638-HP Corvette ZR1 Goes Full Throttle at the Nurburgring, Sim Racing Will Make You Sweat

In just a few days, we'll be halfway through Corvette Month here on autoevolution. So far, we've tested three different 'Vettes on the Nurburgring: the C1, the C7 ZR1, and the C8.R. Seeing that more cars are coming up soon, we'll organize a leaderboard for our fast laps starting with the next story.

So far, the C8.R is the undisputable leader, while the classic C1 is the slowest on the list. We've always had a thing for the C6 ZR1. After looking at the market evolution for this model, we developed an appetite for it, so off to Assetto Corsa we went.

After a bit of research, we came across two different C6 ZR1 mods. So we downloaded both so that we could figure out which one works better. BZ SimWorks is the author of this mod, and this team is made up of two artists: Beto Fernandez and Zoran Carevi. Once you get everything set up in your Content Manager, you'll notice a selection of 20 colors to choose from for your ZR1. Once again, we decided to stick with our monthly theme and went for Velocity Yellow.

With 638 horsepower (647 ps) and 604 lb-ft (819 Nm) of torque, we did not think this version of the ZR1 would be faster than the 2019 model. Still, looking over the list of Nurburgring records, Jim Mero has set a fast lap of seven minutes and 19 seconds in this car.

Given that we were about 33 seconds off his time in the C7, we figured that we should be able to get the C6 down to about eight minutes, too. Once you enter the game, you'll probably be stuck at the start line for a minute or two. Why, do you ask? Well, the team that made this mod nailed the sound effects for it. And that doesn't apply to the idle alone.

Once you get going, you can hear the supercharger whine, and it's intoxicating, to say the least. Just like with the C7, you get a HUD and a nicely designed interior and exterior. It's just perfect for using Assetto Corsa's photo mode later on after a fast lap.

Speaking of which, we noticed that there was something slightly off with the car during our first two laps. There is so much grip that it feels unreal. Even when going full throttle in first and second gear, the car is very stable and just keeps pushing forward.

Even so, some corners were difficult to navigate due to heavy understeer. We managed to lap the Green Hell in 7:59 at first, and then we shaved an extra two seconds on the second lap. Of course, there was still room for improvement, as we had committed a few errors along the way.

We went back to the game menu and noticed the car was on "Hypercar Road" tires, sized 285/20/R19 on the front axle and 335/20/R20 on the rear one. So we thought we'd skip these in favor of the normal, road-going tires instead.

This change makes for a much more authentic Corvette driving experience. You get to drift through most of the corners if you're not careful with your throttle inputs, and as fun as that may be, you'll lose time doing so.

The ZR1 won't be as stable anymore, but it feels more realistic either way. We weren't even halfway through the first lap, and the Ghost Car was already 10 seconds ahead. So we decided to switch to the other C6 ZR1 we had previously installed. But this one proved to be even more tail-happy than the first.

We activated the traction control and the ABS, and it feels slightly better, but some people will complain that it's just not the right way to do things. With all driver assists off, it's quite undrivable if you're only using a keyboard like we are.

So we went back to the first ZR1 and started fiddling around with Assetto Corsa's keyboard settings in an attempt to improve the situation. With the Hypercar Road tires on, we went through a full lap in 7:52. But it somehow felt like cheating, so we opted to install the normal tires instead. By the looks of it, the C6 ZR1 is even more difficult to tame than the C7.

With 100 miles (161 km) on the odometer already, we opted to use ABS and stability control at 50%. It's easier to drive the car this way, but we couldn't manage to dip below eight minutes per lap again. So we thought of another trick: let's use the slick soft tires from the C6.R: 300/30/R18 upfront and 310/35/R18 in the back. Holy Mother of Grip! The car is completely transformed and the speed is phenomenal.

These tires are much better than the ones the car came with, and there is so much grip! We turned all the assists off, and it seems that you can still lose control when exiting certain corners. We were about to set a fast lap that would put the C7 ZR1 to shame, but we spun out towards the end of the lap.

Even so, we crossed the line in seven minutes and 38 seconds That means the C6 ZR1 with C6.R tires is much faster than the C7 ZR1 on regular ones. We'll keep practicing and get back with a faster lap by the end of the month. As fate would have it, we lost the replay of this lap, so we had to go on and do a few more laps. We managed to take it down to 7:30.404 and here's evidence of that.