Zr1x

[Jeffrey S.]

Yesterday I attended a large car show in Troy, MI and here are some photos of the ZR1X at a presentation by Josh Holder (Michigan Chapter member). I had a nice conversation with him and thought you all ight like to see the new super car - 1250 hp- that he says should be available for purchase by year's end. No price info as of yesterday. That is Josh in the first photo.
Jeff

[Duke W.]

A ZR1X recently set a new American car record lap time at the Nurburgring , driven by a Chevrolet development engineer. It beat the Mustang GTD (driven by a pro) by a couple of seconds and is about the third or fourth fastest "production car" at The Ring.

The video is the best I've ever seen of a hot lap at The Ring. Excellent driver's viewpoint with lots of telemetry. The sliding bar at the bottom of the screen shows how much the electric motor is contributing based on discharge or charge of the battery. I think at high speed, like 150 MPH or so the electric motor disconnects in order to prevent over-speeding the armature.

Near the end of the course there is a long "straight" with a blind kink near the end. He took it FLAT at 195 MPH and hit 198 before braking for the next turn. It's worth the seven minutes to watch the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic7qpuJtHK4

For any who may not be familiar the ZR1X is a ZR1 with the electic motor and battery from the E-Ray, which adds power in the low to medium speed range, but also adds close to 200 pounds bringing curb weight up to close to 4100. Ugh! It's actually only a couple of seconds faster at The Ring than the ZR1 and a handful of seconds faster than a Z06.

I expect tracking this car will require a fresh set of OE type R-compound tires every two to four hours, and a tank of fuel every 20-30 minutes. Bring fuel, at least one mounted set of fresh tires , and a pit crew to your event.

Duke

[Michael J.]

Yes, and I see still no luggage space up front......

[Jeffrey S.]

That lap time and all the prep that went into it was discussed by Josh and Drew Catell (I think he was one engineers that was a driver). What was really interesting was the background of the development and how surprised all the engineers were hwen the dyno testing came back to show how much horsepower the ZR1 and ZR1X developed. They had hoped for 800 or so hp and when the ZR1 came up with over 1000, they were surprised to say the least. They relayed that when doing this testing, thinks broke. Not in the engine but in the dynomometer cell. They had to redesign them to handle the hp that these engiones developed. I will see if they recorded the talk and if it can be posted.

[Harry S.]

Yes, and I see still no luggage space up front......

I viewed the one at the 2024 National. The front end was full of intercoolers to cool the engine, so no more front luggage space.

It's a car for the track, not to drive 500 miles to see the family.

[Terry M.]

I viewed the one at the 2024 National. The front end was full of intercoolers to cool the engine, so no more front luggage space.

It's a car for the track, not to drive 500 miles to see the family.

Of course you are right Harry regarding the track use, but somehow Josh & Tadge drove it to Virginia. Perhaps they brought only a change of stockings and undergarments.

[Larry E.]

Duke:Just a prediction. The Mustang GTD will be faster then the
Corvette next time they try. The Corvette team will be forced to
Go with professional Drivers to regain the title. As good as the GM
drivers are They are not professional and can not produce the
times the pro's can. Wish "Denny The Bear" was still around as
He would show those GM drivers how to push that peddle down!
Larry

[Michael J.]

I viewed the one at the 2024 National. The front end was full of intercoolers to cool the engine, so no more front luggage space.

It's a car for the track, not to drive 500 miles to see the family.

I guess so, but sometimes you like to go on a road tour and take your wife, past ZR1s were capable of this, I guess this is solely a race car and nothing else, I'll pass. They may as well put a full roll cage in it, tub it, and put in 4 point belts.

[Duke W.]

I wouldn't call a 4100 pounder a serious track car. While checking out some other referenced videos I ran across a guy who regularly runs a 718 GT4 at PCA COTA track time events. He has great video and commentary and recruited Randy Popst to help him improve the car. Toward the end of the video there was a list of the fastest cars (I assume road legal), and number one was a 2006 Z06. Wow! But remember right off the showroom floor it has 505 naturally aspirated peak horsepower, a commendably flat torque curve, with a svelte 3100 pound curb weight (Kudos to Dave Hill). No doubt the engine and chassis are massaged, but I was impressed. The GT4 has a naturally aspirated 9000 rev 4-liter flat six with about 500 HP and weighs about 3200 so It's very comparable to that 20 year old Z06.

The GT4 shoe is a good driver. He passed a couple of C8 Z06s that appeared to be well driven, but events such as this have a very wide spectrum of driver skill and experience.

I'm not sure what the ZR1X is good for. It's too heavy to be a serious track car IMO. It lacks the "frunk" storage space of other models, and I'm not sure what you can do with 1250 horsepower on a road car other than claim bragging rights.

Both the GT4 driver's and Randy's analysis agreed that in many cases removing weight is more cost effective than adding power, because adding power has cooling and braking implications. If you can subtract weight while maintaining power the brakes and tires will work better and last longer.

I'm surprised the engineers were surprised at the engine's power on the dyno as GM has very sophisticated, likely proprietary, simulation software. The other issue is that boosted engine's output varies depending on how much heat the aftercoolers can remove. A boosted engine will make significantly more power on a cool day at high speed than on a hot day at low speed. I think SAE test procedures have specific requirements for testing boosted engines, but I don't know the details.

IMO is tough to beat a base Stingray with a big naturally aspirated V8, decent storage space, and impressively good fuel ecomony, which makes it practical as both a daily driver and touring car for two, and with the right options it can be a decent occasional track car. It just won't beat the fastest cars it runs with.

Duke

[Patrick H.]

I guess so, but sometimes you like to go on a road tour and take your wife, past ZR1s were capable of this, I guess this is solely a race car and nothing else, I'll pass. They may as well put a full roll cage in it, tub it, and put in 4 point belts.

There is still the heated rear compartment, so it's not like there is zero luggage space.

[Mark E.]

I'm pleasantly surprised GM and Ford build cars like these.

[Paul H.]

It is a very impressive car, for sure. To me, the Z06 has always been the sweet spot in the Modern Corvette lineup (C5 through C8). Plenty of power, no electric motor, great sound and you still have some storage. I'm not inclined to move up from the Z06 to either of the ZR's.

[Donald O.]

Z06, ZR1, ZR1X…..What’s next? 1500hp with 3500 lbs weight? 245-250 mph with driver and passenger?
Other than on a track with seriously long straights, where we can we Walter Mitty and really let it hang out?
If we do track it, what happens to the warranty?

Inquiring mind wants to know.

[Michael J.]

Z06, ZR1, ZR1X…..What’s next? 1500hp with 3500 lbs weight? 245-250 mph with driver and passenger?
Other than on a track with seriously long straights, where we can we Walter Mitty and really let it hang out?
If we do track it, what happens to the warranty?

Inquiring mind wants to know.

There was a time, back in my prime, when my ZR1s (2012 and 2019) could be taken to the Texas Mile and used to join the 200 MPH Club. Only 638 HP and 755 HP, respectively, but I also took both on NCRS Nationals Road Tours with my wife and lots of luggage for a 10-14 day trip. Now the Texas Mile requires a full roll cage and 4 point belts to join the 200 MPH Club, so I can't take one of my current cars, a 2022 Shelby GT500 HE, which has 760 HP, which would break the line for the club. The places for you to truly test this kind of HP, without some additional equipment and trouble, are almost zero. And if you can't pack for a longer trip and take your wife, they are just not practical for most anyone anywhere except around town and short trips cruising the interstate. And of course bragging rights at Cars and Coffee meets.