The first Corvette hypercar? Chevrolet’s 1,250 hp ZR1X hybrid breaks cover.
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Cars are way too heavy on average anymore. But, cars of these performance have weighed this much for over a decade. A quick google search shows me that a Veyron is 4162 lb for instance.
The Lotus or bac mono you mention seem to me to be more or less in the price range of the Vette.
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Or they get the mother of all tickets or their shit impounded or both because all that power goes directly to their heads and they get clocked doing 160 in a 55. A dentist friend of my dad's learned that lesson with his M5. The Colorado Highway Patrol just does not appreciate the superb high-speed stability of a fine German automobile, I guess.
For the same reason, the 911 Turbo got called the Doctor (or Dentist) Killer back in the day; guy sweats blood through his residency, finally gets hired at a hospital or practice or whatever, buys himself a Porsche, goes backwards into the scenery at 150mph because lift-off oversteer is a thing. Tale as old as time, truly.
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There's nothing more dangerous about these cars versus any other. All modern cars are dangerous if driven badly or in bad judgement.
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Wouldn't you also need to factor in the 1G we are all experiencing just being on the earth?
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I will say, for me, the C8 is when I actually really wanted one. I grew up in the age of "exotics" - the F40, the McLaren P1, and all the rest where those sleek, aero-designs really took over. I never cared for the muscle-car look, so the retro-styles of the Camaro, Mustang, and all the Dodge C-cars never thrilled me. However, the look of the C8 - which some call America's Ferrari, definitely struck a chord with me. Quite the exotic look, and it was actually decent in price (compared to Ferrari, Lambo, A-M, etc.), dare I say even attainable.
So for me, the new - slightly "busy" - design of the C8 won me over. Truly some fine engineering behind a beautiful design!
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“The same 1.9 kWh battery pack now holds 26 percent more charge than in the E-Ray, which helps bump the front motor's output from 160 to 186 hp (117 to 132 kW) and from 125 to 145 lb-ft (169 to 196 Nm). “
Charge is energy which is kWh. So the same energy can’t be 26% more charge. Do you mean that they are getting more power from the same energy battery? That’s the only thing that seems to make sense. The energy capacity of the battery has nothing to do with the power output of the motor.
Charge is energy which is kWh. So the same energy can’t be 26% more charge. Do you mean that they are getting more power from the same energy battery? That’s the only thing that seems to make sense. The energy capacity of the battery has nothing to do with the power output of the motor.
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That’s actually guaranteed to be less than the maximum acceleration. It’s because from a standing start you can only approach 1G times the friction coefficient due to the limits of traction. So it starts around 0.15G or so and then gets faster as downforce is generated.
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It's possible they mean usable charge, the E-Ray only uses 1.1 of that 1.9 kWh. But I'd like to know what a 70C rate battery costs.
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A street legal "hypercar" has nothing to do with the WEC Hypercar class.
One could argue that the Aston Martin Valkyrie is a hypercar for both the street and WEC but the WEC version has a vastly different body, no hybrid drivetrain, and is far less powerful than the street version so any comparision is pointless unless it is to highlight the differences.
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Massive 5,000-7000 lbs EVs and SUVs get driven on a daily basis and are purchased in vast numbers by incompetant boobs. Hypercars get driven infrequently and are so rare as to be the equivalent of vapourware with polution levels to match.
From a technical point of view hypercars are fascinating and I'm glad mediocre websites such as Ars cover them.
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Corvette is now an amazing car, especially when compared with the cars in the same performance envelope for the price. It's a relative bargain but only for rich people 
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The engineering for this model takes it another step and I'll enjoy experiencing it vicariously, the only option here in Australia.
How about trying to tee up a drive in the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra?
That's another example of amazing power and engineering at a price others can't achieve. Might also put a cat amongst the pigeons with those who like to claim that Chinese cars are derivative crap.
.The engineering for this model takes it another step and I'll enjoy experiencing it vicariously, the only option here in Australia.
How about trying to tee up a drive in the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra?
That's another example of amazing power and engineering at a price others can't achieve. Might also put a cat amongst the pigeons with those who like to claim that Chinese cars are derivative crap.
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Recently my truck was in the shop for some work, they were out of loaners and sent me up the street to the Enterprise. They had a few spicy cars on the lot, and for essentially 1/3 the regular rate I was able to sample a couple of them.
First day I rented a 2024 911 Cab. and had a never meet your heroes moment.. it was very underwhelming and felt like an overpriced Audi and as I kept driving it, I couldn't get over the fact that it was a ~150k car and didn't feel anywhere worth it. Especially at regular road speeds doing the daily drive duty type of stuff.
I went back the next day and swapped out for a C8 Stingray with 3LT package. A car that is LITERALLY half the price (to buy and to rent). While not perfect It genuinely felt like a bargain supercar and a ton of value for money. So much more theater, drama, excitement at any speed.
I never saw myself as a Corvette guy but with the refreshed interior now coming as well for 2026 GM really nailed it with this car. I can't think of a better bang for the buck car right now even in base stingray form.
First day I rented a 2024 911 Cab. and had a never meet your heroes moment.. it was very underwhelming and felt like an overpriced Audi and as I kept driving it, I couldn't get over the fact that it was a ~150k car and didn't feel anywhere worth it. Especially at regular road speeds doing the daily drive duty type of stuff.
I went back the next day and swapped out for a C8 Stingray with 3LT package. A car that is LITERALLY half the price (to buy and to rent). While not perfect It genuinely felt like a bargain supercar and a ton of value for money. So much more theater, drama, excitement at any speed.
I never saw myself as a Corvette guy but with the refreshed interior now coming as well for 2026 GM really nailed it with this car. I can't think of a better bang for the buck car right now even in base stingray form.
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How many miles a year do you think ALL the ZR1X's cumulatively will get driven? they are going to be mostly mothballed into collections and be held on to hoping to one day sell it at a Mecum/Barrett-Jackson as a 1/1 white with red interior made of a tuesday afternoon with XYZ option etc. hoping to sell it for big bucks.
The Co2 emissions of all of these kind of niche rarely driven cars is nothing.
Where as SUV's are far more tangible and impactful.
Edit: Also who's to say the battery and electric motor tech wont trickle down in to things like the next Gen Bolt? Lightweight power dense motors/inverters/batteries are mutually beneficial for everyone
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So 70C is not that crazy of a discharge rate for batteries. You can easily get LiPo batteries that will do 80C plus.
But largely the main question on C rate is for how long a battery can sustain it. Most likely the battery can hit that peak output for only short periods of time. Heat management is also a major C rate limitation which it sounds like Chevy has focused on heavily in this latest Corvette.
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Wouldn't it be nice if auto companies concentrated on building vehicles for the 99.9%, instead of the .1%?
if auto companies concentrated on building vehicles for the 99.9%, instead of the .1%?
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Where do you think the tech for general consumption vehicles comes from?Wouldn't it be nice
Heck, the original base Model S 60 at $71k would have cost over $96k in today's dollars.
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I'd like to think that the engineering behind controlling 1200hp at the ragged edge of adhesion on a racetrack would trickle down well to something like controlling a 5000-lb SUV on a sheet of ice.
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frau koujiro
Smack-Fu Master, in training
I hate how long it took for me to remember that Cirrus makes planes, not cars... just goes to show how awesomely ludicrous the specs on the ZRX1 really are!
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You know what would be a cool halo engineering project for GM engineers? Actually develop a car that attains this kind of performance with 1/10th of the weight and consumption. Which you can easily achieve with a 300kg chassis and a 100hp engine, if you can high-tech your way to build such a light chassis.
Dodge put a large truck engine in a sports car frame and that made the viper, which was sort of cool 30 years ago (also a pretty terrible sports car). Why not put a marine diesel engine in a frame on wheels - they go all the way to 100 000 hp +- and claim the chest hair medal for the most powerful car Ever made?
I just despair at the blindness of corpos (intentional) and public (sheep), business as usual, nothing to see here there is no such thing as global warming as the current US government tells us. Just keep doing what you have been doing for the last 100 years all is well, do not think too hard, never mind that our kids and grandkids will live on shit earth (to which the techno optimists will say without understanding the basic mechanics of global warming, tipping points and centuries-long climate inertia “don’t worry technology will fix this in the future, clean coal baby”.) Totally agree with the earlier comment about Ars’s bipolar position on global warming with reviews of 6k pounds SUVs that no one needs and the periodic article about the scientific reality of global warming. So Yepp this new Vette review fits that pattern perfectly, there is not a single line in that article that questions the why. Is that journalism?
And, I find it cute that you think I should be punished for my opinion by being perpetually surrounded by Vettes, Escalades, hummers and f150s used by solo persons as grocery getters - rejoice! It’s already happening.
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You bothered to research their Ars history just to criticize them for sharing their opinion?
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The ZR-1 already does 233MPH. Not sure the top end will get higher with the hybrid setup, but it could.
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You know it's a Chevrolet, right? Lowest MSRP of a Chevy. Not to say that's cheap - I bought my first new car in 1989 for like $8000.Wouldn't it be nice
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I know and respect why they went mid-engine, but I’m with you - I just don’t care for the shape or the looks of it.
C6 ZR1 is peak Corvette for me.
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Back in the day I put my money where my mouth is and bought a new C5 Z06. I admire this ZR1X but if I were to spend this much today (unlikely) I'd probably pick something else. I suppose I was never a ZR-1 buyer.
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You're lumping Corvettes in with many-ton monsters that get 1/3 the MPG and are 10,000 times more prevalent.
I routinely got 35+ MPG in my twin turbo C5. They aren't inefficient just because they can make a lot of power.
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I'm not sure those brief times you're coasting and getting 35+ MPG count.
(Seriously though, I don't even get 35 mpg in a 1.8 liter Corolla. WTF.)
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No, that wouldn't be nice. Every car does not need to be an economy shitbox just because you personally can't afford a Corvette. Go buy a Trax if you want to buy the cheap everyman Chevrolet and quit fucking whining about 1200hp cars not costing $22k.Wouldn't it be nice
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Dzov, I can't vouch for 35 MPG but my 2003 C5 Z06 routinely ran 28+ MPG at 80 MPH over long stretches (like LA to Vegas and back). Tall gearing, high torque, and decent aerodynamic shape mean that big engine just lopes along (around 2K RPM if I recall correctly).
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