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Corvette ZR1 Top Speed Test Exceeds Claimed Top Speed

Still listed on the U.S. configurator even though the C8 is all the rage right now, the ZR1 from the seventh generation is the most powerful street-legal Corvette of them all. Chevy calls it a “supercar” although the correct description would be “supercar killer” based on the force-fed monster’s track performance.
Corvette ZR1 Top Speed Test 10 photos
Photo: Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds
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Lest we forget, Car & Driver pitted the Zee-Arr-One against the Ford GT and McLaren 720S in 2018 at the Virginia International Raceway with surprising results. To the point, the uber ‘Vette with a thumpin’ great blower on its small-block V8 is faster than those two but not as fast as Porsche’s 911 GT2 RS.

In terms of speed, 2.85 seconds to 60 mph (97 kph) and a top speed of 212 mph (341 kph) are the official figures from the golden bowtie. As far as maximum velocity is concerned, the $123,000 sports car from Kentucky can also be pushed to 213.649 mph (343.835 kph) if you can find a long stretch of blacktop.

Brought to you by the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds channel on YouTube, the following video serves as proof to the straight-line performance of the ZR1. This example of the breed is a bone-stock car that tips the scales at 3,669 pounds, and the lovely color of this specification is called Long Beach Red Tintcoat.

The ZR1 achieved the aforementioned velocity at 75-ish degrees Fahrenheit and with 15-mph-ish wind at 4:00 PM. As you can tell from the on-screen animation during the test run, the speedometer went up to 214 mph or 344 kph. For reference, Ferrari claimed 201 mph (323 kph) for the legendary F40 of the ‘80s.

One of the secrets to the king of ‘Vettes is – of course – the blower. Compared to the 1.7-liter supercharger of the Z06 version, the ZR1 levels up to 2.65 liters and 4.5 psi more boost. Curiously, the rotor speed is slower in order to keep the pressurized air charge’s temperature down. Of course, the intercooling system features larger bricks as well, soaking up some of the real estate in the engine bay.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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