You shouldn't be surprised to see this summer bringing the Chevrolet Corvette a shiny Nurburgring accolade. You see, the 2018 'Vette ZR1 has been pushing things to the limit on the Green Hell for quite some time now and we're expecting an announcement soon.
Of course, the golden bowtie could always follow Porsche's path and drop the Nordschleife number months after the supercar is introduced, with the 2018 911 GT2 RS being the most recent example of this.
Nevertheless, we're expecting the new ZR1 to go well below the seven-minute mark and we have at least two arguments for that.
The first has to do with the amazing Camaro ZL1 1LE 7:16 lap time that was announced last month. The chassis differences between the muscle car and the upcoming supercar, along with the extra powaaah of the latter (more on that below) should ensure that our chronograph expectations are met.
As for the second, this involves the Corvette Z06 Green Hell number we talked about last week. The 650 hp incarnation of the C7 managed to lap the infamous German track in 7:14, but keep in mind that we're talking about a Sport Auto test. Not only do such otherwise respectable test deliver times that sit behind the factory ones, but the said lap saw the driver of the manual tranny Z06 losing time on two or three occasions.
Returning to the 2018 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, the soundtrack delivered by the prototypes offers strong supercharger clues. The most potent rumor so far talks about the range-topper being animated by a new 6.2-liter LT5 DOHC V8, with the engine code having also been mentioned in the GM internal system.
So yes, it seems that the camera strapped to one of the prototypes' noses (you can also notice it in the Ring clip below) will tell quite the story.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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