Chevy confirmed Wednesday that the King of Corvettes will arrive this summer. Reported in April 2020, the ZR1 will be the ultimate track-focused version of the eighth-generation, mid-engine C8 Corvette. The ZR1 will the third of four performance variants of the C8.
The C8 supercar debuted as a 2020 model, followed by the 670-horsepower 2023 Z06 packing Corvette’s first dual-overhead cam V-8 ripped from the C8.R race car that competes in international sports car racing.
Chevrolet also introduced a more grand-touring-focused version of the C8 in the 2024, all-wheel-drive hybrid E-Ray, which is the first Corvette to be electrified.
The 2025 ZR1 is expected to carry the same screaming flat-plane crank 5.5-liter engine as the Z06 but with added twin turbochargers to juice the rear-wheel-driver track monster to over 800 horsepower. The Z06 engine's internal GM designation is LT6, while the ZR1’s turbocharged version is designated LT7.
Expect a fourth, mega-performance version called the Zora, which will incorporate the LT7 engine and the electric motors from the front axle of the E-Ray for an insane, Ferrari-eating, 1,000-horsepower, all-wheel-drive hypercar.
The 2025 ZR1 is expected to carry the same flat-plane crank 5.5-liter engine as the C8.R race car that competes in international sports car racing.
The last front-engine ZR1 ended production after the 2019 model year. Despite making a staggering, supercharged, 755 horsepower, the last ZR1’s LT5 mill was literally bursting at the seams a Hulk ripping through its shirt with a tall supercharger peaking through the tall hood that drivers could barely see around.
It was an impetus to develop Corvette’s first mid-engine car that would give engineers more flexibility with powertrains, better rear-wheel traction and, ultimately, the ability to bring in the latest battery tech to the legendary supercar.
True to its traditional track purpose, the ZR1 is expected to be rear-wheel-driven. It was pushed back to a 2025 model from a 2024 due to COVID delays.
Its capabilities will outstrip the already capable Z06, which has the most-powerful, naturally-aspirated engine ever built for a Corvette.
The engine was developed for the C8.R race car “it’s been hiding in plain sight,” said Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter of the much-anticipated DOHC engine and then put into production for the Z06.
With twin turbochargers on its back, the 5.5-liter LT7 engine should propel the 2025 ZR1 to sub-2.5 second 0–60 sprints with perhaps 850 horsepower and 825 pound-feet of torque. Expect the ZR1 to dress up with a huge rear wing and front spoiler to suck the beast to the ground around high-speed bends.
The standard, $69,995, 495-horsepower C8 has an old-school, normally-aspirated LT2, 6.2-liter, pushrod V-8. The last-generation, front-engine ZR1 started at $122,000 expect the new model to push $150,000.
After the ZR1, the C8 Corvette is expected to get a special Zora model as a bridge to the supercar’s electric future.
The model is named after Corvette engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, who came into the ‘Vette fold in the 1950s and was pivotal in transitioning Corvette to the legend we know today, an affordable supercar blending high-tech features with red-blooded Yankee V-8 power.
Thus, the 1,000-horse Zora an electrified $200,000 hypercar that will realize the full potential of new electric motor tech to take the Corvette into European hypercar territory (think Ferrari SF90 Stradale, McLaren P1, Koenigsegg Regera) with zero-60 times below 2 seconds.
ZR1 production at Corvette's Bowling Green, Kentucky, assembly plant should begin this summer.
