33 YO ZR-1 Corvette Mocks C4, C5 Siblings in Quarter-Mile Game of Tag

With the engineering wizardry boost from across the Atlantic, GM put together a masterpiece: the Corvette ZR-1. Because Lotus fancied aluminum over the carbon-iron alloys (namely steel or cast iron), the engine couldn’t be fabricated at any of the GM’s plants.

But, when you’re the biggest carmaker on Planet Piston (and General Motors still was at the beginning of the last decade of the previous millennium), you have connections and know people. Enter Mercury Marine, a company that built engines primarily for waterborne usage had the technology to carve out the 350 CID powerplant.

The 5.7-liter displacement and the 4.4-inch/111.76 mm bore center were the only things the newly-developed V8 shared with the mainstream small-blocks of Chevrolet descendency. Double overhead camshafts, twice as many valves, a different bore and stroke, and a myriad of other improvements resulted in a power output of 375 hp (380 ps) and 370 Nm (502 Nm).

The ZF six-speed manual was deemed the perfect pair for this intriguing high-performance Corvette. But intrigue quickly turned to worship when the athletic C4 version put its bespoke Goodyears on the tarmac.

4.9 seconds for a zero-to-sixty (0-97 kph) sprint was a one-way ticket to crankshaft Nirvana, and the quarter-mile GPA of 13.4 seconds didn’t leave any room for trash talk. The top speed was 180 mph (about 290 kph), and the ZR-1 set several speed and endurance world records to prove its worth.

But that was three decades ago. In 2023, the car can still punch, and the Mile-High City-based TFLclassics YouTubers prove this statement. Since the best evidence in the ZR-1’s favor is a drag race, the vlogging duo from Denver, Colorado, staged a face-off.

However, ZR-1 Corvettes aren’t just lying around – only 6,939 were assembled between 1990 and 1995 – and the YouTubing lads had to settle for a slightly modified version of a 1990 model. The yardstick is a 1988 C4, with the L98 V8 in front of the driver.

The ZR-1 has exhaust headers and top-end porting; as far as the owner is concerned, this is enough to put the power rating to around 375 hp. Wait, what?! That’s the same number the factory claimed. True, but horsepower is not a gold standard.

This modded go-fast 'Vette makes 375 hp (380 ps) where it needs them most - at the rear wheels, not at the flywheel, which is what the sales and marketing brochures advertise globally. If we are to compare absolute values, then the ZR-1 in this contest brings around 420-440 hp (426 - 446 ps) to this event.

At 175 more than the not-at-all-sporty 245 hp (248 ps) standard C4 it competes against. The difference in the horsepower figures mentioned in the previous pargraph lies in the margin of error we account for when calculating drivetrain power loss (somewhere between 12% and 17%). Although the modified ZR-1’s torque figure is unknown to us, it’s not hard to assume who the bookmaker’s favorite is.

Off the line, the two Corvettes roll in similar manners, but the ZR-1 wasn’t setting records with looks and sounds. Those 16 intake valves are meant to play rough, and the ZR-1 quickly shows its squared-off taillights to the other guy.

14.5 seconds after the start signal, the ZR-1 blasts across the line at 109 mph (175 kph). Not a bad time at all, given the altitude and temperature (remember, the track is one mile – 1,609 meters – above sea level).

That’s one-and-a-half seconds quicker and 20 mph (32 kph) faster than the base C4 (which is two years older and has a quirky Doug-Nash 4+3 overdrive manual gearbox). The roll race is no different – and now we see that when Europe and America join pistons, nice things happen. (That’s especially true if we think about how Carroll Shelby made his fame).

To spice things up a bit, the all-Corvette bout included a younger sibling of the two C4s, namely the one-generation-younger model from 1999. Base LS1 engine, factory rated at 345 hp (350 ps) and 350 lb-ft (475 Nm), automatic transaxle, and still not good enough.

Although half a second faster than the 1988 C4, the 1999 C5 – having finished the 1,320-foot-long sprint in 15.3 seconds at 99 mph (159 kph) – falls behind the ZR-1 just as quickly as its older brother did. The ZR-1, with warmed-up tires from the previous races, pulls the curtain on the challenge after 14.38 seconds at 108 mph (174 kph).

The ZR-1 is still going strong, even after 150,000 (241,000 kilometers) miles and 33 years on the road. And don’t think it’s just an old sportscar with mild tuning, overdosing on owner-administered TLC, and better at acceleration and top speeds.

The braking test – a showdown between the C4 models – makes Corvette fans smile: 103 feet (31.5 meters) is enough to bring the ZR-1 to a dead stop from 60 mph (97 kph). The contender scored almost as well at nearly 105 feet (32 meters).