{"id":21803,"date":"2018-01-31T18:12:53","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T22:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=21803"},"modified":"2018-01-31T18:12:53","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T22:12:53","slug":"payne-corvette-zr1-new-king-of-american-nurburgring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/payne-corvette-zr1-new-king-of-american-nurburgring","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Corvette ZR1 new king of American N\u00fcrburgring"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/f331c07427ac1155349d540ebaca08eb0db90dd2\/c=279-200-1147-853&amp;r=x404&amp;c=534x401\/local\/-\/media\/2018\/01\/31\/DetroitNews\/B99624912Z.1_20180131162629_000_G641RGD5S.1-0.jpg\" alt=\"1517420046936\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div><p class=\"speakable-p-1 p-text\">It\u2019s cold in Detroit, but the Big Three muscle car wars are heating up down south.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-2 p-text\">Chevrolet said Wednesday that the new, 2019 Corvette ZR1 \u2014 at 755 horsepower, the most powerful \u2018Vette ever produced \u2014 shattered the Virginia International Speedway record just days after Ford\u2019s GT supercar became the first car to record a sub-2 minute, 40 second lap around \u201cAmerica\u2019s N\u00fcrburgring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">King ZR1 posted a jaw-dropping 2.37.3 time \u2014 over a second under the 2.38.6 lap record announced by Ford just last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Ford\u2019s GT time, in turn, had bested the Dodge Viper ACR\u2019s 2.40.0 time \u2014 one of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/business\/autos\/chrysler\/2015\/11\/27\/viper-acrs-record-shattering-tour\/76476364\/\">13 American race track lap records the Snake set in 2015<\/a>\u00a0before the car was retired from production last year.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-QnEhOFl3vmk\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/e7e8a95b201a7889d304d4bbeb6543a89b6b9123\/c=628-652-4613-3648&amp;r=x408&amp;c=540x405\/local\/-\/media\/2018\/01\/31\/DetroitNews\/B99624912Z.1_20180131162629_000_G641RGD5O.1-0.jpg\" alt=\"The 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 \u2013 VIR lap record holder\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/media\/2018\/01\/31\/DetroitNews\/B99624912Z.1_20180131162629_000_G641RGD5O.1-0.jpg\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/4044b1e7645488621f157de466cf1a990870caa2\/r=500x333\/local\/-\/media\/2018\/01\/31\/DetroitNews\/B99624912Z.1_20180131162629_000_G641RGD5O.1-0.jpg\" \/>The 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 \u2013 VIR lap record holder on Grand Course West.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Richard Prince \/ Chevrolet)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\">\u00a0\u201cThe Corvette ZR1\u2019s lap record at VIR, arguably America\u2019s most challenging road course, is a testament to its supercar status,\u201d said GM product boss Mark Reuss, a talented driver in his own right who has done multiple development laps in the ZR1 at race tracks around the world. \u201cOn the racetrack, the ZR1 can compete with any supercar \u2014 at any price.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">VIR race track has become the focus of automaker bragging rights in the United State. At 4.1 miles, the long, demanding Grand West Course configuration has become a stateside benchmark for performance not unlike the famous, 14-mile long N\u00fcrburgring in Germany, where automakers also put their performance thoroughbreds to the test.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-QnEhOFl3OkM\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"single-photo float\">The ZR1\u2019s record was set by Chevy\u2019s in-house test driver and engineer Jim Mero\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Richard Prince \/ Chevrolet)<\/span><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">VIR also plays host to NASCAR testing, and is a stop (along with Detroit\u2019s Belle Isle) of the IMSA Weathertech Sports Car Championship each year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The track has also increased its profile with Car and Driver\u2019s annual Lightning Lap competition between the year\u2019s fastest new production cars. The magazine\u2019s test is done entirely by staff writers \u2014 in particular hot shoe writer K.C. Colwell \u2014 creating a consistent benchmark between cars. The 647-horsepower GT\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/business\/autos\/ford\/2018\/01\/23\/ford-gt-beats-car-driver-lap-record\/109750650\/\">this year eclipsed the long-standing Lightning Lap record<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 set by a $900k Porsche 918 hybrid \u2014 with a time of 2.43 seconds flat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">But as at Germany\u2019s N\u00fcrburgring, manufacturers do their own VIR testing, complete with their top test drivers.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.motor1.com\/news\/228144\/ford-gt-lap-time-vir\/\">The Ford GT lap<\/a>\u00a0was set with pro racer Billy Johnson behind the wheel. The ZR1\u2019s record was set by Chevy\u2019s in-house test driver and engineer Jim Mero, who had set a previous Corvette track record in the 650-horsepower Z06 at 2.41.3 seconds in 2015. Chevy also announced this week that Melo lowered the Z06\u2019s VIR best with a 2:39.77 lap.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-QnEhOFk6dqo\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/64cdf870416a4bef246e1800bbc19d335e29a6ba\/c=304-0-5168-3648&amp;r=x408&amp;c=540x405\/local\/-\/media\/2018\/01\/31\/DetroitNews\/B99624912Z.1_20180131162629_000_G641RGD6A.1-0.jpg\" alt=\"King ZR1 posted a jaw-dropping 2.37.3 time \u2014 over a\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/media\/2018\/01\/31\/DetroitNews\/B99624912Z.1_20180131162629_000_G641RGD6A.1-0.jpg\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/4044b1e7645488621f157de466cf1a990870caa2\/r=500x333\/local\/-\/media\/2018\/01\/31\/DetroitNews\/B99624912Z.1_20180131162629_000_G641RGD6A.1-0.jpg\" \/>King ZR1 posted a jaw-dropping 2.37.3 time \u2014 over a second under the 2.38.6 lap record announced by Ford just last week.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Richard Prince\/rprincephoto.com \/ Chevrolet)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\">The record-setting ZR1 coupe (the car is also available as a convertible) \u2014 seen at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/opinion\/columnists\/henry-payne\/2018\/01\/17\/big-bold-cars-trucks-dominate-show-floor\/109558658\/\">the January Detroit Auto Show for the first time<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 improves on the beastly Z06 with more supercharged horsepower and a \u201cZTK Performance Package\u201d that includes a huge rear wing increasing downforce to nearly 1000 pounds to suck the car to the ground at high speed.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The record-setting monster was also weaponized with an eight-speed automatic transmission and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 summer tires. Thus equipped, the ZR1 starts at $122,990. The ZR1 goes on sale this spring. The Ford GT starts at $450,000 with all 750 orders spoken for (a total of 1000 production models is expected).<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Don\u2019t feel bad for Ford.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/autoweek.com\/article\/imsa\/chip-ganassi-racing-wins-200th-race-no-67-ford-gt-imsa-rolex-24-daytona\">The GT beat the Corvette team<\/a>\u00a0at last weekend\u2019s 24 Hours of Daytona race with a dominating 1-2 finish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s cold in Detroit, but the Big Three muscle car wars are heating up down south. Chevrolet said Wednesday that the new, 2019 Corvette ZR1 \u2014 at 755 horsepower, the most powerful \u2018Vette ever produced \u2014 shattered the Virginia International Speedway record just days after Ford\u2019s GT supercar became the first car to record a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21803"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21804,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21803\/revisions\/21804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}