A couple of days after the 2018 Chevrolet Corvette leaked thanks to someone from Car and Driver, it looks like Chevrolet finally let most of the important details on its King Corvette out of the bag. Earlier today (Nov. 12, 2017) Chevrolet finally published its press release on its top-tier C7 Corvette, the ZR1. Not only has Chevrolet managed to slap on a larger supercharger than compared to its Z06 brother, but Chevrolet also dropped two distinct aero packages including one Sebring Orange Design package. Check out a couple of press photos Chevrolet provided for us below.
Chevrolet claims that their King is back and one look at their engine specs sheet and it’s easy to believe that they’re right. Stock C7 Stingrays already are pretty potent out of the box with 455 HP and 460 lb-ft. The Z06 raises that bar significantly thanks to its supercharged LT4. But this ZR1 absolutely trounces its Z06 brother with 755 HP and 715 lb-ft thanks to a larger supercharging unit and extensive cooling enhancements. Making sure that every eight cylinders get enough fuel, GM equipped this ZR1 with duel-fuel injection system, which means primary and port injection for the first time ever.
New to the ZR1 is the availability of an eight-speed automatic transmission. We’ll be curious to see which transmission is faster on the track, their eight-speed or seven-speed manual.
Cooling was a major issue with the ZO6 which forced the hand of some owners to file a class action lawsuit against GM for their cars going into limp mode after 15 mins of hard driving. This isn’t the case this time around with four additional heat exchangers.
The C6 ZR1 laid claim to a 205 MPH top speed. GM says their newest ZR1 will crest 210 MPH easily.
Aiding this claim is the availability of two distinct aero packages, a low wing aero package for high-speed driving that comes standard and an adjustable high-wing spoiler for maximum downforce and track driving part of the ZR1’s ZTK performance package.
Showcased in press photos was ZR1’s exclusive Sebring Orange Design Package.
ZR1 will be on sale Spring 2018. I can’t wait for first journalist impressions that are sure to roll out between then and now.
