZTK Performance kit. The latter is a must-have on a car that's meant to break lap records—and has. In a nutshell, the suspension is optimized for track duty and the standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber is replaced with racier Cup 2Rs. Throw in the $2895 carbon-fiber cross brace in the engine bay for more structural rigidity and my perfect Corvette ZR1 costs over $214K but is ready to race. —Eric Stafford I'm of two minds on my hypothetical Corvette ZR1. My idealistic side says I should go track-optimized at every turn, building the lightest, leanest, lap-time-slayingest machine possible—whatever spec Chevy used to destroy all those lap records, basically. Then my realistic side reminds me that I will not personally be breaking any lap records, and I enjoy pointless showboating for its own sake, and thus I can forego the daily-driving punishment inherent in track-rat trim and err on the side of comfort and ostentatious tomfoolery. And that's the car I've built: an orange convertible with a wing fit for King Kong's hang glider. Yes, I'm going convertible, because why not? It's a hardtop, so you can still track it, and with the top down, the widebody C8 convertible looks even more like it rolled out of Woking rather than Bowling Green. I'll take the 3LZ trim, which mainly gets me the Bose 14-speaker Performance Audio system that I'll use to crank Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street' while on my way to a marina that serves excellent crab legs. I'll drape this wedge in Sebring Orange Tintcoat ($995), which is a perfect complement to the 10-spoke carbon-fiber wheels ($13,995). My interior is matchy-matchy, with orange seat belts and habanero leather on the competition sport bucket seats (a bargain at $500 for those). And if I ever forget the wheels are carbon fiber, I'll have a carbon-fiber steering wheel ($695) to remind me. Do I need more carbon fiber than that, you ask? Yes, which is why I'm adding the Carbon Fiber Aero package ($8495), which brings the sort of wing you normally see out the window of an exit-row seat. And since I don't want to file down my carbon underparts on steep driveways and speed bumps, I'll need the front lift with memory ($2595). Finally, I'll spring for the black recovery hook ($125), so the kids will know I totally track this thing and sometimes go off. Because for me, if you're not living on the limit, you're not living at all. This ZR1, with its $27,400 in options, will not set the lowest lap time. But I would park it in my living room if I could. —Ezra Dyer Corvettes bound for the racetrack have been yellow my entire life, and there's no denying the newest ZR1 is bound for the track. Hell, it's already broken five track records, and it looks poised to topple our annual Lightning Lap board. While my skills behind the wheel don't hold a candle to Chevy's development drivers (or C/D's in-house talent), I don't see a reason to buy this car if you're not planning on setting some lap times. For that reason, I'll leave the more raucous builds to my coworkers—I'm looking at you, Austin—and instead build a car that looks like the Corvette race cars I want to emulate. I stuck with the 1LZ package because what use is a wireless phone charger in a track car? For paint, I went for the $995 Competition Yellow. I would prefer the same shade of yellow found on the Pratt Miller race car, but we live how we can. Everyone knows matching brake calipers improve stopping performance, so my imaginary accountant approved another $695. Since I'll need all the help I can get to set any sort of respectable time without killing myself, I checked all the performance boxes. $13,995 for carbon-fiber wheels. Thanks for taking away some unsprung mass. $1250 for carbon mirrors. How else am I supposed to see what's behind me? What's another $9995 for the Carbon Aero package and the ZTK package? Done and done. The interior is all business, save for the $495 I spent on yellow seat belts. Hey, let me live a little. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, after all. I spent a further $695 on the microsuede steering wheel to keep my sweaty mitts where they need to be on the track, and another $995 to do the same for my backside. It's not quite the factory race car of my dreams, but maybe the Corvette engineers will be willing to take some time away from developing the even crazier Zora that's rumored to be on the way to coach me through a lap of VIR. —Jack Fitzgerald You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
ArabGT
12-02-2025
- Automotive
- ArabGT
The New Corvette ZR1 Continues to Break Records
Chevrolet has officially revealed the record-breaking performances of the new Corvette ZR1 across several prestigious racetracks in the United States. With its sights seemingly set on outperforming German Porsche models, the latest iteration of the Corvette is proving to be a dominant force in the high-performance sports car segment. Although the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 has yet to hit public roads in its final production form, it has already solidified its place as one of the most powerful American sports cars to date. It previously set a top-speed record on the high-speed oval at the ATP Automotive Testing Center in Papenburg, Germany, and now, it's making history on home soil with a series of record-breaking lap times. Lap Records Set by the 2025 Corvette ZR1 General Motors, Chevrolet's parent company, recorded the ZR1's lap times at five of the most renowned racetracks in the United States: Road America – 2:08.6 minutes Road Atlanta – 1:22.8 minutes Virginia International Raceway (VIR Full Course) – 1:47.7 minutes (VIR Grand Course) – 2:32.3 minutes Watkins Glen International – 1:52.7 minutes With General Motors engineers behind the wheel, the 2025 Corvette ZR1 shattered lap records on each of these tracks. Taking on Porsche and McLaren The new ZR1 outpaced the Porsche 911 GT3 RS at Road America by five seconds, improving upon the German sports car's previous lap time of 2:13.8 minutes with a blistering 2:08.6-minute run. At Road Atlanta, lead development engineer Chris Barber shaved two seconds off the Porsche GT2 RS's lap record, clocking 1:22.8 minutes compared to the 1:24.8 minutes set by the Porsche. Meanwhile, at VIR's Grand Course, global vehicle performance manager Aaron Link managed to beat the McLaren Senna's lap time by two seconds, with the Corvette ZR1 finishing in 2:32.3 minutes—a faster run than the $1.2 million British supercar, which completed the lap in 2:34.9 minutes. Performance and Power: The Heart of the ZR1 The 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is built for record-breaking speed, powered by a 5.5-liter twin-turbocharged V8 LT7 engine, delivering an impressive 1,064 horsepower and 1,123 Nm of torque. This powerhouse is paired with an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, ensuring lightning-fast gear shifts. Performance figures include: 0 to 96 km/h in 2.3 seconds Quarter-mile time of 9.6 seconds Top speed of 375 km/h Pricing and Future Challenges When the 2025 Corvette ZR1 officially goes on sale, it will start at $174,995, equivalent to 656,231 Saudi riyals. With such an impressive track record, it may soon take on the title of the fastest American car at the Nürburgring, potentially dethroning the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD, which currently holds that distinction.
