One of the reasons Chevrolet switched the Corvette to a mid-engine layout for its eighth generation was so that America’s Sports Car would have more weight over its rear axle, which would benefit traction and overall performance. Then, as it usually does, Chevrolet started releasing more powerful models, such as the E-Ray hybrid and the 1,064-horsepower ZR1. Chevy combined the E-Ray’s hybrid AWD configuration with the ZR1’s LT7 twin-turbo V8 to make the range-topping ZR1X, which blazed its way down the drag strip to become America’s quickest production car.
Last summer, we learned just how much power the ZR1X generates: the ZR1’s 1,064-horsepower, twin-turbo 5.5-liter DOHC V8 pushes the mega-Vette while a more potent version of the E-Ray’s electric front axle pulls—and bumps the total output to a staggering 1,250 horses. To find out just how fast the ZR1X is, Chevy’s crew hit the drag strip at the US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan. According to the automaker, the cars were equipped with “standard Michelin PS4S tires, and available carbon fiber wheels” and ran “on pump gas, using standard-equipment tires and production 50-state street-legal engine calibration.”
Over the course of two days, the engineers and driver Stefan Frick gradually shaved the ZR1X’s quarter-mile times and raised its trap speed. Passes in the high eight-second range were good but, when it comes to quarter mile times, less is more.
After prepping the tires in the water box and several blasts down the strip, Frick crossed the finish line and absolutely flew into the record books with a time of 8.675 seconds at 159.57 mph. Crunching more numbers revealed the ZR1X zoomed to 60 mph in only 1.68 seconds, with acceleration force peaking at 1.75 g.
Numbers in that range would be impressive just once, but the ZR1X team was able to hit them over and over again. What makes this even more of a monumental accomplishment is that Chevrolet’s $209,700 flagship performance car beat the times of hyper-expensive European exotics, such as the $3.4 million Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut and $4.6 million Bugatti Tourbillon.
And let’s not forget that the ZR1X already had the #5 spot on the leader board at the Nürburgring Nordschleife with a lap time of 6:49.275.
