The new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 hasn’t even officially hit the street yet, but it’s already proving to be one of the most potent American sports cars of all time. It recently achieved a top speed record at the High-Speed Oval Track at ATP Automotive Testing in Papenburg, Germany. Now, the ZR1 is breaking even more records here in America.
Chevrolet unleashed the ZR1 on five of America’s best tracks: Road America, Road Atlanta, Virginia International Raceway—the Full Course and the Grand Course—and Watkins Glen. With GM employees and engineers behind the wheel, the ZR1 racked up lap records at every single track.
| Track | Lap Time | Driver |
| Road America | 2:08.6 | Brian Wallace, Lead Vehicle Dynamics Engineer |
| Road Atlanta | 1:22.8 | Chris Barber, Lead Development Engineer |
| VIR Full Course | 1:47.7 | Aaron Link, Global Vehicle Performance Manager |
| VIR Grand Course | 2:32.3 | Aaron Link, Global Vehicle Performance Manager |
| Watkins Glen | 1:52.7 | Bill Wise, Lead Performance Engineer, Chassis Controls |
The ZR1 shattered the Porsche 911 GT3 RS’s Road America lap time by a full five seconds (2:13.8). It broke the GT2 RS’s record at Road Atlanta by two seconds (1:24.8). The ‘Vette even outgunned the $1.2-million McLaren Senna on the VIR Grand Course by two seconds (2:34.9).
Powered by a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter flat-plane-crank V-8, the ZR1 makes 1,064 horsepower and 828 pound-feet of torque. That sends it to 60 mph in 2.3 seconds and on to a top speed of 233 mph.
The record-setting car in question was equipped with the optional ZTK performance package, which costs an extra $1,500 (before adding the mandatory Carbon pack). That option adds a high-downforce rear wing, front dive planes, a tall hood Gurney lip, stiffer springs, and stickier Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R ZP tires.
“Corvette ZR1 continues to showcase how this nameplate elevates at every corner,” said Corvette executive chief engineer, Tony Roma. “From design, engineering, development, validation, to driving and setting incredible lap records like these—we do it all in-house.”
You will have to spend a pretty penny for all that in-house performance. The new ZR1 starts at $174,995 with destination included, which makes it the most expensive Corvette of all time. But, that’s a relatively small price to pay for that type of record-breaking performance.
Chevrolet published each record lap on its YouTube channel. You can watch all of them here.