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The affordable hypercar: 1,064-horsepower Corvette ZR1 starts at $175k
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 11, 2025
Call it your entry-level hypercar.
With an insane 1,064-horsepower and 233 mph top speed, the wicked-looking, mid-engine Chevy Corvette ZR1 can rocket from zero to 60 mph in just 2.3 seconds and hang with other hypercars like the 1,016-horse, $530k Ferrari F90 XX or the 1,160-horsepower, $3.5 million Aston Martin Valkyrie. Yet the Corvette’s top-shelf, rear-wheel-drive track star can be had for just $174,995 when it goes on sale in mid-February in base 1LZ trim.
When the Detroit Auto Show’s doors open to the public on Saturday at Huntington Place, the ZR1 will be front-and-center in the Chevy display — while its exotic hypercar peers will be on the floor’s rear Gallery section.
“ZR1 is an example of design and engineering excellence, one where we push the boundaries of what’s possible in terms of performance,” said Global Chevrolet Vice President Scott Bell. “It was important for us to stay true to Corvette’s promise of a vehicle whose world-class capabilities completely outmatch its price.”
The ‘Vette is quicker than any 1,000-horse hypercar under $1 million and bears a top speed higher than any American-made production car. You could buy 17 of them for the price of a single, $3 million, mid-engine Mercedes AMG One with the same horsepower. Standard equipment on the 1LZ model includes:
1) 5.5-liter, dual-overhand cam, flat-plane crank V-8 engine right out of the C8.R GT3 race car — then blown out of its mind with twin-turbochargers.
2024 Los Angeles Auto Show: Chevy Corvette ZR1. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
2) All 2025 models will come with a track-focused, carbon-fiber aero package that makes 1,200 pounds of downforce that includes a high-downforce rear wing, front dive planes and tall hood spoiler. The package also adds underbody strakes to increase downforce. The roof and side intakes are also made of carbon fiber.
3) Carbon ceramic brakes
4) Performance Data Recorder
5) Eight-way automatic seats, rear-vision camera mirror, Bose 10-speaker stereo system, and 12-inch instrument display.
If you want it in a hardtop convertible, the 1LZ drop-top starts at $184,995. If that isn’t enough, a Chevy dealer will be happy to upsell you with the most extreme, ZTK track package for $1,500, with sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires, stiffer springs and sophisticated Magnetic Ride Control calibration.
Step up to the 3LZ model and the ZR1 adds heated-and-ventilated Napa leather seats with power lumbar adjustments, front-and-rear cameras, 14-speaker Bose sound, custom leather-wrapped instrument panel, door trim and console, power fold mirrors and a suite of safety features including blind-spot assist, rear cross-traffic detection, and a wireless phone charger if you can hear above the scream of the 8,000-RPM V-8.
Alas, self-driving Super Cruise is not available.
At 233 mph, the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is now the fastest car ever built by an American auto manufacturer. It achieved the feat on the 50-degree banking of Papenberg, Germany. Matt Beard, Chevrolet
The ZR1 sits atop the made-in-Kentucky Corvette lineup (for now) that includes the $69,995, 490-horsepower starter supercar (still good for a sub-3.0-second 0-60 mph sprint), all-wheel-drive, hybrid, 655-horse, $108,595 E-Ray, and 670-horse, $113,795 Z06. We expect one more model from the C8 generation ‘Vette called the Zora, which will combine the hybrid-electric AWD system of the E-Ray with the ZR1’s twin-turbo V-8 for God knows how much horsepower.
It could rival the $3.9 million, 1,600-horse Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300 that goes 304 mph Maybe it’ll invent a new class of bonkerscar.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.