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Top Gear
a day ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 review: America's most powerful V8 production car ever Reviews 2025
Yep. Next question. I'm going to need more than that. Let's start with the engine, because it's ridiculous isn't it? Where Aston Martin, McLaren and Ferrari have had to hybridise to cross the mythical barrier into four figure power outputs, Corvette just took the Z06's 5.5-litre V8 and bolted on a pair of turbos. And yee-hah there you have it – 670bhp becomes 1,064bhp. 200bhp extra from each turbo. Mad world. Of course not. The engine is so different it now has an entirely new designation: LT7 rather than LT6. The compression ratio and rev limit has been dropped to aid torque, the conrod fractionally shorter to leave a bigger combustion chamber, the piston head dished out more. The crankshaft has been rebalanced, the heads are new, as is the entire intake and exhaust system. It is – and this is the easy thing to overlook when talking about American V8s – a genuinely exotic powerplant. That also happens to sport a pair of the largest turbos ever fitted to a production car. The 76mm monoscroll blowers are better for peak power and Corvette claims to have largely eliminated lag with valve timing to keep engine cylinder pressure high when you lift off. Another claim to fame: the most powerful production V8 ever made in America. God bless the US of A. Give me more engine facts! The turbos spin at up to 137,000rpm (that's 2,283 rotations per second ) and at that speed the turbo tips are travelling at 1.7 times the speed of sound. The impellers get to two-thirds of the belly temperature of the Space Shuttle on re-entry and so close are the turbos mounted to the exhaust manifold that the air going into them is still on fire. Flat out, the engine demands two gallons of fuel per minute. Expressed another way it downs a pint every 4.5 seconds. Cheers. Maximum torque stands at 828lb ft available anywhere from 3,000-6,000rpm. 0-60mph takes 2.3s, it's through the quarter mile in 9.6s at 150mph and maximum speed – as the boss himself discovered late last year – is 233mph. Correct, all that power and fury is fed through a pair of 345-width Michelin PS4S rear tyres. Or Cup 2Rs, if you spec the ZTK package. This brings grip: both mechanical (the almost-slick, yet still somehow road legal, tyres, plus stiffer springs and bespoke magnetic ride control) and aerodynamic (the whacking great rear wing is balanced with extra aero work at the front). Actual maximum downforce isn't particularly impressive given how massive that rear wing is – just 444kg at 186mph. A GT3 RS produces close to double that number. Look underneath, there's not much of a rear diffuser to pull the back end down. You have to choose your weapon. Want a fast lap and the most fearsome acceleration? Have the ZTK package. Want the 233mph max? You'll need the regular car without the draggy tail. You can also choose between hard top and convertible. The latter adds 45kg, but the former still has a lift-out roof panel. Every ZR1 can be open air, it's just a question of whether you're up for a bit of manual labour. You'd have thought so, but the all-aluminium ZR1 is commendably stiff. Corvette positions the ZR1 as being a little softer than the naturally aspirated Z06, less snatchy at the limit which, let's face it, is just as well when you've got this much power on tap.
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Our car's turbo failed after only a year. Should we be liable for the bill?
Dear Alex, When the turbo failed on our second-hand Nissan X-Trail, an approved dealer repaired it at a cost of £3,319.36. One year and only 8,000 miles later, the turbo has failed again. The dealer originally quoted £4,320 to repair it, and then reduced this to £2,956.63. Citizens Advice suggested we are entitled to a free repair, but the dealer refuted this, claiming that since the first turbo failed after we had used the car for six months, it's not its responsibility. It has also taken back its courtesy car, leaving us carless with young children, and demanded that we remove the car from its premises, forcing us to hire a tow-truck. Is this fair? –JB Dear JB, I think this is an example of deplorably poor customer service from the dealer. Like most manufacturers, Nissan offers a parts warranty of a year; to my mind, the turbo failure should have been covered under this guarantee – meaning it should have been sorted without any further quibbling. How long you owned the car before it was first replaced should have no bearing on that, so I don't quite understand the dealer's reasoning, unless it was implying that there was another, pre-existing issue that was causing the turbo to fail – though there doesn't seem to be any evidence of that. While you were negotiating with the service department, it asked you to return its courtesy car, with no offer of a longer-term replacement, and then demanded that you fork out for a tow-truck to have your own car removed. Not only a deeply unsympathetic move, in my opinion, but a borderline malicious one, as it piled pressure on to you to make a decision. You did the right thing by holding out and seeking professional advice; for other readers stuck in a standoff such as this, Citizens Advice and the Motor Ombudsman are great resources that can offer free advice with a sound basis in consumer law, assisting to resolve such situations. Unfortunately, the dealer still wasn't swayed. So when you contacted me, I took up your case with Nissan, asking whether it stood by its dealer's customer service. While Nissan didn't comment on that per se, it did promise to investigate. After some time, Nissan told me that the company's own customer service team had stepped in to help resolve the case. You then told me you had received a phone call with an offer to get the car towed to the dealer and repaired free of charge, which was the outcome you desired. 'We always place a priority on the satisfaction of our customers and aim to help where we can,' said Nissan's spokesman. 'When we became aware of this issue on an eight-year-old vehicle, although it was well outside of its original warranty period, we were happy to support the customer and resolve the problem to their satisfaction.' You have since confirmed that the work has been completed and that the dealer has carried out additional, unrelated repairs at no cost to you, as a gesture of goodwill. As a result, you're satisfied with the resolution.
Motor 1
11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Motor 1
Here's How to Build a 11200-HP BMW Drift Engine
Coming of age in the early 2000s, I'll never forget stepping out of the theater after The Fast and the Furious let out. Even the minivans were banging against redline. Nor will I forget the many issues of Super Street magazine that packed my bookshelf. So often, Super Street's pages filled with the 2JZ builds of this man: Steph Papadakis, the patron saint of high-horse inline-sixes. While best known in the early days for his gnarly Supra engine builds, Papadakis has become a fixture in both the pro drifting scene and the BMW tuning scene, turning his considerable talents to the B58 turbocharged inline-six which is shared by the Toyota Supra and a vast array of modern BMWs. Papadakis's calling card has always been his attention to detail, professionalism, and a philosophy rooted in solid engineering. There's no forum bro science rationalizing Papadakis's B58 builds, just a wealth of earned knowledge that this video illuminates perfectly. That's a huge chunk of what makes this build overview from the Motoiq Youtube channel so dang delightful. It's just two hugely nerdy and intelligent engine-building experts talking shop. Stick around for the whole video if you're at all curious about building reliable turbo engines, and especially if you're a fan of the B58 inline-six (like the staff here at Motor1 ). Papadakis drops knowledge bombs every other minute, dissecting exactly why this turbo'd six has become a modern classic, arguably the best BMW engine built in the past 20 years. And if you dig this video, stick around these virtual pages in the coming weeks. Our very own Chris Perkins has an interview with Papadakis that's sitting on my (metaphorical) edit desk, which'll be published shortly. I'll link that here when it's available, but it's certain to be another illuminating column from Perkins, packed with more of Papadakis's vast expertise. More on the B58 This 1500-HP M240i Is the Quickest BMW on the Planet Here's Why The Manual Z4 Is BMW's Best Car Right Now 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 . Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
Motor 1
11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Motor 1
Here's How to Build a 1200-HP BMW Drift Engine
Coming of age in the early 2000s, I'll never forget stepping out of the theater after The Fast and the Furious let out. Even the minivans were banging against redline. Nor will I forget the many issues of Super Street magazine that packed my bookshelf. So often, Super Street's pages filled with the 2JZ builds of this man: Steph Papadakis, the patron saint of high-horse inline-sixes. While best known in the early days for his gnarly Supra engine builds, Papadakis has become a fixture in both the pro drifting scene and the BMW tuning scene, turning his considerable talents to the B58 turbocharged inline-six which is shared by the Toyota Supra and a vast array of modern BMWs. Papadakis's calling card has always been his attention to detail, professionalism, and a philosophy rooted in solid engineering. There's no forum bro science rationalizing Papadakis's B58 builds, just a wealth of earned knowledge that this video illuminates perfectly. That's a huge chunk of what makes this build overview from the Motoiq Youtube channel so dang delightful. It's just two hugely nerdy and intelligent engine-building experts talking shop. Stick around for the whole video if you're at all curious about building reliable turbo engines, and especially if you're a fan of the B58 inline-six (like the staff here at Motor1 ). Papadakis drops knowledge bombs every other minute, dissecting exactly why this turbo'd six has become a modern classic, arguably the best BMW engine built in the past 20 years. And if you dig this video, stick around these virtual pages in the coming weeks. Our very own Chris Perkins has an interview with Papadakis that's sitting on my (metaphorical) edit desk, which'll be published shortly. I'll link that here when it's available, but it's certain to be another illuminating column from Perkins, packed with more of Papadakis's vast expertise. More on the B58 This 1500-HP M240i Is the Quickest BMW on the Planet Here's Why The Manual Z4 Is BMW's Best Car Right Now 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 . Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
