What can be said about the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 that hasn’t already been said before? By now, you know Chevrolet’s most venerable Corvette to-date has a top speed of more than 200 mph and makes the most horsepower of any road-going production ‘Vette ever produced.
Accomplishments such as those can be attributed to the C7 ZR1’s robust powerplant; an all-new 6.2-liter supercharged LT5 V8 which produces more than 755 horsepower and 715 lb-ft of torque, as well as an 8L90E eight-speed automatic transmission. Combined with the notion that the C7 ZR1 uses the most carbon fiber of any production Corvette produced before it, and you’ve got the recipe for a supercar ‘Vette that rivals cars more than twice its price.
One thing that Jay Leno notes in the video above is that the C7 Corvette ZR1 isn’t only the fastest on the strip; it’s also the fastest Corvette on the road course, too. Shad Balch, Corvette Product Specialist for GM, explains how the C7 ZR1 has some of the most road course-going aerodynamics of any production Corvette ever produced.
“It’s one thing to get a car to go that speed,” Balch details. “It’s a whole other composition to get it to stick to the ground. With this aero package actually at full speed, there are more than 950 pounds of downforce on top of this car to keep it sticking to the ground.”
It’s obvious that the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 has a lot going for it, but is it safe to call the Corvette a supercar now? We think so.