{"id":34643,"date":"2025-06-18T11:15:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T15:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=34643"},"modified":"2025-06-18T11:15:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T15:15:27","slug":"corvette-hypercar-zr1x-adds-awd-to-zr1-formula-for-insane-1250-horsepower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/corvette-hypercar-zr1x-adds-awd-to-zr1-formula-for-insane-1250-horsepower","title":{"rendered":"Corvette Hypercar: ZR1X adds AWD to ZR1 formula for insane 1,250 horsepower"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin, Texas<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Corvette\u2019s much-anticipated, 1,200-plus-horsepower, sub-two-second 0-60 mph, Ferrari-eating, all-wheel-drive Corvette hypercar is here.<\/p>\n

All hail the ZR1X.<\/p>\n

Long rumored as a new Corvette badge, Zora \u2014 in honor of Corvette\u2019s influential 1960s engineer, Zora Argus-Duntov \u2014 the ZR1X instead will be a stablemate to the top-trim, 1,064-horsepower, track-focused ZR1 by adding all-wheel-drive grip and face-flattening electric torque. X as in X-treme.<\/p>\n

\"You'll<\/p>\n

You’ll know the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X (and ZR1) by the front hood air extractor.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDriving this car will change your life,\u201d said General Motor Co. president and certified race driver Mark Reuss after climbing out of the ZR1X at a test around the formidable 14.1-mile Nu\u0308rburgring track in Germany\u2019s Eifel Mountains.<\/p>\n

It will certainly change minds about Corvette. Once the \u201caffordable,\u201d front-engine American supercar, the mid-engine Corvette C8 now competes head-to-head with the world\u2019s elite performance manufacturers on and off track. GM credits much of the eighth,-generation car\u2019s performance to its integration with GT3 racing where the Corvette fights toe-to-toe with Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin at places like last weekend\u2019s 24 Hours of Le Mans (\u2018Vette placed third) then feeds those learnings to its engineers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom day one, we designed the mid-engine Corvette architecture with ZR1X in mind,\u201d said GM senior vice president Ken Morris. \u201cThis is the most revolutionary platform in Corvette history, supporting the widest range of American sports cars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
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The 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X features all-wheel-drive, 1,250 horsepower and a 0-60 MPH dash in less than 2 seconds.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

The Detroit News first reported in 2020 that Corvette was developing performance models after the standard Stingray, including the Z06, all-wheel-drive E-Ray, ZR1 and Zora.<\/p>\n

Scheduled for release later this year as a 2026 model \u2014 just six months after the ZR1\u2019s first deliveries, ZR1X boasts eye-popping numbers. Pairing the ZR1\u2019s so-called LT7, 5.5-liter, twin-turbo V-8 engine with the E-Ray\u2019s (the first Corvette with both AWD and hybrid-electric power)\u00a0front electric motor, ZR1X makes 1,250 horsepower, more than any Ferrari on the planet, including the 1,184-horsepower Ferrari F80.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s more horsepower than other hypercars like 1,049-horsepower Marcedes AMG One, 1,001-horse Lamborghini Revuelto and 1,160-horse Aston Martin Valkyrie. Only rare animals like the 1,600-horse Bugatti go beyond. The hypercar segment defines itself as supercars using electric motors to take them to the next \u2014 \u201chyper\u201d\u2014 level of power and grip.<\/p>\n

But the most eye-popping number is ZR1X\u2019s price, which will likely be under $200,000 when it is announced closer to the on-sale date late this year \u2014 a fraction of the cost of its exotic European peers, including the 1,184-horsepower, $3,925,000 Ferrari F80 and 1,258, $2,100,00 McLaren W1. The rear-wheel-drive ZR1, with which the ZR1X shares everything \u2014 including bodywork, tires and a 233-mph top speed \u2014 retails for between $174,995 and $195,995.<\/p>\n

\"Buyers<\/figure>\n
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Buyers of the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X can option this luscious blue interior.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

More numbers to wait for? The sub-zero 0-60 mph time to be released later this year by Chevy (and perhaps a Nu\u0308rburgring lap time as well).<\/p>\n

As the top model, the RWD ZR1 bookends the lineup $105,000 north of the $70k, entry-level Stingray. ZR1 more than doubles the entry-level Corvette\u2019s price as well as its horsepower. The 2026 ZR1X will increase that by another 17%, making it the most powerful production Corvette ever made.<\/p>\n

The so-called LT7 turbocharged engine is based on the same 5.5-liter, normally-aspirated V-8 found in the Corvette Z06 GT3 race car that competes in the North American Weathertech Sportscar Series and the international World Endurance Championship that sanctions Le Mans.<\/p>\n

That engine resides in the track-focused, rear-wheel-drive, $103,000 production Z06, which makes a howling 760 horsepower \u2014 the most of any\u00a0normally-aspirated<\/em>\u00a0engine in production \u2014 at 8,600 RPM. The Z06 is one of two arms in Corvette\u2019s new, eighth-generation Y strategy \u2014 the other being the hybrid, $103,000 E-Ray \u2014 which expands Corvette\u2019s bandwidth by offering parallel, track-focused and luxury variants.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
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The rear wing on the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X will help make about 1,200 pounds of downforce.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

The strategy appears to have worked, with Corvette on course for selling 40,000 vehicles a year, far more than any other mid-engine sports car.<\/p>\n

Though ZR1X shares the E-Ray\u2019s hybrid, all-wheel-drive format, it remains firmly on the performance side of GM\u2019s Y strategy. Rather than wait two years between models \u2014 as Corvette did with the 2020 Stingray, 2022 Z06\/E-Ray and 2025 ZR1 models to maximize demand \u2014 ZR1X is being introduced on top of ZR1 as a 2026 model.<\/p>\n