Watch as America’s gas-only supercar takes on Italian greatness
- We’re officially getting our first look at an independent Corvette ZR1 on a drag strip.
- It takes on a Lamborghini Revuelto, and the two combine to make over 2,000 horses.
- The Corvette doesn’t win every race, but it proves a point that’s hard to argue with.
Performance on paper is one thing, but what really matters is how a car behaves when the lights go green. That’s why sports teams play games rather than compare facts and figures. It’s also why auto enthusiasts take their cars racing, because what we read on paper doesn’t tell the whole story.
In the following video, we get a taste of just how capable the new Corvette ZR1 is in the real world. Spoiler alert: it’s every bit as good as you’ve heard.
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For anyone unfamiliar with the numbers, the ZR1 makes an astonishing 1,064 horsepower (793 kW) and 828 lb-ft (1,121 Nm) of torque. It sends every bit of that grunt toward the rear wheels only and leverages an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox to do so. GM claims it can reach 60 mph (97 km/h) in just 2.3 seconds and run the quarter mile in 9.6 seconds.
When it came out, our own Michael Gauthier said “It… packs a more powerful punch than the Lamborghini Revuelto.” Today, we find out if that makes it quicker or not.
A Quarter-Mile Showdown in Orlando
That’s thanks to Brooks over at Drag Times and his acquaintance, Christian. The pair united to race these two at a drag strip in Orlando and the results are impressive. Before dropping the green light, though, it’s worth noting that the Lambo makes 1,001 horsepower (747 kW) and 1,044 lb-ft (1,413 Nm) of torque, with the Italian company quoting a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of 2.5 seconds.
Its powertrain combines a V12 engine with an electric motor driving the front axle, giving it all-wheel drive and extra traction off the line.
Another key detail is price. The ZR1 carries an MSRP of $173,300, which sounds like a lot, until you consider that the base Revuelto starts at an eye-watering $608,358.
Corvette Grabs the Early Lead
That’s even more important to consider when you see the Corvette step out to a commanding lead early in race one between these two. It jumps so hard and gets such a lead that the Lamborghini can’t catch up by the end of the quarter mile. Brooks immediately points out a problem, though: the Revuelto spun its tires, which, according to him, is very rare.
As such, he requests additional track prep to ensure both sides are sticky and the two cars swap sides. This time, things go quite a bit differently. The Lambo launches hard and fast and picks up a car-length worth of difference before the Corvette begins to match speeds. From there, the Chevrolet gets walked to the finish. But this is a best-of-three competition.
In the tie-breaker, the Corvette driver actually gets a great launch while Brooks in the Revuelto is a touch slower off the line. It’s the closest of the three races by far. The Corvette leads for roughly a quarter of the race, but the Lamborghini walks around it in the end.
That tells us a lot about Chevrolet’s ultimate gas-only Corvette. It’s a genuine threat to supercars that cost two or three times as much. The Revuelto had the advantage of all-wheel drive and still barely it. It’s hard not to be proud of that accomplishment if you’re an engineer or production worker on the ZR1 project.