It’s been a wild decade for the Chevrolet Corvette. For the 2020 model year, the venerable ‘Vette went mid-engine for the first time in the model’s production history. It’s like playing baseball for 70 years and deciding you’d rather start a band and start touring. Here’s the kicker, though: it worked. GM’s engineers said they had reached the boundaries of what they could do with a front-engine platform, and the eighth-generation Chevrolet Corvette was born. Now, years later, the mad men at Chevrolet continue to push the envelope, including developing a variant of the Corvette with straight-up supercar-killing performance credentials.
It’s the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, a seemingly impossible evolutionary step from the already unhinged Chevrolet Corvette C8 Z06. Horsepower? Try four figures. Better yet, with a starting price under $200,000 for every trim, the Corvette ZR1 represents a unique performance value. After all, the obscenely powerful Corvette ZR1 outruns world-class supercars and hypercars. And it does so for much less than the competition. The team at Chevrolet did it by engineering the most powerful American-built V8 package ever at the time, harnessing the power of downforce, and resurrecting one of the most iconic badges out there.
The 2025 Corvette ZR1: Kentucky’s Supercar Killer
When you look at the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1’s frankly insane performance figures, one name dominates the conversation: the LT7. No use starting elsewhere. The LT7 is the Corvette ZR1’s beating heart, a twin-turbo V8 spitting out more horsepower than the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. As part of the “Gemini V8” development, Chevrolet took the existing architecture from the C8 Z06’s high-revving, flat-plane 5.5-liter LT6 V8 and added forced induction in the form of two 76-millimeter mono-scroll turbochargers, a new intake system, a secondary port fuel-injection system, a unique valve train timing and lift profile, a CNC-machined combustion chamber, and unique exhaust ports.
2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Specs
|
Engine |
Twin-Turbocharged, Flat-Plane 5.5-Liter LT7 V8 |
|
Transmission |
8-Speed Dual Clutch Automatic |
|
Horsepower, Torque |
1,064 HP At 7,000 RPM, 828 LB-FT At 6,000 RPM |
|
Curb Weight |
3,831 LBS |
|
Drivetrain |
RWD |
The result? While the naturally aspirated C8 Z06 produces 670 horsepower from its LT6, the LT7 in the Corvette ZR1 summons a Herculean 1,064 horsepower. Eye-watering power figures like that establish the C8 ZR1 as the most potent non-hybrid Chevrolet Corvette ever, one of the most powerful American production cars ever, and a bona fide supercar killer. “Corvette ZR1 is about pushing the envelope with raw power and cutting-edge innovation,” said Chevrolet Vice President Scott Bell. “From Stingray, to Z06, E-Ray, and now ZR1, the Corvette family continues to elevate with each new iteration — and challenge the best in the world.”
The Most Powerful RWD Chevrolet Corvette Ever
With 1,064 horsepower and 828 pound-feet of torque on tap, the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 broke a few records. In addition to outmuscling much pricier European rivals in the supercar segment, the ZR1 instantly took the title of the most powerful production Corvette up to that point. Of course, that title only lasted for so long before Chevrolet rolled out the Corvette ZR1X, a hybridized variant of the C8 ZR1. Adding the front-axle-mounted electric motor bumps the ZR1X’s output to a stratospheric 1,250 horsepower.
Still, even with the hybrid ZR1X in the lineup, the Corvette ZR1 remains the most powerful rear-wheel-drive Corvette ever. As you might imagine, then, the super ‘Vette is fast. Really fast. In testing, the Corvette ZR1 blasted to 60 mph in just 2.2 seconds on its way to a sub-10-second quarter mile. That’s quicker than pricier, world-class supercars like the McLaren 750S and the Ferrari 296 GTB by 0.1 and 0.2 seconds, respectively.
Hennessey Moves The Needle(s) Again In Corvette ZR1 Tree Run Record
Hennessey says a road-legal car carrying a Christmas tree has never gone faster. Can anyone prove them wrong?
Copious Aero And Performance Value
Another part of the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1’s recipe for upsetting the spendiest supercars is its generous, wind-cheating aero treatments. For starters, every ZR1 rolls off the line in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with a flow-through hood assembly designed to promote front-end downforce. The rest of the car features a series of ducts with the purpose of channeling air to generate downforce. The ducts also serve to harness fresh air for brake and turbo cooling, which is vital to maintaining the ZR1’s performance on the track.
In addition to the standard aero treatments, Chevrolet installed a sticky set of staggered Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires, including massive 345-millimeter rubber out back. And what good is explosive speed if you can’t stop? The Corvette ZR1 packs 15.7-inch front rotors and 15.4-inch rotors in the rear. Those front rotors don’t simply stop the C8 ZR1 in a hurry; they’re the largest rotors ever fitted to a Corvette.
Pick The ZR1 ZTK For Best Results
Like the Z07 package for the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, the C8 ZR1 offers a track-focused package. Instead of a Z07 option, Chevrolet calls it the ZTK Performance Package, which comes with its own assortment of goodies to make the ZR1 that much faster. Most notably, the ZTK adds a massive, air-channeling carbon fiber rear wing. Up front, the ZTK adds a hood-fitted Gurney lip and front dive planes, also made of weight-saving carbon fiber.
2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Pricing
|
2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 1LZ |
$185,000 |
|
2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 1LZ Convertible |
$188,195 |
|
2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 3LZ |
$196,000 |
|
2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 3LZ Convertible |
$199,195 |
So, what’s the result of all this aero-trickery? Chevrolet says the C8 ZR1 with the ZTK package will generate a tremendous 1,200 LBS of downforce at top speed. It’s also essential to get the very best performance out of the ZR1. After all, the ZTK-equipped ZR1 is the car that managed the ballistic 2.2-second sprint to 60 mph.
How Fast Can a Corvette Go? Top Speed Stats Revealed
The Corvette and its various models have consistently made headlines since the C8 hit the scene. Here’s how fast they are.
World-Class Numbers At The Nürburgring
It’s no secret that OEMs frequent the storied Nürburgring Nordschleife in Western Germany to test and develop their fastest cars. Well, partially to test and develop. As you might imagine, the rest is, to put it simply, for bragging rights. Last year, Ford descended on the famed “Green Hell” with the intent to coax the Buzz Award-winning Ford Mustang GTD around the track faster than any other American production car. It succeeded. But the GTD didn’t hold the title for long.
2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Performance Specs
|
0-60 MPH |
2.2 Seconds |
|
Quarter Mile |
9.5 Seconds At 149 MPH |
|
Top Speed (Manufacturer’s Claim) |
225 MPH |
|
Top Speed (Verified) |
233 MPH |
|
Braking From 70 MPH |
140 Feet |
Chevrolet took the Corvette ZR1 and its hybridized sibling to the Nürburgring, and the results were sensational. The C8 ZR1 managed a 06:50.763 lap around the Nordschleife’s 12.9-mile course, outrunning the $300,000 Mustang GTD by nearly 1.31 seconds. That time also puts the C8 ZR1 just behind the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, one of the gold-standard track cars.
Not The First Time The ZR1 Shattered Expectations
Granted, the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 broke the Corvette mold. But this isn’t the first time a Corvette ZR1 broke records. For the seventh-generation Corvette, the C7 ZR1 packed the most powerful engine ever fitted into a Corvette. Through the use of what the engineers called the “BAS” or big-ass supercharger, the C7 ZR1 produced a huge 755 horsepower from its supercharged 6.2-liter V8. At the time, that figure established the C7 ZR1 as the most powerful production Corvette at the time– a bragging right the ultimate C7 Corvette model wouldn’t lose until six years later when the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 exploded onto the scene.
Sources: GM, Nürburgring