2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1: Horsepower Obsession Has Led to This

We wish the tires good luck. When the 2025 Corvette ZR1 arrives in showrooms next year, its massive rear Michelins will be tasked with transferring 1064 horsepower to forward motion. Context is required: Most contemporary passenger cars and crossovers still have fewer than 300 horses. The original 1953 Corvette had just 150 horsepower and even in 1975, the base Vette eked out only 190 hp. Now we have four-figure power for America's sports car. Incredible.

The new ZR1 is a step change, offering a 41 percent increase in horsepower over the 755-hp ZR1 from 2019. This new model is also tangible evidence that, despite the proliferation of incredibly powerful electric vehicles, combustion engines are still big players in the horsepower wars.

"It's crazy, just crazy," said Tadge Juechter, soon-to-be-retired Corvette executive chief engineer, in reference to the new ZR1's power figure. Juechter started working on the Corvette in 1993 when the base model had only 300 horsepower.

Juechter, an engineer's engineer who is famous in Detroit automotive circles for his professional discipline and his unerring focus on continually evolving the Corvette into a world-class sports car, shepherded the C8 (eighth-generation) Corvette platform that made today's ZR1 possible. Its mid-engine layout positioned the motor behind the driver rather than in front, which not only introduced many traction advantages but also provided more room in the engine bay. GM's engineers took advantage of the space with the all-new 5.5-liter LT6 V-8 that launched in the 2023 Corvette Z06.

The LT6 is a naturally aspirated, 670-hp firecracker with double-overhead-cam architecture, an obvious break from decades of overhead-valve V-8s. The DOHC layout creates a taller and wider engine but permits higher rpm and, crucially, increased airflow. Engine power is related to how much air moves in and out of the cylinders: more air equals more power because fuel burns oxygen. Corvette engineers leveraged the new hardware to make an 8600-rpm screamer, one of the best engines the General has ever produced.

The LT6 drawing board included a twin-turbocharged version, the LT7, the heart of the ZR1. Powered by exhaust gases, turbos are essentially air pumps that jam more air into engine cylinders. Repeat: more air equals more power. One measurement of the amount of air is pressure. Atmospheric air pressure-what we all experience just being on earth-is about 15 pounds per square inch (psi). The LT7 more than doubles that, adding an additional 20 psi. That boost necessitated additional hardware. Redesigned cylinder heads maximize the pressurized airflow, there are stronger connecting rods and pistons, and a pair of intercoolers (essentially, small radiators) chill the pressurized air.

Turbos spin over 100,000 revolutions per minute (rpm) and, like engines themselves, have a redline. The LT7's sophisticated electronic sensors measure turbo speed and an electronically actuated wastegate bleeds off exhaust flow to run the turbos close to but not over the 135,000-rpm redline. The 1064-hp peak hits at 7000 rpm, 1000 revs short of redline, and at just 3000 rpm, the engine produces 800 pound-feet of torque, which it maintains through 6000 rpm. Juechter promises the LT7 is "docile around town and when you get on it, it'll change your life."

Corvette fans will immediately recognize the ZR1's new sloping engine cover, which resembles the split-window rear of the 1963 edition. There are also blue accents sprinkled throughout and aerodynamic tweaks, such as a duct that channels cooling air to the rear brakes. The optional ZTK track package adds a comically large rear wing and other downforce enhancements. GM engineers say the ZR1 generates the most downforce in the model's history. Naturally, engineers retuned the suspension and upgraded the brakes to cope with all the extra power.

The ZR1's suite of electronic driver aids will be key to keeping the Michelins, some 14 inches wide, from going up in smoke. Official performance figures have not yet been released, but during a media preview, engineers allowed that the ZR1 will run the quarter-mile in under 10 seconds at about 150 mph. Furthermore, they claimed that the ZR1 will accelerate from 80 to 200 mph and then brake back to 80 mph in just 25 seconds.

We don't yet know what the 1064-hp Corvette will cost, but the Z06 starts at about $110,000, so figure roughly $150,000 for the ZR1. Options will likely drive the price over $200,000, another new frontier for the Corvette. That's a heady figure, but the ZR1 will maintain the Corvette's performance value-there's no car with nearly the same power for less money-and it's a helluva sendoff for chief engineer Juechter, who is retiring after 47 years of service to the General.

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