Corvette ZR1X Smashes Nürburgring Record with 6:49 Lap – Fastest American Car Yet

In terms of aiming high or settling down, Chevrolet has opted for the latter – particularly at the 'Ring. On Thursday, the automaker revealed that they have finished official time trials around the Nürburgring Nordschleife for each of the three top-performing C8 Corvette models. The lap times recorded by three distinct members from the vehicle's engineering group were shared on Thursday for... the Corvette ZR1X , Corvette ZR1 , and Corvette Z06 , officially establishing one of the Bowling Green creations as the quickest American-made vehicle to complete a lap around the famous German track.

The distinction goes to the all-wheel-drive 1250-horsepower ZR1X, which finished a circuit around the complete 12.92-mile course designated for official records in 6 minutes, 49.275 seconds. That was sufficient to secure... The American company records a victory over the Ford Mustang GTD just under three seconds, which was sufficient to surpass the 992.1-generation Porsche 911 GT3 RS by less than a tenth of a second. This performance is only five seconds behind the second quickest vehicle to complete a time trial, the 991.2-generation Porsche 911 GT2 RS equipped with a Manthey Performance package, and 20 seconds slower than the fastest. The total performance achieved by the restricted-production, nearly street-legal AMG One supercar .

The rear-wheel-drive ZR1, equipped with a twin-turbocharged V-8 engine producing 1064 horsepower, completed its lap in 6:50.763. This time also surpasses the current American car record, though it falls just over a second short of the top performance. The latest Porsche GT3 RS model Porsche's newest GT3 RS edition The most current version of the Porsche GT3 RS Porsche's latest iteration of the GT3 RS The newly released Porsche GT3 RS car Porsche's updated GT3 RS model The GTD along with the two ZR1 versions are the sole three production vehicles made by American companies to achieve times within the six-minute bracket.

Besides the two new ZR1s, GM also did a time trial with the naturally aspirated Z06 just to add another entry. This result was 7:11.826, placing it fifth among timed American car laps, following the two ZR1s, the Mustang GTD, and a private-sponsored 2017 run in a fifth-generation Dodge Viper ACR The Z06 achieved a time of 7:10.52 in an earlier session. Sport Auto test, however, that lap was completed on the shorter 12.8-mile time trial segment often utilized for measuring performances; with the additional distance, that lap would result in a time between two to four seconds slower than the newly established official record.

Most manufacturers choose to hire a professional driver for their time trials; for example, Mercedes enlisted factory DTM and GT3 driver Maro Engel to establish its record laps in both categories. the AMG GT Black Series And the AMG One. In comparison, General Motors decided to conduct the timed laps using three distinct members from the Corvette development team. The ZR1X record time was achieved by Drew Cattell, the vehicle dynamics engineer for ZR1X; Brian Wallace, the vehicle dynamics engineer for ZR1, completed the lap in the rear-wheel-drive ZR1 model, whereas Aaron Link, the vehicle performance manager, drove the Z06 during its timed session.

Like with certain earlier Corvette initiatives, General Motors created a brief documentary about the C8 Corvettes' laps around the 'Ring. You can view it beneath this text.

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