It Turns Out The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Has A Lot More Than 1,064 HP

It looks like Chevrolet definitely fudged the numbers for the Corvette ZR1 … in a good way.

Deliveries of the $175,195 supercar are running at full steam, which means that plenty of customers have gotten their hands on it.

One of them is John Hennessey, owner of the eponymous Texas tuning house. After breaking his in, he strapped it on the company’s dynamometer to find out precisely how powerful it is before he goes to work making it even more powerful.

The result was 1,051, hp, which is short of the advertised 1,064 hp, but not really. Dynamometers measure the power at the wheels and the result is roughly 15% lower than the official figure, due to drivetrain losses. John Hennessey confirmed with American Cars And Racing that the data shared was the raw number at the wheels and not an adjusted figure.

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Temperature and air pressure can also account for some difference compared to the factory test, which reads the power at the engine crank under controlled conditions.

Hennessey’s test suggests the Corvette ZR1’s turbocharged 5.5-liter V8 cranks out more than 1,200 hp, and it wasn’t a fluke. Several other tuning shops, including Paragon Performance, have seen similar results all in the same ballpark.

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A Chevrolet spokesperson previously told American Cars And Racing that, “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.” Nevertheless, it all seems a bit unusual given the very specific 1,064 hp figure quoted by Chevrolet.

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Of course, the hybrid Corvette ZR1X is advertised with 1,250 hp, but that ostensibly includes the output of the 186 hp electric motor that powers its front wheels. However, the electric motor is only engaged up to 160 mph and Chevrolet claims the ZR1X’s top speed is the same as the ZR1’s 233 mph, which would indicate they are generating identical horsepower at maximum velocity.

Regardless of what the exact output really is, there’s no denying the Corvette ZR1’s performance, which has helped it set several track records across the U.S.

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