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Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This 2025 Corvette ZR1 Made 1028 HP At the Rear Wheels in a Dyno Test — And It's Stock
With an official output of 1068 horsepower and a top speed of over 230 miles per hour, the new C8-generation Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is a truly ridiculous machine on paper. (And, as we found during our first drive test, a surprisingly easy-to-drive one in practice.) A recent dyno test conducted by the YouTube channel Paragon Performance, however, suggests that the car's real-world numbers may be even more absurd than what General Motors claims. In a dyno test streamed live on Tuesday, the channel found that the C8 ZR1 produced an astounding 1028 hp and 840 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. Since the car is officially rated for 1064 hp and 838 lb-ft of torque, that number either suggests an incredibly efficient drivetrain or a substantially underrated engine. As number would suggest just a 3% drivetrain power loss, and the oft-quoted 15% power loss through the drivetrain would make the actual power output 1193 hp, the truth is likely somewhere in between. Paragon Performance says it has two new ZR1s, and plans to run additional tests over the next week before releasing another video. That should account for some of the possible variances in dyno testing, which could eventually show that this was just a particularly good day to run the Corvette. Nevertheless, reaching 1038 hp at the wheels is a staggering achievement for any road car. If the official rating of 1064 hp is actually a conservative estimate, it would mirror the first estimates of the car's top speed. GM first announced that the ZR1 could reach a top speed of "comfortably over 215 mph" when the car debuted. Four months later, the brand revealed that it had tested the car's V-max and found that it could actually reach 234 mph. No matter how powerful the ZR1 actually is at the crank, it is certainly the most powerful production Corvette ever ‚ but it will not hold that record for long, because the hybrid ZR1X is following closely behind with an additional 186 hp from an electric motor on the front axle. Because both ZR1 variants use the same turbocharged engine, this dyno run suggests great things for that car. If the ZR1 is really more powerful than GM's official numbers, the ZR1X should be, too. You Might Also Like You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners The Man Who Signs Every Car
Auto Blog
21 hours ago
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
Did Chevy Underestimate The Corvette ZR1's True Performance?
Corvette ZR1 Reaches Customers And The Dyno The arrival of the C8 Corvette ZR1 signifies to the world that Chevy can kick it with the best of them, but even with a four-figure horsepower claim, aftermarket tuners will never be satisfied. Now that the ZR1 has begun to reach customers, some of whom represent tuning shops, the race is on to unleash the 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8's full potential. Over the next few months, you're going to see social media posts from one company then another claiming firsts and world records, be that on the quarter-mile or the horsepower leaderboard. But before tuners do battle, they need to understand what they're really working with, and to do that, a dyno run provides some base numbers to build upon. Chevrolet claims 1,064 horsepower and 828 lb-ft of torque at the LT7's crank, and Paragon Performance in Waukee, Iowa, has put that to the test on a rolling road. The video is embedded at the bottom of this article. Math Suggests Chevy's Claims Are Modest According to Paragon's dyno, the ZR1 produces only a little less horsepower at the wheels with a reading of 1,028 ponies. Automakers have traditionally quoted their figures at the crankshaft because of several reasons. Firstly, the transference of energy from that point through the flywheel and clutch, then through the differential, and then through the shafts that drive the wheels (which themselves must transfer energy to the tires and lose some to friction and noise) is never fully conserved through the system. Heat and sound are both forms of energy that exist as by-products of the process of delivering rotational force from the crankshaft to the tires, and because of these fundamental inefficiencies, and because those inefficiencies vary across applications (a 6.2-liter V8 will produce a different figure at the wheel of a truck architecture than that of a sports car, for example), it's more cost-effective and consistent to quote the figures at the crank. But when it comes to performance cars, it seems that automakers prefer to tell a so-called white lie. Taking into account the losses described above, 1,028 hp at the wheels from 1,064 hp at the crank is astonishingly efficient, even in a package as compact as this one. Even more surprisingly, the torque figure is 11 units higher than claimed at 839 lb-ft. A mid-engine layout like this can be expected to have drivetrain losses of around 10%, and if that's the case, this untouched ZR1 is actually producing somewhere in the region of 1,180 hp and 920 lb-ft of torque. So why are the claimed figures so far off? GM Is Covering All Its Bases We've seen this many times before. BMW, in particular, has a habit of underquoting its performance figures, including 0-60 mph times. IND Distribution usually tests every new M, and the latest M5 is no exception to the unspoken rules of overpowered German behemoths. We've also seen it on the Toyota GR Supra, with two independent dyno runs in 2019 and another in 2020 confirming that the BMW-supplied B58 engines under their hoods were overdelivering. Back to the ZR1, and Car and Driver recently achieved a 2.2-second sprint from 0-60 mph, shaving a tenth off GM's own claim, despite testing on an unprepped surface and omitting the 1-foot rollout that automakers often use to cut an extra 0.2 seconds or so from their timing. Overdelivering on power and initial straight-line performance may be done to account for varying fuel grades, altitudes, and use cases, so the power figure announced by Chevy is likely an average figure, or one determined after extensive use, such as a track-day simulation. It also keeps the competition guessing. Another possibility is that this particular dynamometer is what people in the industry like to call a 'happy dyno' that hasn't been perfectly calibrated, or that the conditions in which the test was conducted were above average. Paragon Performance intends to find out with a lot more testing before fiddling with boost, fuel, and timing, so perhaps future dyno runs will result in a figure closer to the advertised. Thereafter, it'll be open season in the rush to the record books. About the Author Sebastian Cenizo View Profile
Motor 1
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Motor 1
The Corvette ZR1 Just Put Down a Crazy Number on a Dyno
The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 carries the honor of being the most powerful Corvette ever... at least until the ZR1X hits production later this year. Customers are finally starting to receive their cars, so it was only a matter of time before a ZR1 showed up at a dyno for a run. The results are even more impressive than we expected. Paragon Performance in Waukee, Iowa, managed to secure a totally stock ZR1 for a run on its floor-mounted dyno to see exactly how much power the supercar-killing 'Vette throws to the wheels. As a reminder, the twin-turbo 5.5-liter V-8 is officially quoted at 1,064 horsepower and 828 pound-feet of torque at the crank. If you know how cars work, you'll know there's inevitably some power loss as torque travels from the crank, through the transmission, through the differential, and to the wheels. In theory, we should expect a noticeable loss in power in the dyno readings. Except that doesn't happen. In the last dyno run, the ZR1 puts up a reading of 1,028 hp and 839 lb-ft of torque to the wheels. If you factor in drivetrain losses of around 10 percent, this means the ZR1 is actually making closer to 1,180 hp and 920 lb-ft of torque at the crank. That means Chevy is heavily underrating the twin-turbo V-8's real performance. In all likelihood, the factory rating applies to the engine in the most grueling scenarios, like driving through Death Valley or being pushed to its limits on a race track. That means at worst, the engine will at least make 1,064 hp, no matter what. But if you're in a nice, cool dyno room with lots of clean air and no load, you'll make closer to 1,200 horsepower. We can only imagine how the ZR1X will perform on a dyno. Photo by: YouTube More on the ZR1 2026 Corvette ZR1 Gets Optional 10-Piston Brake Calipers Buying a Corvette ZR1? Be Prepared to Keep It for a Year Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Source: Corvette Blogger Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
