Rob Loszewski
With 755 horsepower, 715 lb-ft of torque, and an exhaust wail that could put giant fissures into the walls of Hell, it’s no surprise that Road and Track magazine has declared the 2019 Corvette ZR1 – their Performance Car of the Year.
Corvette Engineers set out to stretch the front-engine Corvette design to its absolute finite limits resulting in the most expensive, loudest, bad-assed, Corvette to ever come from Chevrolet. With a 0-60 time around 3.0 seconds, the quarter mile around 11.0 seconds, 1.18 G around a skid pad and a top speed of 212 mph, it’s no wonder the ZR1 beat out cars like the 2019 McLaren Senna which comes with an MSRP of close to $1,000,000!
If you’ve never had the opportunity to drive this C7 Corvette Swan Song, you’d be surprised how docile this Jekyl and Hyde Corvette can be. The 2019 ZR1 Corvette is perfectly content screaming around a road course at speeds that would suck your eyeballs into the back of your head, or taking a leisurely cruise along a back country road…at the posted speed limit…to the local grocery store to stock up for the week.
Whether you’re looking for an all out track beast, or an occasional boulevard cruiser, unlike ZR1 Corvettes of past generations, this one grabs attention and commands respect. You can’t go anywhere without drivers honking their horns at you and throwing a thumbs up, or heads turning on local sidewalks to see where that unholy exhaust rumble is coming from. It not only looks badass, but has the street cred to back it up and the general public is becoming aware of this as the automotive media continue to rain kudos down on this ultimate Corvette.
“The Corvette ZR1 won because it brought out the wide-eyed enthusiast in all of us—IndyCar pros, club racers, and jaded journalists alike. Everyone wanted more time in the ZR1. Every aspect of the ZR1, from the rib-cage-vibrating engine note to the adjustable traction control, strikes a chord. The Chevy also happens to exhibit many of the McLaren’s qualities at one-seventh the price. It, too, is awkwardly but compellingly styled by the demands of the air and the engine. Like the Senna, it combines an appetite for lap time with a remarkable ability to handle imperfect roads” said Road and Track.
“We chose the ZR1 because it exhibits every traditional Corvette virtue while rectifying many of the weak points that plagued its predecessors. It’s loud enough at idle to produce a cease-and-desist letter from the homeowners’ association, but you can converse quietly with your passenger on the freeway. Drag racers will like the extra radiators; road racers will like the aero package. It makes big numbers, the way Corvettes always have, but it also conveys the intangible qualities of steering feel and high-speed balance typically associated with smaller, more restrained sports cars.”
Congratulations to Tadge Juechter, Corvette’s Chief Engineer, and the entire Corvette Engineering team for engineering one of the most incredible Corvettes to ever hit the road.
Last but not least, thanks for building a Corvette that makes my 1990 ZR-1 feel like an old Toyota Corolla! LOL
Source: Road and Track
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