- Chevy is working on a C8 even more extreme than the ZR1X, Corvette’s chief engineer says.
- Tony Roma described the 1,250 hp ZR1X as “just the latest chapter” in the C8 Corvette story.
- Chevy engineers seem confident the ZR1X can beat the Mustang GTD at the Nurburgring.
It takes some machine to make the 1,064 hp (1,079 PS) Corvette ZR1 look tame, but the 1,250 hp (1,267 PS) ZR1X hybrid has managed it. And don’t think for a minute that the Corvette crew is going to stop there. The car’s engineering boss says it’ll continues to push the C8 to new performance highs, even if the people who buy it barely scratch the surface of the cars’ abilities.
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“The things we’ve learned from creating the various models so far and the opportunities we have in the future with this chassis are incredible,” chief engineer Tony Roma told Top Gear. “The ZR1X is not the end of the story, it’s just the latest chapter.”
Related: America’s Everyday Corvette ZR1X Hypercar Versus The World
Roma didn’t say whether the next chapter would involve more power, more aero or be some wild, stripped-out track-only weapon for rich wannabe racers. But he did confirm that whatever comes next will be even faster because Corvette buyers love talking about performance they never use.
“Speed is only relevant these days for bragging rights,” he admitted to Top Gear’s reporter. “For a car to have a certain amount of provenance, we have to offer a version of that car that’s capable of doing those silly numbers [like the ZR1’s 233 mph / 375 kmh top speed]. So I think we are going to continue to make the car faster for those bragging rights, because our customers appreciate that.”
Lap Time Envy
After zero to 60 mph (97 km/h) times and top speeds, lap times figure highly in those bragging rights, specifically the time taken to circulate the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
“None of our customers will go and run a sub-seven-minute lap time,” concedes Roma. “But they want to know if they could.”
And if they could, what kind of time might they expect to see? The Corvette team has yet to reveal a Ring time for either the ZR1 or ZR1X, but Roma is confident at least one of them will beat the 6m 52.072 time set by Ford’s Mustang GTD.
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“We’ve done some testing, and all I can say is… stay tuned.”
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