What do you do when your place in American history is secure? Do you rest and milk the nostalgia? Or do you keep pushing, knocking off the best in the world?
There are arguably a handful of cars as important to American history as the Chevrolet Corvette. There are none more important. With an unchallengeable place in the history books, Corvette engineers are pushing the car to new heights.
At the top of the Corvette hierarchy sits the 2025 Corvette ZR1. It’s not cheap, starting at $174,995 (including a $1,695 destination charge) for the 1LZ coupe and $184,995 (delivered) for the 1LZ hardtop convertible. But those prices look affordable next to exotic supercars from low-volume manufacturers like Lamborghini and Ferrari.
It’s not a bad price for a car that sets records everywhere it goes. Chevrolet started 2025 by sending the ZR1 to challenge track records at five iconic American race tracks. It took the top time at every one of them.
The Times
With four different drivers behind the wheel, Chevrolet says, the 2025 ZR1 set new single-lap records at each track:
- Watkins Glen Long Course: 1:52.7. Driver: Bill Wise, Lead Performance Engineer, Chassis Controls
- Road America: 2:08.6. Driver: Brian Wallace, Lead Vehicle Dynamics Engineer
- Road Atlanta: 1:22.8. Driver: Chris Barber, Lead Development Engineer
- Virginia International Raceway Full Course: 1:47.7. Driver: Aaron Link, Global Vehicle Performance Manager
- Virginia International Raceway Grand Course: 2:32.3. Driver: Aaron Link
The ZR1 uses a hand-built 5.5-liter twin-turbo flat-plane crank V8, putting out an astonishing 1,064 horsepower and 828 lb-ft of torque. Power goes through an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission to the rear wheels.
“The drivers set out on this track tour with a pre-production Corvette ZR1 equipped with the optional ZTK Performance Package,” Chevrolet notes. That package adds “an aggressive, high-downforce rear wing, front dive planes, and a tall hood Gurney lip — all constructed from woven carbon fiber. Underneath, underbody strakes replace the standard front underwing stall Gurney to substantially increase front downforce. The suspension tuning included in the ZTK package incorporates stiffer springs and adds Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R ZP tires.”