The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X may have lost its crown as the fastest American car at the Nürburgring to the Mustang GTD Competition, but it’s far from done proving its abilities on track. In two YouTube clips embedded in this article, we see the 1,250-horsepower ZR1X claim two new lap records at American circuits, first at National Corvette Museum Motorsport Park, where it beat the time posted by the McLaren Senna, and then at Sonoma Raceway. It’s not the first time the ZR1X has beaten the McLaren Senna, either, taking the record with a 2:34.2 lap time at Virginia International Raceway in February.
ZR1X Shines Even Without Racing Drivers at the Wheel
Every time Chevrolet has set a lap record with a ZR1 or ZR1X, it’s done so without the help of professional racing drivers, and this time is no different. The time set at NCM Motorsport Park, 2:2.22, was set byDrew Cattell, the vehicle dynamics engineer who piloted the ZR1X around the Nürburgring, showing that even those without professional experience can be fast. The previous record was held by the McLaren Senna, which managed to perform a lap in 2:2.86. Similarly, the Sonoma Raceway lap record was set by a chassis controls engineer, Cody Bulkley, who managed to reach 148 mph heading into turn 1 before making it around the track in just 1:34.17 seconds. The previous record, 1:34.94, was set by a rear-wheel-drive Corvette ZR1, with “only” 1,064 hp.
Both lap times are remarkable displays of both power and car control, and it’s fitting that vehicle dynamics and chassis controls experts are the ones showing just how agile the ZR1X is, despite being a hybrid and powering all four wheels with more power than a Bugatti Veyron or Lamborghini Revuelto. But the truly remarkable bit about all this is that Chevy has extracted such world-beating straight-line and cornering performance without charging hypercar money.
Corvette ZR1X Pricing Makes It a Relative Bargain
The ZR1X starts at just $209,700 before options, and when the Revuelto costs over $600,000 and the Mustang GTD over $300,000, its record-breaking ability is even more impressive. This is genuinely hypercar performance for well-optioned Porsche 911 money, and it reminds us of when the R35 Nissan GT-R blew far pricier competition out of the water 17 years ago. The GT-R started at just under $70,000 in December 2009; the Ferrari 458 Italia started around $225,000, and it lost most performance comparisons to the plucky AWD four-seater. Granted, today’s ZR1X is nearly twice as pricy as the GT-R when adjusting for inflation, but it’s also twice as powerful and can do the standing quarter-mile in under 9 seconds without any modifications. That’s surely worth celebrating.
Â
