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With GM hotshoe Jan Magnussen in the cockpit of Zee Really fast One , the General's hypercar trimmed a staggering four seconds off its previous record-breaking lap time, bringing in a 7:22.4 lap around the 13-mile circuit. Although blisteringly quick, the ZR1's new time still falls short of the Viper ACR's best time of 7:22.1. We don't expect this glorious arms race to end anytime soon — not that we'd ever want these warriors of the raceway to quit duking it out. Guess it depends on whomever ends up owning the Viper brand . galleryPost('ZR1reviewtrack', 6, 'Corvette ZR1 On the Track'); [ MotorGears ]
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We knew the 2009 Corvette ZR1 was fast, but until now, we didn’t know how fast it could be in the hands of anyone other than GM’s official test drivers. It appears Popular Mechanics has strapped its own timing gear to the ZR1 and hit the go pedal. We’re kind of relieved they pulled times slightly slower than those officially quoted by GM. Despite the ridiculously accessible nature of its performance, the ZR1 is a real driver’s car that actually requires some driving. It’s nice to see that variations in driver skill, surface and other variables actually have an effect on it, rather than relying on electronics capable of completely removing humans from the equation. Hit the jump for the results. galleryPost('pmzr1numbers', 6, 'Popular Mechanics ZR1 Performance Figures'); [via Popular Mechanics ]
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Writing in his weekly column in the ever-so-slightly left-of-center Sunday Times , Jeremy Clarkson expressed his love for the 2009 Corvette ZR1 before claiming “after three days the damn thing was beginning to disintegrate.” He may have just been "doing it wrong." Of course, this being Clarkson, the rest of the column was about the Chrysler Sebring , the War of Independence and his own insecurities that arise from him being a balding, fat idiot from a backwater nation who’s made a career on the tenuous appeal of his jackassery, so we don’t know if he was talking about the overall build quality (which we found to be peerless) or the interior (which we agree is unfittingly cheap for a $103,300 car). The rest of what Clarkson had to say and more of our analysis after the jump. I spent most of my time in America this time in a new Corvette ZR1. It is a fabulous car. Mesmerisingly fast, good looking and amazing value. But after three days the damn thing was beginning to disintegrate...
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UPDATE: Rumor busted! Chevy PR tells us ZR1 production has NOT been canceled. DigitalCorvettes was, as we'd claimed most likely the case, wrong on this story. DigitalCorvettes is reporting a rumor that production on the Corvette ZR1 , Chevy's new super car we just drove a month or so ago, has been halted at the Bowling Green Corvette plant. We knew the Corvette plant was on shutdown this week, but we fully expected the plant to resume production next week. Digital Corvettes is now reporting that's now not the case . We've got no evidence to substantiate this rumor other than what the Corvette-lovers over at DigitalCorvettes are reporting. To be fair, we can't believe this is true, and we've put in a call to Chevy PR to confirm or deny the rumor. We expect to hear back from them by the morning at the latest. Full rumor report below the jump: FACTS 1. ZR1 production has been halted at Bowling Green despite orders to fill. 2. There is nothing wrong with the ZR1 itself...
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DigitalCorvettes is reporting a rumor that production on the Corvette ZR1 , Chevy's new super car we just drove a month or so ago, has been halted at the Bowling Green Corvette plant. We've received no official comment from GM, and we've got no evidence to substantiate this rumor other than what the Corvette-lovers over at DigitalCorvettes are reporting. To be fair, we can't believe this is true, and we've put in a call to Chevy PR to confirm or deny the rumor. We expect to hear back from them by the morning at the latest. Full rumor report below the jump: FACTS 1. ZR1 production has been halted at Bowling Green despite orders to fill. 2. There is nothing wrong with the ZR1 itself. No production line issues that warrant it being stopped. 3. There is no official word from GM yet. Key word, 'official'. But, there is 'word' and we are hearing it. INFO COMING IN 1. The ZR1 model itself may be on the chopping block, or has already been cancelled. 2. GM is...
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Hopefully we'll all have the chance to see a full Top Gear top test of the 2009 Corvette ZR1 by Jeremy Clarkson, complete with big powerslides, loud proclamations of "Powwah!" and a power lap by the Stig. However, for the moment you'll have to be happy with Top Gear Magazine 's Paul Horrell, who recently spent time behind the wheel of the new super-Vette. So does Horrell confirm our sentiments on the ZR1? Not quite. Horrell reckons "the dynamics are better than an Aston DBS, but you don't get the delicious precision of a (Ferrari) 599." Fair enough, but it's a good start for the ZR1 across the pond. Especially considering whether or not the rest of the European press agree with his overall positive assessment will likely play a big role in not just the success of the ZR1, but the European perception of American cars in general. The ZR1, in many ways, is our ambassador. And a hell of an ambassador it is. galleryPost('zr1reviewroad', 6, 'Jalopnik...
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The 2009 Corvette ZR1 is the best car ever made. It redefines what performance cars are capable of, not by its numbers (the 0-to-60 in 3.3 seconds and a 205 MPH top speed figures are no longer noteworthy north of $100,000), but by how it makes those numbers so accessible. Simply put, the ZR1's most remarkable achievement is how easy and unintimidating the chassis makes exploiting the car's 638 HP. The only problem is I'm not good enough a driver to fully do so. galleryPost('zr1reviewroad', 9, '2009 Corvette ZR1'); newVideoPlayer("/ZR1review.flv", 494, 290,""); galleryPost('ZR1reviewtrack', 9, ''); Halfway through a day's lapping, halfway around the Lutz Ring and full throttle at the top of third gear is bringing me and a red ZR1 into a 180-degree corner way too fast, while the blind crest just before it — taken at maximum power and maximum cornering — has us way off line too. In any other supercar, especially one as hairy...
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newVideoPlayer("/2009_CorvetteZR1_gawker.flv", 506, 423,""); We'd heard the long-lead media "drive" for the 2009 Corvette ZR1 was yesterday and it looks like the first in-car driving footage is now out on the web, less than 24 hours later. We obviously weren't there, primarily since we'd heard it was all magazines there. Frankly, we just don't need as much time as the glossies to put out a good story. We don't have character blocks to set in the printing press, no ink to squirt out and no parchment to unroll. So we guess it makes sense that we wouldn't need an invite to an event this far out. Of course, we also expected the invited media reps from the big n' bad buff books would, you know, drive the cars themselves. Instead, we're treated to GM test engineer Jim Mero — we think — driving one of the invited journalists around the road course at the General's Milford Proving Grounds. We know Mero's a pretty...
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Jalopnik reader and tipster Kyle spent the July 4th vacation up near Michigan's pinkie finger in Traverse City. On a quick jaunt down to Elk Rapids, a town not too far away from there, he ran across a yellow 2009 Corvette ZR1 sitting pretty at the roadside in the resort town. Maybe it's just tired and taking a vacation over the summer GM shut-down. Although we did notice there's no manny plates on it, that may just be because it's a "captured test fleet" vehicle. In all fairness, we're still not quite sure we get the distinction between "captured test fleet" and you know, a "test vehicle." Maybe there's no distinction. Anyone want to take us up on our question — drop a note into the comments below. galleryPost('2009CorvetteZR1SpyMI', 3, 'Corvette ZR1 Spotted In Elk Rapids');
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A quick glance at the very graphical press release from Ashley Van Dyke, the motor-loving mistress of the Bullrun TV show, and you'll think perhaps she'll be driving the new $413,000 ( $105,000 minus dealer markup ) and 638 HP 2009 Chevy ZR1 in this week's Bullrun road rally. It's hard not to. It's right there at the top of the press release. For a moment there we thought maybe Chevy was throwing down the ZR1 for some road rallying hype — like the Z06 before it for the Frankl twins . A quick e-mail to Chevy was enough to tell us they certainly didn't give her one and according to our friends at GTSpirit , we've found out what she is driving. They tell us the lovely lady's driving a Corvette Z06 . While the Z06 is a blast to drive, we don't think it's quite the horsepowergasm of the upcoming ZR1. Mostly because it's not so powerful we're simultaneously pissing our pants and giggling like a schoolgirl at the thought of getting behind the...
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The 2009 Corvette ZR1 , GM's new mega-powered super car, will reportedly only be offered to the top 338 Chevy dealers nationwide. That effectively shuts out the other 3,594 from the chance of offering one to enthusiastic fans of the bowtied brand. We guess that explains the four-times-the-price gouging we're hearing about from potential customers. That's right, although the 638 HP 2009 ZR1 gets a price tag of $103,300 ($105,000 with the $1,700 gas guzzler tax) and Corvette engineers asking dealers to respect the MSRP, we've received at least one report from a reader of being told that despite his down payment 2 1/2 years ago, he'd have to put up between two and four times the MSRP to get one in his garage. If that number is accurate, the street price will be somewhere between $206,600 and $413,200 for Zee Really fast One. Full report from our tipster looking for recourse from someone — anyone — after the jump. "I put a deposit down for the 2009 ZR1 about...
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The 2009 Corvette ZR1 , GM's new mega-powered super car, will reportedly only be offered to the top 338 Chevy dealers nationwide. That effectively shuts out the other 3,594 from the chance of offering one to enthusiastic fans of the bowtied brand. We guess that explains the four-times-the-price gouging we're hearing about from potential customers. That's right, although the 638 HP 2009 ZR1 gets a price tag of $103,300 ($105,000 with the $1,700 gas guzzler tax) and Corvette engineers asking dealers to respect the MSRP, we've received at least one report from a reader of being told that despite his down payment 2 1/2 years ago, he'd have to put up between two and four times the MSRP to get one in his garage. If that number is accurate, the street price will be somewhere between $206,600 and $413,200 for Zee Really fast One. Full report from our tipster looking for recourse from someone — anyone — after the jump. "I put a deposit down for the 2009 ZR1 about...
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var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/2009_Corvette_ZR1_pricing_released_638bhp_103_000'; It's official, the 2009 Corvette ZR1 starts at $103,300. That's $161 per horsepower or $502 per mph; the ZR1 will hit 205mph. Other numbers include 0-60 in 3.4 seconds and a 1/4 mile time of 11.3 seconds at 131mph. Click through for the full numbers. That $103,300 (plus a $1,700 gas guzzler tax) which gets you a bare bones, lightweight interior based on that of the Z06. For an extra $10k Chevy will sell you the 3ZR package, which brings interior upgrades like power adjustable seats, sat/nav, more airbags, ZR1 embroidery etc. DETROIT - The official Corvette ZR1 numbers are in and they're good. Very good: * $103,300 MSRP (including $850 destination charge) * EPA-estimated fuel economy of 14 city and 20 highway * 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds * 0-100 mph in 7.0 seconds * Quarter-mile elapsed time of 11.3 seconds at 131 mph The Corvette ZR1 also has a top speed of 205 mph (330 km/h), making...
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We got a release from the folks at the General yesterday, and we were told we could run it at midnight-plus-one, but then we forgot about it. These things happen, you know. We mean, who gets excited about something as fait accompli as the 2009 Corvette ZR1 getting just over 620 HP? Well, if your answer is everyone, you're probably right. And why shouldn't we be excited about Zee new Really fast One from Chevy? Especially since they've now got officially certified power ratings on that beautiful Jakegasmic LS9 engine — 638 HP, nearly 103 horses per liter — and 604 lb-ft of torque, which'll let the new supercharged Corvette ZR1 break that all-important 200 MPH speed barrier. We knew there was a reason we liked this from the moment we first exploded the LS9 for all to see. Next question however is whether Wes will be back in the road test saddle in time for what we're expecting will be a summertime drive of the new ZR1 or whether it'll have to be one of...
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Here's a pretty slick wall display from Plasan, the supplier of the carbon fiber parts for the 2009 Corvette ZR1 . Instead of just stacking their stuff on the floor and making a path for people to walk through, like we do in the home office, they decided to utilize the wonders of vertical storage and even went all the way with a clever labeling scheme. Here we find out the weights of all the carbon fiber bits they supply for the mega-Vette.
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