The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X is officially the fastest American car to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife, setting a time of 6:49.275 minutes on the full 20.832-km layout of circuit (the one officially used for record attempts). The most unhinged version of the C8-generation Corvette beat out the previous record holder, the Ford Mustang GTD, that previously set a time of 6:52.072 minutes. While impressive, the Corvette ZR1X isn’t faster than the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series (6:48.047 minutes).
The ZR1X combines the qualities of the ZR1 and E-Ray, pairing the former’s 5.5 litre LT7 twin-turbo V8 (1,064 hp and 1,123 Nm) with the latter’s electric front axle (186 hp and 197 Nm) for a total system output of 1,250 hp. Standard carbon ceramic brakes, an expanded traction management system and a comprehensive aero package are also part of the ZR1X’s arsenal.
Since we mentioned the ZR1X’s “lesser” siblings, both were also brought to The Green Hell to put down some lap times. The ZR1 managed to join the “beat the Mustang club” with a time of 6:50.763 minutes, although the Z06 with its 670 hp V8 could only manage 7:11.826 minutes.
The American carmaker was also keen to point out that the record attempts were not done with a racing driver behind the wheel. Instead, the company brought along three of its engineers who not only developed the cars, but have also spent quite a time at the Nürburgring, visiting a combined 31 times to develop and test General Motors (GM) vehicles.
Drew Cattell, who is the vehicle dynamics engineer for the ZR1X and has done 600 laps of the Nürburgring, took the ZR1X out to set the record. Similarly, ZR1 vehicle dynamics engineer Brian Wallace drove the result of his work, while Aaron Link got behind the wheel of the Z06 – he is the model’s vehicle performance manager. The three are among the most seasoned Nürburgring-certified drivers at GM with a combined 36 years of experience working on performance cars.
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