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newVideoPlayer("/Star-Trek-Vette.flv", 494, 350,""); It looks like someone's snagged a bootleg of the trailer for the upcoming Star Trek movie off the front of the James Bond flick Quantum of Solace . While Wert may have been focused on the Ford Edge , we noticed the trailer showing a young Captain Kirk driving a C2 Corvette convertible off a cliff in an effort to evade a masked flying motorcycle lawman of some sort. The ever-defiant Kirk bails just as the Vette slides off the edge, saving himself while killing the car. The trailer goes on to show off all the well-known characters from the Trekiverse along with what appear to be a host of new baddies, the ship, and explosions. Come on, let it out — you know that closet Trekkie nerd just let out a silent whimper of excitement. We know, and it's OK, we did it too.
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Legend has it the "Jake" logo, which acts as the badge of badass for the Corvette C6.R racing teams, was born when someone scribbled a skull in the dust surrounding the Corvette badge on the side of the team's transport semi. Others source it as a scribble on a napkin in some far flung dive bar after a victorious race. Wherever it came from, it's become the officially unofficial brand of Corvette Racing and instead of being hidden away on the car as is the norm, the C6.Rs sported a new, Jake-centric paint job for last weekend's Laguna Seca race (Corvette Racing's Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin won in GT1 by the way). The logo was proudly displayed right over the induction cowl in a design that came directly from GM styling. Jake's appearance has become something of a tradition as last year the logo was large and in charge on the hood as well. This year's design sure is pretty, but last year was definitely badass, which leads us to the inevitable question...
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Here's a whopper of a story if it ends up being true: Autoweek is reporting General Motors has placed the next-generation C7 Corvette program on indefinite hold due to the company's shaky financial situation. Sources within GM are saying the program has been shelved for now with no specific timetable for release. This is not to say the 'Vette is dead, only that GM's management has no clearly defined direction for the car. With the pressure from 2020 CAFE requirements and with coffers running dry, there are other more important programs to tend to. Autoweek goes on to look into their crystal ball and imagine a time when the C7 will actually bow as early as 2014 — yikes. Unfortunately, this doesn't sound terribly far-fetched to us. Considering the madness happening in Detroit these days, this kind of thing has to be expected, but these kinds of rumors always come as a shock. We love the current Corvette, but that's a long time to wait for the next iteration....
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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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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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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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Is the 2009 Corvette ZR1 really the end of an era? Popular Mechanics doesn't think so. They're already speculating on what might be in store for the 2012 Corvette "C7" , and they see a future that includes higher performance and better fuel economy. Among the many questions are whether the next Corvette offer a twin-turbo direct-injection V6? The answer? Maybe. How about a range of smaller V8 engines? Perhaps. Then there's the age-old question: Will the engine will be moved to the middle, behind the driver? No. Here's what PopMech has to say about an engine moving amidship: "One thing we know with certainty is that the mid-engine Corvette—the one that pops up as a production possibility every decade or so—remains just a wistful idea. "The mid-engine Corvette is simply too expensive," says auto analyst Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics. "It would need costly new tooling and offers little weight savings because it requires an extra, metal-intensive firewall...
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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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Ever wonder what the hand-assembly of an LS9 — the 638 HP supercharged heart of the 2009 Corvette ZR1 — actually looks like? Well, the guys over at Automobile actually got to lend a hand in bolting one together. So, let's all take a moment to forget all about Nurburgring lap times and dealer mark-ups to sit back and watch GM do what GM perhaps does best: build a big ol' thumpin' V8. Video after the jump. [ AutomobileMag ]
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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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Chevy's decided they need a Hertz Rent-A-Racer of their very own, except rather than something fun for draggin', they've decided to go anti-Ford and work with Hertz on something to go around corners as well. What they've come up with is this — the Corvette ZHZ. It's a special limited-edition, equipped with a 436 HP 6.2-liter V8 under the hood tied to a flappy paddle gearbox for the true Rent-a-Racer feel. The ZHZ gets 18-inch front and 19-inch rear chrome seven-spoke "performance" wheels and that exclusive yellow Hertz color with a center exterior black "go faster" stripe. Hertz will add 500 Corvette ZHZ models to its airport locations in 24 major metropolitan cities across 14 states and Washington, D.C. through June 16, 2008. Full press release under the jump. galleryPost('CorvetteZHZ', 3, 'Rent-A-Racer Corvette ZHZ'); HERTZ DOES IT AGAIN; COMPANY ROLLS OUT CORVETTE ZHZ, AN EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED-EDITION, PERFORMANCE CAR FOR CUSTOMERS...
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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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Holy surprise, Batman! GM bit the bullet and confirmed those 2008 Corvette ZR1 numbers for us. As we expected, the supercharged V8 will be putting down 620 hp and 595 lb.ft. of torque. And also as expected, the car will rocket to a 200 mph top speed. It's further expected to end world hunger, invent perpetual motion, and discover the origins of life. Seriously! 595 lb.ft. of torque can do that!
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The General's bargain brand will again be running Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the official pace car for the Indy 500. This year -- the 92nd running of the race -- there'll be two Corvettes serving as the official pace cars. Pace car numero uno is a customized Chevrolet Corvette Z06 concept that runs on E85 ethanol and will be driven during the race's pace lap by two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Emerson Fittipaldi. The second pace car will be the Corvette 30th Anniversary Pace Car featuring a black exterior with silver graphics honoring the 1978 model - no word yet on who'll be driving that one. How do we put our hat in the ring? Full press release after the jump. galleryPost('CorvettePaceIndy500', 6, '2008 Indy 500 Corvette Pace Cars'); Chevrolet Unveils Two Unique '08 Corvette Indy 500 Pace Cars Two-time Indy 500 Champion Emerson Fittipaldi to Drive Corvette Z06 E85 Concept Pace Car at 92nd Indianapolis 500 INDIANAPOLIS - Known for their charismatic...
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