It’s a pattern to which we’ve become happily accustomed over the past 20-odd years: Just when it seems safe to declare the apex of Corvette speed finally reached, the team behind America’s Sports Car smashes expectations with a gobsmackingly capable new model. But while we’ve known about the existence of the 2025 ZR1 since at least April, when Chevrolet teased the car in a short video, we never imagined that the “King of the Hill” C8 would completely rewrite the rulebook on domestically built performance automobiles. Call it a failure of imagination.
With Chevy having recently released full details on the ZR1, let’s take a closer look at what is, by significant margins, the quickest, fastest Corvette in marque history. Buckle up.
Now, With 29 Percent More Power!
There’s no point in burying the lede: The new ZR1 makes a truly unwell 1,064 horsepower at 7,000 rpm, or 29 percent more than its 2019 predecessor, the last Corvette to carry this storied model designation. As expected, it does so by allying a modified version of the Z06’s already potent 5.5-liter, DOHC V-8 with a pair of intercooled turbochargers. But this is no hasty lash-up of off-the-shelf compressors and an LT6 crate engine. Rather, the ZR1 mill—unsurprisingly dubbed LT7—incorporates a raft of unique parts that were required to generate four-figure output in a safe, reliable package.
The makeover starts internally, where the LT7’s flat-plane crankshaft receives different counterweights to compensate for its engine-specific pistons and connecting rods. Up top, a completely new intake system, necessitated by the turbos, feeds cylinder heads with larger combustion chambers, redesigned ports, and CNC machining optimized for the application. The camshaft profiles are also altered to better match the power- and torque-delivery characteristics of the blown LT7.
We’ll know more once we’ve actually driven a ZR1, but we expect LT7 to evince positively crushing acceleration from just above idle, thanks to the turbos, followed by an even more thrilling rush to redline than we’ve come to expect from the Z06’s rev-happy LT6.
That is, if the car can hook up. Mid-engine architecture notwithstanding, the standard 345/25ZR21 Michelin Pilot Sport rear tires may be pressed for purchase given the LT7’s peak output figure of 880 pound-feet. (They’re paired with 275/30ZR20s up front.)
Turbo lag, long the bane of engines employing that form of forced induction, should be minimal, thanks to the turbochargers themselves being incorporated into the exhaust manifolds. Electronically operated wastegates and a new feature Chevy calls “intelligent anti-lag” should also help in this regard.
Situated between the turbos and intake manifold are a pair of water-to-air intercoolers that chill incoming air sufficiently to allow for a hefty 20 psi of boost and a relatively high (for a blown mill) compression ratio of 9.8:1. Chevy has plenty of recent experience with water-to-air cooling, having used it on the LT4 and LT5 C7 engines, which may help explain why the company chose that design over the air-to-air method more commonly employed on turbocharged engines.
As with the ’19 ZR1’s supercharged LT5, the LT7 relies on a supplementary fuel-injection system to support its hugely inflated output. Fuel-economy numbers were not available at the time of this writing, but the new ZR1 seems likely to earn the EPA’s dreaded “gas guzzler” designation.
In another departure from the Z06, the ZR1 gets internal upgrades for its eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, including beefed-up input shafts, shot-peened gears, improved fluid management (to keep the hardware properly lubed under higher g-loads), and stronger control valves for the clutches. Final-drive gearing was also altered to take full advantage of the LT7’s Brobdingnagian torque curve.
It all adds up to hypercar-quality performance numbers. According to Chevy, the first timed acceleration run in a ZR1 prototype yielded a quarter-mile time of less than 10 seconds—around a full second quicker than the 2019 edition. That level of haste puts the car in the same league as the top EVs from Lucid, Porsche, and Tesla, while making it comfortably quicker than virtually every gas-drinking vehicle on the road short of a $4 million Bugatti Toubillon (which is itself a hybrid).
Top speed is estimated at “above 215 mph” without the optional aero (more on that anon), and the car is said to have repeatedly hit 200 on the straight during testing at Germany’s Nürburgring. That additional development testing was conducted at demanding sites such as VIR and Road Atlanta suggests that the ZR1 will be road-course-ready from the showroom.
Reining in 1,000-plus galloping horses is no mean feat, and for that reason the ZR1 is fitted with the largest braking system ever for a production Corvette. Standard carbon-ceramic rotors measure 15.7 inches in the front and 15.4 inches in the rear. They’re clamped by six- and four-piston monobloc calipers, respectively. Chevy says the car can zip from 80 to 200 mph, then decelerate back to 80, in just 24.5 seconds, or 22 percent quicker than the ’19 model. That particular exercise seems more academic than real-world useful, but it could conceivably come in handy if a 296 GTB ever rolls up next to you on the Autostrada.
“We went into the ZR1 program with lofty goals, but even our first development tests on-track showed the teams were already exceeding them,” Corvette Executive Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter said of his final and most exhilarating creation (he retired this summer). “As we worked to develop this car, we continued to leap past expectations, and we knew we had a special Corvette on our hands.”
An Exciting New Look!
As is typical with a new high-performance Corvette model, the ZR1 gets its own suite of body alterations intended to improve cooling and aerodynamic stability. Perhaps the most notable, and noticeable, is the “flow through” hood, whose prominent exhaust openings instantly set the car apart from its fellow C8s. After passing through the radiator, incoming air flows over the intercoolers and exits through these three apertures, keeping the intake charge cool while increasing front downforce. (Coupe models additionally get turbo-cooling carbon ducts mounted atop the rear hatch.)
Moving on from there, the exact look will vary depending which of the two available performance packages is installed on the car. The base setup is still plenty aggressive, thanks to a small spoiler with adjustable wickers; rocker moldings, side brake-cooling ducts, and a front splitter, all made from carbon fiber; and a front underwing with aero-aiding Gurney deflectors. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber promises a reasonable compromise between daily usability and handling prowess.
Selecting the RPO ZTK dials up the action considerably, adding a higher-downforce rear wing, front dive planes, and a tall hood Gurney lip, all crafted from exposed-weave carbon. The standard front underwing makes way for underbody straking that increases downforce, while the suspension receives stiffer springs all around, and the Pilot Sport 4S tires get the hook in favor of race-ready Cup 2 Rs. Chevy says the ZTK package yields an incredible 1,200 pounds of rear downforce at 200 mph, which also happens to be the terminal velocity of ZR1s so equipped.
Should you desire the ZTK look without the flintier underpinnings, a Carbon Aero package featuring all of that model’s aero kit—but minus the starched suspension and gummy Michelins—is also available.
But Wait, There’s More!
Imagine if you were offered a chance to revive any design feature from the Corvette’s past and apply it to the new ZR1. Unless you’re a philistine, chances are good you’d pick the iconic “split” rear-window design that appeared on the C2 Sting Ray in 1963. And if you were paying close attention to the C8 GT3 racecars introduced earlier this year, you may have noticed that you weren’t alone in this regard.
Appropriately for a feature that made its debut at Daytona, the new ZR1’s bifurcated back glass is no mere stylistic flourish. Rather, it features integral heat extractors that assist in siphoning horsepower-robbing hot air away from the engine bay. Chevy is keen to highlight this fact, lest anyone get the idea that form was prioritized over utility during the ZR1 design process.
“We didn’t approach this decision lightly,” says Executive Design Director Phil Zak. “Not only does this element provide function, but we were able to integrate passionate design into the form and do it in a way that paid homage to Corvette’s history.”
As for the visibility concerns that scuttled the original split-window model, the carbon spine (available painted or au naturel) employed on the ZR1 exacts less of a penalty in this area. That’s because the view out the back of any C8 is already marginal at best, making the standard rearview camera a better option than neck-craning in most instances. And let’s face it: With the throttle down, everything located behind the ZR1 is going to disappear in a serious hurry anyway.
Zora might not approve, but with this kind of performance on tap, even the Godfather of the Corvette would eventually come around.
