The C8 Corvette ZR1 Is Even Faster Than Chevy Thought

The new Chevy C8 Corvette ZR1 is already the fastest ‘Vette in history from zero to 60 mph. Now Car and Driver says it goes even quicker than GM’s factory estimates in that test—a whole tenth of a second quicker, or 2.2 seconds to go from a stop to 60 mph.

Chevy will certainly be heartened by this news, as it has been pushing the C8 Corvette ZR1’s performance credentials since it announced the model. That begins with the power output, which is 1,064 horsepower, something that the brand says compares favorably to supercars priced a lot higher than the Corvette ZR1’s $174,995 base price. The cars in question include the Porsche 911 GT3 RS ($241,300), the McLaren 765LT ($382,500), and the Lamborghini Revuelto ($608,358).

The C8 Corvette ZR1 is a budget supercar, in other words, or at least that’s how GM would like people to think of it. Regardless of those claims, Car and Driver says simply that it is the “quickest rear-wheel-drive car we’ve ever tested,” defining quickness as zero to 60 mph. That means that the model is quicker than Car and Driver‘s previous record holder for that category, the McLaren 750S, and ahead of blue-blood contender Ferrari 296GTB.

The C8 Corvette ZR1 has better rubber and significantly more power than its competitors, which helps it overcome a weight disadvantage, since it’s hundreds of pounds heavier than the 750S or 296GTB. The C8 Corvette ZR1 is also less than half the price of the McLaren or Ferrari. As The Drive points out, the Corvette ZR1’s 2.2-second time is also quicker than GM’s published zero-to-60 time of 2.3 seconds.

Zero-to-60 times are one of the oldest metrics for judging performance and have gotten quicker by leaps and bounds since 1957, for example, when Car and Driver timed a Corvette going from zero to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds—triple the time of the C8 Corvette ZR1. Many modern cars have no problem getting to mile-a-minute speed in 6.6 seconds, and even the slowest modern cars will likely get there in under 10 seconds, like this writer’s 2008 Honda Fit, which Car and Driver timed at 9.0 seconds.

Still, 2.2 seconds for a gas-powered rear-wheel-drive car is mighty impressive for the C8 Corvette ZR1, and may even help boost sales for America’s budget supercar.

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