It’s been a long time coming! GM has finally unveiled the Corvette ZR1, and its a beauty! I don’t even know where to begin here, so lets talk about appearances first. At first glance, the ZR1 doesn’t really look all that different from the current Z06, and that is probably due to the fact that the aluminum and magnesium frame of the current generation Z06 forms the basis of the ZR1. There is a carbon fiber splitter on the front, not dissimilar to the chin splitter found on the Le Mans winning Corvette C6R. The hood bulges out on the top to cover the impressive new engine, but on the top, lies a transparent lexan window to show off the powerplant. Moving to the side of the vehicle, an astute observer would notice 2 vertical fender vents. All that hot air in the engine bay has to go somewhere, and 2 massive holes aught to help that. The roof of the ZR1 is all carbon fiber, to help lower the center of gravity, and to make it look absolutely badass. But to help with the latter, GM spent a small fortune to develop a special clearcoat to put on top of the carbon fiber to help prevent resin oxidization, which on any other car would turn yellow and crackly over time. GM wanted to ensure the carbon fiber would look good for the lifespan of the vehicle, and apparently a gallon of the clear coat cost $60,000. The front clip of the ZR1 is also carbon fiber, although painted to match the rest of the vehicle.

Lets talk engines.
The new ‘Vette uses a new V8 LS9 engine, which produces at least 100hp per liter of displacement. Though GM hasn’t released any info about the power output, they told us that engine displacement is 6.2L. Now, obviously, simple minded folks wouldn’t be able to form the kind of hypothesis that I am about to, but then again, not everyone has been a 3 time winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for being a math whiz either. Not to brag or anything… I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that the ZR1 will produce between 620-650 horses. How do I come up with that number? I am a genius, that’s how.

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