|
Browse by Tags
All Tags » Chevrolet » CorvetteZr1 ( RSS)
-
|
Filed under: Coupes , Videos , Supercars , Chevrolet , Dodge A couple months back, the bone-stock Corvette ZR1 put supercars everywhere on notice when it took on the famed Nurburgring and ran a Nissan GT-R -beating 7:26 . The track-ready, fire breathing Viper ACR bested the Corvette's amazing effort by posting an incredible 7:22 lap time . Despite a four second difference in total track time, blogger Andi Barichi slapped both track videos together (after 30 seconds of annoying scrolling text) to verify that the Viper ACR came out on top. Hit the jump to view the two fastest American-made, street legal, 600+ hp beasts as they tangle in a 'Ring battle for the ages. The video proves what we already knew, but it's still fun to see how two very different, yet very similar vehicles, handle the twists and turns of the Nurburgring. Thanks for the tip, Jordan! Gallery: First Drive: 2008 Dodge Viper ACR Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Corvette ZR1 [Source: YouTube ] Continue reading VIDEO...
|
-
|
Filed under: Coupes , Videos , Supercars , Chevrolet , Dodge A couple months back, the bone-stock Corvette ZR1 put supercars everywhere on notice when it took on the famed Nurburgring and ran a Nissan GT-R -beating 7:26 . The track-ready, fire breathing Viper ACR bested the Corvette's amazing effort by posting an incredible 7:22 lap time . Despite a four second difference in total track time, blogger Andi Barichi slapped both track videos together (after 30 seconds of annoying scrolling text) to verify that the Viper ACR came out on top. Hit the jump to view the two fastest American-made, street legal, 600+ hp beasts as they tangle in a 'Ring battle for the ages. The video proves what we already knew, but it's still fun to see how two very different, yet very similar vehicles, handle the twists and turns of the Nurburgring. Thanks for the tip, Jordan! Gallery: First Drive: 2008 Dodge Viper ACR Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Corvette ZR1 [Source: YouTube ] Continue reading VIDEO...
|
-
|
Filed under: Supercars , Chevrolet , Rumormill While the world watches in awe as the Corvette ZR1 wretches the performance crown from its competitors, some people are already concerning themselves with its successor. How could GM possibly improve on its best 'Vette yet? Popular Mechanics speculated on what the 2012 Corvette could have in store, and some of the answers they've dug up are a bit surprising. Dual clutch gearboxes? Nope. Mid-engine? Nope. How about losing a few cylinders? Heresy! Before all of the V8 loyalists get their panties in a bunch, remember that you can do a lot with a twin-turbo six. While the Nissan GT-R is the latest example of huge pressure-induced horsepower from a six, the Jaguar XJ220 and past Noble efforts have proven the engine configuration more than adequate. While we don't have any problem with the idea of a high-boost 3.6-liter direct-injection sixer, we know that there's still plenty of room for a range-topping V8 engine and we feel confident...
|
-
|
Filed under: Supercars , Chevrolet , First Drive Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Last week, General Motors' Bowling Green, KY assembly plant began manufacturing the fastest, most powerful production Corvette in its 55-year history. We got our first official look at the 2009 Corvette ZR1 at the Detroit Auto Show in January and, at that time, Chevrolet officials hadn't finalized the numbers. Over the intervening months, GM continued to tease us with bits of information, including the ZR1's 205 mph top speed, 638 horsepower , 605 lb.-ft. of torque, and 7:26.4 lap time at the Nurburgring . Throughout all of this, we've been waiting patiently for one of the most anticipated invitations of 2008: the ZR1 First Drive. That wait finally ended a few weeks ago when we got the call to arrive at GM's Milford Proving Grounds. All we needed was cooperative weather. As the sun crested the horizon on the appointed day, the darkened skies threatened...
|
-
|
Filed under: Time Warp , Convertibles , Sports/GTs , Chevrolet Click the DR-1 above for a high-res gallery of the C4 ZR-1 At the coming out party for the new ZR1 Corvette last week at Milford Proving Grounds, General Motors decided to bring out a handful of ZR-1s (note the dash to distinguish it from the new model) from the first go around in the early '90s to remind us all of how far things have progressed in the past 18 years. The original ZR-1 was built from 1990-95 and, as with the new model, its engine was the heart of the car. In the late '80s when the ZR-1 was conceived, GM owned Lotus. The British sports car specialist designed the LT5 V8 specifically for the ZR-1. Aside from sharing bore spacing with the regular small-block, they had nothing else in common. The LT5 was an all-aluminum, dual overhead cam, 32 valve V8. At the time of its introduction, the motor had an output of 375 hp (eventually bumped to 405 hp in the last couple years of production), which was huge for...
|
-
|
Filed under: Videos , Supercars , Chevrolet Click above for high-res gallery of the ZR1 doing burnouts The Corvette ZR1 has some sick, nasty, evil power. Hitting the pedal will propel you to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds, and in the hands of a skilled professional, this blue-collar supercar can lap the 'Ring in 7:26:4. There is no question that 638 horsepower and a 3,300-lb curb weight is good for getting you somewhere in a big fat hurry, but in the right hands it can also get you nowhere fast. One particular Development Engineer is the General's number one burnout artist, and we captured video of him creating two 300-foot works of art. We love the rubber-ripping smoke storm and sound of the LS9 at full tilt, but we're not so sure this unsuspecting set of Michelin Pilot Sport 2s shares our excitement. Follow the jump to view video of both burnouts, and click on the gallery below to see the high resolution stills. Gallery: Covette ZR1 burnouts Photos Copyright (C)2008 Sam Abuelsamid...
|
-
|
Filed under: Supercars , Chevrolet , First Drive Click above for high-res gallery of our ride in the Corvette ZR1 Chevrolet officially kicked off series production of the 2009 Corvette ZR1 at its Bowling Green KY assembly plant this week and decided to celebrate by inviting the media out to drive the new "King of the Hill". Since there are still several more waves of writers scheduled to drive the cars over the next week, we can't tell you what we thought of how it drives just yet. We can, however, share some photos of the cars we drove today around the Lutz-ring at General Motors' Milford Proving Ground. Stay tuned next Wednesday, August 20 for our full evaluation. In the meantime, enjoy the gallery and refresh your memory with our intro to the ZR1 from earlier this year. Related: Detroit 2008: The King is back atop the hill - 2009 Corvette ZR1 Detroit 2008: The Heart of the King, the LS9 is born! Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Corvette ZR1 Photos Copyright (C)2008 Chris...
|
-
|
Filed under: Supercars , Chevrolet Click above for high-res gallery of the Corvette ZR1 with new pics The stats we throw around when comparing cars has remained the same for years. A car's 0-60 mph time and top speed are the two most well known, but this year a new stat has emerged that tells us more about a car's overall abilities than just mashing the accelerator would. It's the lap time of the Nürburgring, and you're just not a contender for supercar of the year until you've done it. The Nissan GT-R really brought attention to this statistic when it began impressing spy photogs who watched it slither around the 'Ring all through its development. Then the GT-R posted a blistering 7:29 lap time . The stat was further thrust into the spotlight when a Corvette engineer promised that Nissan would not hold the record for long . And it didn't. On June 27th, the Corvette ZR1 ran the 'Ring in 7:26.4 to take the crown. While we've watched video of the ZR1's...
|
-
|
Filed under: Motorsports , Videos , Supercars , Chevrolet We've all watched the video of Mr. Mero's fantastic ride around the Nurburgring in the Corvette ZR1; not even the horrid compression that YouTube serves up could ruin the sound of a force-fed LS-series V8. Rides are nice, and we'd hop right on in for adrenaline therapy, but what we want to do is drive the Super-'Vette. 0-60 Magazine shares our thinking, so they stuck their own shoe, Thomas Lyman, behind the wheel and sent him off around Milford. It looks like it was awesome, but everybody's keeping mum until the embargo lifts on August 20th. The video does a pretty good job of speaking for itself. Putting words in our future-mouths, our first impression is likely to go something like "holy mother of pearl!" repeated several times while breathing into a paper bag. [Source: 0-60 ] Continue reading VIDEO: Journos flog the ZR-1 Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
|
-
|
Filed under: Videos , Supercars , Chevrolet Click above for a high-res gallery of the Corvette ZR1. Journos were invited out to the Milford Proving Grounds yesterday to sample GM's latest and greatest Corvette, the ZR1 . Thankfully, someone was smart enough to mount a camera inside the 638 hp uber-Vette and captured video of Jim Mero, chief engineer and the man that lapped the ZR1 around the Nurburgring in 7:26.4 , caning the coupe though the General's test track. Hit the jump to check it out. Thanks for the tip Mark. Gallery: 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Continue reading VIDEO: Corvette ZR1 gets time on the track at Milford Proving Grounds Permalink | Email this | Comments
|
-
|
Filed under: Etc. , Tech , Videos , Chevrolet , GM Automobile Magazine was invited into General Motors Performance Build Center to watch and lightly assist in the buildup of a ZR-1's internal combustion heart. It takes four-and-a-half hours of real time to go from a bare block to a fire-breathing, supercharged LS9, but through the magic of sped-up video, it only takes seven minutes of your life. You won't come away with anything productive for that time, unlike the people in the video, who get the pleasure of creating a small-block V8, but it's a neat picture of how it all comes together. We just hope that some other poor sucker gets the motor that the magazine intern fiddled with. Video posted after the jump. [Source: Automobile ] Continue reading VIDEO: Birthing an LS9 Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
|
-
|
Filed under: Coupes , Videos , Supercars , Chevrolet , Nissan The Nurburgring is the most famous and grueling track on the planet. In the past, the 'Ring didn't get much attention aside from track day hoons and the occasional manufacturer test, but lately the big test has been to get around the circuit with the best time possible. Nissan's GT-R lapped the 'Ring in a stunning 7:29:03 , which blew the doors off of vehicles costing four-times as much. The 638 hp Corvette ZR1 became the new Nordschleife leader with a 7:26.4 time , but talk about the actual start time of both vehicles has kept message boards and our comments section popping. The guys over at Garage419 settled the question by syncing up the two videos at the pit exit sign and playing them side by side. They also provided a single master timer to ensure that the times are as accurate as possible. Hit the jump to view both laps at the same time. It's fun to see which vehicle handles curves and strait-aways better...
|
-
|
Filed under: Car Buying , Sports/GTs , Supercars , Chevrolet Click above for high-res gallery of the Corvette ZR1 If you were planning on heading down to your local Chevy dealership and placing an order for a new Corvette ZR1, think again. The new super-Vette is the fastest ever made, yet despite its $105k price tag, there'll be a lot of eager customers lining up. But General Motors will only allow certain Chevrolet dealerships to sell the supercar. Cauley Chevrolet, for example, sells 150 Corvettes a year, and claims it has 60-70 eager customers waiting for the ZR1, but GM will only be allocating four vehicles for the West Bloomfield, Michigan, dealership to sell. Fitchner Chevrolet in Laurel, Montana, sells 35-40 Corvettes a year, but won't be allocated any of the new ZR1s. Out of nearly 4,000 Chevy dealerships in the United States, only 338 will have the chance to sell the ZR1. GM has not released final production numbers for the uber-Vette, but if you want to get your hands...
|
-
|
Filed under: Coupes , Plants/Manufacturing , Videos , Supercars , Chevrolet , GM Click above to view video after the jump This morning General Motors released all the official numbers for the 2009 Chevy Corvette ZR1 including its price ($103,000), 0-60 mph time (3.4 sec), quarter-mile (11.3 sec at 131 mph) and top speed (205 mph). It's the fastest, most powerful and most expensive vehicle GM has ever built. So how does it get built? Why, at the Corvette's Bowling Green production facility in Kentucky. Put together by the same people who lovingly assemble your garden variety Vettes, the ZR1 is nevertheless a very difficult vehicle than the bang-for-the-buck coupe on which it's based. Watch the video after the jump to see a ZR1 go from a frame to full-fledged supercar in about four and a half minutes of time lapsed video interspersed with interviews of the plant workers who have the privilege of assembling this King of Corvettes. Gallery: 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 [Source: GM...
|
-
|
Filed under: Spy Photos , Coupes , Supercars , Chevrolet Click above for high-res gallery of ZR1 on the 'Ring spy shots Corvette Chief Engineer (and Autoblog commenter ) Tadge Jeuchter said last week that the new ZR1 "will be able to take the production-car track record at any racetrack" and should lap the famed Nurburgring race track in Germany in "seven minutes, twenty-something seconds." Considering Nissan just posted a new official lap time of 7:29 for the GT-R and that the GT-R V-Spec is reportedly clicking off laps in 7:25 , them sounds like fightin' words. Well, the ZR1 is officially being flogged around the Ring as we speak, though no one has yet to report a lap time for this gorgeous red prototype that was spotted by KGP photographers. BridgetoGantry.com reports that yesterday there was a helicopter over the track "chasing something that sounded very V8 and awfully supercharged," so perhaps lap times will soon be forthcoming. We imagine the...
|
More Posts Next page »
|
|
|