The 1,064 HP Corvette ZR1 May Be A Lot More Powerful Than That
The 1,250 hp Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X revealed last week made the 1,064 hp ZR1 look puny, at least on paper. Things might be different in the real world.
ZR1 deliveries are now underway and several customers have received their cars. One of them put break in miles on their car and took it to Paragon Performance in Des Moines, Iowa, for a dynamometer test, Corvette Blogger reported.
The dyno was set up to test the car’s wheel horsepower, which can be around 15% less than horsepower measured at the crank, which is what production cars are advertised with.
That wasn’t the case this time around. The test result rated the ZR1 at 1,028 hp, which would be 1,209 hp at a 15% reduction and 1,142 at a 10% reduction.
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Similarly, the dyno came back with a 840 lb-ft torque rating, which is more than the advertised 828 lb-ft at the crank even before an adjustment is accounted for.
American Cars And Racing reached out to Chevrolet about the positive discrepancy and it said, “our published power numbers for Corvette ZR1’s LT7 twin-turbo V8 are based on testing following SAE procedures. We’re glad to see customers validating the car’s performance from the factory.”
Many factors, including temperature and atmospheric pressure, could be responsible for the difference and on another given day, it’s possible the independent test could be lower. The only thing this proves is that the ZR1’s twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V8 may deliver more than you paid for on any given day.
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Things may be the same for the ZR1X, at least at one end. The car combines the ZR1’s V8 driving the rear wheels with an electric motor powering the front wheels, and the electric motor is less susceptible to atmospheric conditions, although heat can be a factor.
More data may be on the way, as Paragon Performance has another ZR1 that it’s planning to test as soon as it finishes the break-in period. As for the ZR1X, production isn’t scheduled to begin until late this year, so it will be a while before anyone gets their hands on one to run on a dyno.