The C8 ZR1’s Top Speed Is 21 MPH Faster Than the C7’s
With honking twin turbochargers and more than 1000 hp, the C8 Corvette ZR1’s LT7 twin-turbo V-8 was sure to be capable of propelling the new king of the castle to some absurd speeds. But even we didn’t see this one coming: At a high-speed oval test track in Papenburg, Germany, GM president Mark Reuss pushed the ZR1 to a top speed of 233 mph.
Two hundred and thirty-three miles per hour.
That figure secures several accolades for the C8-generation Corvette ZR1, including the fastest car GM has ever produced, the fastest car priced under $1M, and the fastest series-production car produced by an American auto manufacturer. (You can quibble in the comments over whether Hennessey’s Venom F5 or the SSC Tuatara are worthy of a caveat on that last one.)
Best of all, the record-setting car was just a standard chassis and aero package, with a standard spoiler, carbon-fiber ground effects, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, and aluminum wheels. That two-way average pulled by Reuss and the development engineer riding shotgun wasn’t a one-off, either. Chevy says that five engineers and both development cars on site cracked the 230-mph mark across multiple runs.
According to Chevy, the ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg facility is ideal for these types of runs, thanks to its goldilocks air density and temperature readings. The C6– and C7-gen Corvette ZR1s set their top-speed figures—205 and 212 mph, respectively—there, as did the sixth-generation Camaro ZL1 (198 mph).
Check out the video below to get the low-down on this staggering feat.
Those rolling races in Mexico are going to start being very interesting, in Lambo land
I watched the video earlier. Car looks great at high speed. I would be curious to see them do this on the high downforce setup just to see what gets lost on that top number.
They did and it is 215 MPH.
Pretty amazing to only lose 18mph. A speed few will ever achieve in either setup.
Other than bragging rights for GM, the average Corvette ZR1 owner will never come close to this speed. I’m all for fast cars and horsepower in the right applications, but 1000+ HP seems overly excessive for a street car. I guess that was GMs goal.
Average people don’t own ZR1s of any gen.
To bad they haven’t put some of those efforts into building an affordable & reliable truck ! That is there REAL bread and butter market and has been forever pretty much. Myself I’ve been totally under whelmed with there products foe several years now.
Seriously, who in there right mind would want to go muck out a stall or throw some fire wood in a truck costing anywhere from 75K-almost 100K ? Just GM I guess,,,,,,
All well and good, meanwhile GM discontinued the Malibu, conceding the entire sedan market to Toyota, Honda and the rest.
GM is run by frat bros and their mother.
The truth is there was little money in the BU. They are doing the Trax now as a tall Malibu and sales are very high.
The weakness of the BU was they only sell in limited markets. The Honda and Toyota sales are dropping too but they are in many more global markets so they still can make a buck.
This is not frat boy stuff. It is all about the most return on the investment.
Do you own a BU? I was a Bu owner and just sold mine. It was replaced with a much more usable Blazer. The Bu was a nice car but you could get little in the trunk and the interior was snug. Also no V6 anymore or AWD.
Very true!
Cadillac still makes and sells sedans.
The fastest speed limit in the USA is 85 mph? So you have a little left over for passing…….
In 1988 Callaway turned a C4 Vette into the sledgehammer, 350 CI small block push rod engine and twin turbos for 255 mph (with very little aero kit)…as much as they want to brag about it, it’s been done with far less technology. But make GM –ahem great “again” since when?
I remember that car gracing the front cover of at least one major magazine at the time. As an auto enthusiast, I was completely stunned by what that car could do. It was far beyond what production cars were capable of at the time. Remember, the Ferrari F40, a blistering supercar of the time, just crested the 200 mph mark.
And that Calloway C4 was primitive as compared to the C8 ZR1, but I’d take the C8 anytime (actually ANY C8…)
And they drove it from Callaway headquarters to the track in Ohio and back.
The Callaway is a car that was built by them and John Lingenfelter with little to prevent them to do so. To build a car nearly as fast in a large corporation like GM is a greater accomplishment in itself.
John even offer his own Twin Turbo C5 that did 230 MPH and with some work he said it may have hit 300 MPH. But these were special built cars again and custom deals.
To make a production car this fast and stable is amazing. It is tough to get to 200 MPH and every MPH over that is multiple time harder than going 120-150 MPH.
Finally these runs were with Mark Ruess. GM president. It was not a test driver but just Mark. He has driven Corvettes but he has never races. That should say something a bout the stability.
I have been up to 160 MPH in cars that really were not stable. To understand the physics here is what tells the story. Especially at this price point.
You’re right, sticking Reuss in the car is an EXCELLENT way to demonstrate the car’s stability. After all, he did stuff the C7 ZR1 into a wall on national television.
The only way to drive that fast is not to think about what will happen if anything goes wrong. I’ve hit some rarified top speeds (though nowhere near this car’s top speed) and only after did I think about how badly things would have gone if I experienced a blowout or road damage or something similar.
I have a vivid memory way back in my youth hitting 140 mph in my ‘73 Vette at about 3am on LBJ freeway Dallas, then with a quick glance at the speedometer, and then a quick thought in my head of what the hell am I doing here…,, Then dialing it back from there. No one was on the road and thankfully no blowout or police.
I’m sure the C8 at 140 feels like going 90 and is far more stable.
I still have the Vette 46 years now and it’s still in one piece and a design year Zora was proud of😁
Incredible what cars a can do today, love the massive HP…..keep drilling!!!!!
Like you I was young and dumb and driving my new-to-me ’76 911.
I was showing off to my brother and ripping down a rural road somewhere north of 120 when there was a sudden ear-splitting Whap-Whap-Whap sound. The thought that crossed my mind in that instant was “This is how we’re going to die!” Obviously I didn’t, but the separated tread did over $5K (’86 dollars) of damage to the car.
Since then I never drive at speed on tires that I did not personally put on the car.
People love to brag about horsepower and top speeds. I think this is the main reason most will buy something like this.
And, some Darwin Award candidates will test one to make sure!
That’s all well and good to build a 1000 hp 233 mph car, but how about GM build a small sedan for less than the price I paid for my house. Instead, they build a car that can’t legally shift out of first gear on a public highway. I just bought a Malibu RS for $28,000.00 and when I was checking out the spare tire (there is none), the well it is supposed to sit in had water 3 inches deep in it. I have always bought American, but the Toyotas and Hondas are starting to look good.
I had a Bu since 2008 till last year. One O ring issue and one leak in the exhaust and nothing but regular maintenance.
If you have a leak it may be a simple rubber strip that can be fixed fast, Even Toyotas leak.
Few cars have spares anymore. Weight is evil.
GM tried and hung on longer than any other American company selling sedans here. But there is no money in it. Toyota and Honda can because they sell globally. Even with that American sales are declining and they are adding more CUV models.
At least you bought one. So many complain there is no Malibu but they never even owned one,
I sold mine and replaced it with a Blazer for my son. It is larger safer and has a V6 and AWD. It will haul more too. With the discounts I got it for within $5K of a bu wiith FWD and 4 cylinder.
The 100s thousands of sedans Kia and Hyundai are selling here had to come out of someone’s market share.
My wife drives a 2016 Mailbu that she inherited in 2017 with 4000 miles on it. It now has 160,000 and the only thing we have ever done to it is a battery and 2 sets of tires.
You said weight is evil? Somebody should tell that to GM regarding the new Hummer that weighs 9000 lb.
The McLaren F1 was $1 million when new, and did 240.1 MPH. No Turbos.
Why was it done in Germany at a “high speed proving ground”?
Why not Daytona or Talladega or the GM proving ground?
The facility is made for testing like this. The other factor was the GM president was driving not the test driver. He was still almost 200 MPH going into the banking.
The top lane on most of these tracks are made to turn the car at 120 MPH,
They could have done it at the TRC track in Ohio but they are testing in Germany too, So just drive to the track and run it..
They are not done yet,. Look for a Green Hell lap time before the end of the year.
My ’74 Pinto wagon was faster in second gear
Look this car is important. It is an ICON and the oldest sports car still being sold over 70 years,
That image helps at Chevy and helps sell other models.
Add to that it makes money. The high end models like this make even more money. If GM was not making money this car would have died, It was canceled once only saved by managers who hid the C5 till it was ready to test.
Ford on the GT is making a mistake. They sell a high end car that few ever see in person. They sell it at a price so high few will buy it and Ford does not even build it.
They should have taken the first GT and got the price lower to compete with the Corvette. That would have been fun.