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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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GM has released UK pricing for the Corvette ZR1 at £109,000 — roughly equivalent to $200,167, or about OMG,WTFBBQ,NFW,ROFLCOPTER!!1! in internet dollars. If you aren't a very good forex trader, or one of the eleven remaining hedge fund managers with a job, there's no reason for you to read this if you live in Britain, unless of course you're one of those creepy self-flagellating monks from the Da Vinci Code. In any of the above cases, it sucks to be you, and us 'mericans will happily keep our 638 HP mega-Vette all to ourselves. [ Carscoop ]
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NASCAR’s Hendricks Motorsports picked up five Corvette ZR1 s at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green last week with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in tow. They promptly dropped two of the cars straight on a dyno in North Carolina to see just what the super-Vettes were making at the rear wheels. The results? 530 HP and 508 ft-lbs of torque. Considering the flywheel power is 638 HP, these figures are in line with the rule-of-thumb 15% driveline losses for rear-wheel-drive cars. After some tuning and adjustment, they managed to bump it up to 567 HP and 532 ft-lbs. Anyway, check out the complete dyno sheet yourself. [ Corvette Blogger ]
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After seeing Top Gear UK boys hitting the streets of Reno in a Cadillac CTS-V , Dodge Challenger SRT8 and Corvette ZR1 , we now know where they were headed — the Bonneville Salt Flats. This mess of pictures pretty much confirm that TGUK will be pushing the cars to their terminal velocity while making quips about Mormons and polygamy — and all while — umm — wearing baseball caps? Sure, whatever floats their British boats. It also looks like James May has taken a liking to a polished-up Shelby Cobra that was at the flats as well. We don't know if that'll sneak into the segment or if he's just geeking out, but Carroll Shelby will probably be suing his ass anyway. galleryPost('tguksaltflats', 14, 'Top Gear Hits Bonneville'); [ FinalGear ]
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First it was the Toyota Altezza lighting the world on fire with the clear tail light craze, then came Buick, igniting the love triangle between Pep-Boys, 17-year-olds, and stick on fender vents, now it's the Corvette ZR1 and its hood window kicking off a new trend. Hillbank Motorsports has created a hood with a window in it for the 2005-2009 Ford Mustang which will let you show off that stonkin' V6 with NOS and dress up pulleys. Of course, if you're sporting a supercharged monster mill, it'll work there too, but lets be honest about who goes after this kind of thing. Expect hood windows for Civics, third generation 'Tegs, and mid-90s Accords in short order. galleryPost('hoodwindow', 6, 'It Gives The Car 100 HP Easy'); [ MustangRevolution ]
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newVideoPlayer("/CamaroSSVetteZR1.flv", 494, 300,""); This is the first time we've seen both the 2010 Camaro SS and the 2009 Corvette ZR1 sharing track time, though the video leaves us a bit confused. Yes, the two look great together, and the V8 soundtrack isn't too bad either...except we only get to hear each of the cars sing solo. We were expecting to hear a roaring duet of muscle, but the audio has suspiciously been cut from those scenes. And, is it just us, or have some portions of the video been blatantly sped up? [via CamaroZ28 ]
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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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Not counting the cars brought over to test on the Nurburgring, this is the first Corvette ZR1 in Europe. So what would you do with a 205 MPH car and a stretch of Autobahn with no speed limit? Exactly. Sure, they only hit about 192 MPH, but for an impromptu run with a fair amount of traffic on the road, that's stupid fast. Video below the jump. [via autoblog.nl ]
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newVideoPlayer("/C4ZR1activesuspension.flv", 494, 290,""); To show off the history behind the 2009 Corvette ZR1 during our first drive at Milford, GM brought out some C4 ZR-1 'Vettes. The most interesting one was this 1990 prototype adorned in vents and scoops. Corvette commander Harlan Charles says this was a testbed for a complicated and heavy active suspension system that used hydraulics to lean the big black 'Vette into turns. Obviously, with the magnetic ride control system of today, this is an obsolete setup, but interesting nonetheless.
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newVideoPlayer("/JimMeroVIDEO.flv", 494, 290,""); Talking to Corvette ZR1 engineer Jim Mero during our first drive of the car at GM's proving grounds, we asked him about his record-setting lap of the Nürburgring . He told us if you inspect the video , you can see he probably could have shaved at least half a second off the 7:26.4 lap time if he had just taken a few of the turns better. Then, just to prove the point, Mero took us for a lap around the "Lutz Ring" at Milford. Although Mero was going easy on us, we still flopped around like a rag doll through every turn.
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Think you’ve seen all of our photos of the 2009 Corvette ZR1 ? Well you haven’t. Follow the jump for every single one of our 81 photos of the best car ever made, in all their unedited glory. galleryPost('zr1megagallery', 8, '2009 Corvette ZR1 Mega Gallery'); Photography: Alex Conley
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