Hear It! Chevrolet Corvette X Hits The Track
The next Chevrolet Corvette model is set to be revealed on June 17, but it’s already out and about.
Nearly undisguised prototypes of the upcoming super-Vette have been spotted being tested on the Nürburgring.
The cars look like ZR1s but are wearing stickers that identify them as hybrids and also have auxiliary cooling systems similar to those used on the hybrid Corvette E-Ray.
Chevrolet has not publicly confirmed anything about the model, but a teaser animation posted to Instagram depicts the Corvette crossed flags logo turning into a stylized X, suggesting the car’s name.
If the pieces come together as rumored, the Corvette X will combine a version of the ZR1’s 1,064 hp turbocharged V8 with the front electric drivetrain from the Corvette E-Ray, which is rated at 160 hp. Do the simple math and you end up with a 1,224 hp car, but the combined output of a hybrid doesn’t always work that way.
What the video posted by Car Spy Media does confirm is that the car will sound very good. Even with exhaust pipe extensions used to keep the volume down during the testing, the unique rumble of the flat-plane-crank V8 rumble can be heard.
Chevrolet hasn’t yet offered any details on the reveal of the new car, aside from the date, and it’s not known when it will go on sale. The ZR1 was revealed last July, however, and just started shipping to customers. NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick got the first ZR1, for which he paid $3.7 million at a charity auction.
The ZR1 has a list price recently increased by $200 to $175,195 and, which leads us to believe the Corvette X will go for around $205,195, but that’s far from certain.
Also unknown is if the ZR1 or the Corvette X have registered official Nürburgring lap times and how they compare to the Ford Mustang GTD, which currently holds the record for vehicles from American brands.
One caveat, however, is that the Mustang GTD is assembled in Canada by Multimatic, while the Corvettes are built in the USA at Chevy’s Bowling Green Assembly plant in Kentucky.