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Leading up to the official reveal of the Corvette ZR-1, a rare week went by when we didn't see spy shots of the General's new super coupe eating up the Nurburgring. But still images don't tell the whole tale, so InsideLine sent its spies to the North Loop with a video camera to capture an uncloaked ZR-1 making the rounds on the 'Ring. According to the men behind the lens, they were able to clock the 620 hp, supercharged 'Vette running laps "in the low 7:40s," easily within reach of supercars costing substantially more than the ZR-1's estimated $100k price tag. But what about the elephant
As reported earlier this week, spies caught the GT-R V-Spec lapping the Nordschleife, and with stopwatches at the ready, they were able to time Godzilla's lightweight (by an estimated 330 pounds), more powerful (70 hp or so) sibling at an unbelievable 7:25 per lap. According to the crew that crudely timed the ZR-1, the track was damp, so that 7:40 time could easily be improved by at least four or five seconds. But that's still a long way off.Obviously, both lap times should be taken with a grain of salt considering the less-than-accurate way in which they were captured, but that won't stop the smack-talk. Keep it civil folks.
[Source: InsideLine]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
Zane @ Apr 10th 2008 8:12PM
I can foresee some heavy fan-induced bashing in the comments sections but there's no doubting that both are absolutely fantastic cars that can beat the crap out of most, if not all, supercars. I'm pretty sure most Autobloggers would love to own either one.
RCL1221 @ Apr 10th 2008 8:15PM
I agree that both cars are amazing machines, but...
I'd much rather have this than a GT-R V-Spec.
Rowing through your own gears with your Right Hand and Left Foot FTMFW.
XGM @ Apr 10th 2008 8:57PM
I completely agree. Both cars have amazing performance, and there's no way to deny it.
I wouldn't mind having either one, but if i had the choice the GT-R would take it. Fact is that I have driven diffrent Corvettes multiple times, and I see 3 of them every day. As for the GT-R, well the NY Auto Show was where I saw it.
Temple @ Apr 10th 2008 9:29PM
They are both amazing cars. In fact, the brands that need to be scared are the Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborgini, etc. that charge exorbitantly more then either of these plebeian brands for equivalent or less performance.
EJ25RUN @ Apr 10th 2008 10:06PM
Im tired of seeing people talk smack about either the GTR or the ZR1. Both are great cars that most of us will never get to drive.
Look at them for what they are, great driving machines.
almost Dr. G.. @ Apr 11th 2008 12:52AM
right on zane!
when it comes down to the people who could actually purchase the car i doubt seconds on a track are going to make the difference. either you love american muscle or the japanese technology or german engineering. the best part about the gtr and the zr1 going head to head is that they make each other better by speeding up the evolution of engineering.
i love the gtr but im a vette fan at heart. youll go to where you heart takes you, even if the gtr does perform better on the ring.
i dont see much cross shopping, hell i dont believe we'll see much of these period.
ray @ Apr 11th 2008 5:01AM
@Zane
first comment
wisest comment
Mike @ Apr 11th 2008 10:56AM
Yes,
The reality is that the closest that 99.9% of the commenters on these blogs will come to actually sitting behind the wheel of one of these cars (while moving) is on Grand Turismo (I do enjoy playing GT and am eagerly awaiting the Prologue release next week- but it is just a game) or some other video game.
It is entertaining to continue to see the rampant fanboism that is stretched over on each Corvette/GT-R blog.
The reality of it is that the fanbois will all be driving off their respective manufacturer showroom floors with a Versa or Cobalt, only to return home to their computers to start ripping on a $100,000+ vehicle that they will never be able to afford.
The one advantage I give to the ZR1 is that the base model Corvette is attainable and I have seen what they can do at the track. If you want to go out and buy a car straight from the dealer that will kick ass at the track, it's hard to beat the 'Vette.
My personaly choice was to get an older, easy to modify car that cost me less than 20k to buy, modify, and make faster than 80% of the cars on the track (there's always some rich buy who threw $60k at their $80k vehicle that will blow my doors off).
Of course I respect both cars for what they are but honestly, it's hard to like the GT-R when so many people are on these things commenting with "GT-R is king" and "all bow before your master the GT-R". It just makes me laugh and root for the other guy (whichever car that is).
Franz @ Apr 11th 2008 11:30AM
Well, as I've said on many occasions there's never been any reason to bash any of these cars. But I just wish that some of the people here would be consistent in the comments they make. My comments have never been popular with the GM or GT-R fanboys because I always call their bs, not because I talk smack about the 'Vette or GT-R. I like them both. But this latest round of comments is riddled with the same bs, and once again, I'm calling it out:
The GT-R V-Spec prototype runs the ring, reports come in about it's time via bystanders with hand held stopwatches. Corvette fans are quick to say "the times aren't official, in production guise it'll be way slower", never mind the fact that the V-Spec is supposed to be around 300lbs lighter and about 70-100hp more powerful than the regular GT-R.
Now the ZR-1 prototype (looking awfully close to being production ready) runs the ring, reports come in about it's times via bystanders with hand held stopwatches. GT-R fans laugh and point, but Corvette fans are still quick to say "the times aren't official", but this time it's "the Z06 ran 1:40 something, so it'll be way faster". Never mind the fact that even though more powerful and wearing wider meats at the rear, the ZR-1 s still heavier than a Z06 by maybe a few hundred pounds. The math isn't adding up.
Also, there are some quoting "Tom Wallace saying that they predict that they will see "at worst" 7:30's and "might even see some 7:20's", and that's supposed to be proof that it's capable of that time, but when the GT-R engineers quoted a target in the 1:20s there were cries of "no way" and "bullcrap". The GT-R is out there delivering, but it's still getting smack talked. The ZR-1 is faltering, and it's the hero that is being underrated.
Now I'm sure that once the track dries out we'll see some very impressive times from the ZR-1. But I just wish there'd be some consistency in these comments. I'm sure a lot of you guys don't care how blatantly biased you look, and for some of you fanboys, one has to be absolutely better than the other so you'll never give them both props and say they're both amazing cars. But the transparency of all this bs is really amazing. A lot of your comments have absolutely no credibility whatsoever here, because you keep flip flopping back and forth, making the real enthusiasts of these cars look bad. Give it a break already.
James @ Apr 10th 2008 8:19PM
well i guess its settled then!
Lupo @ Apr 10th 2008 8:26PM
gt-r v spec wins!
Dolemite @ Apr 11th 2008 1:55AM
Uh, not quite. Yes, the GT-R is quite fast, and no doubt the V-Spec will be even faster, but this is far from over.
When the Chief Engineer says the ZR1 will probably do 7:30s or possibly even 7:20s, there is no way that they would end up with a time of 7:40.
Any logical, rational adult would be able to understand that.
Max @ Apr 11th 2008 11:41AM
any logical rational adult?
wow way to attempt to degrade any responses to your comment
i'm pretty sure any logical rational adult could see that there is no downside to the head engineer inflating the numbers a bit and that there is always a margin of human error
Franz @ Apr 11th 2008 2:07PM
LOL. The GT-R's engineers had said the V-Spec should lap in the 1:20s too. Reports coming out of Germany suggest that it is. I see plenty of people... even in this post... still disagreeing with that. I'll leave it to Dolemite to decide if they are "logical, rational adults" or not.
Dolemite @ Apr 11th 2008 5:03PM
Max, I am not even sure that I should be responding to you. I suppose when I said "logical, rational adult", I should have added the term "literate" as well. So I guess that does not apply to you, though I am doubtful of the "adult" part applying to you as well.
In any case, why would the Chief Engineer "inflate numbers" for the ZR1? I am assuming by "inflate" you actually mean lower the lap times rather than raise them, right?
You see, the Chief Engineer would be more likely to undersell during testing and then overdeliver on the performance rather than the other way around. The downside of doing it the other way around would be to have a big freaking failure on your hand!
If after millions of dollars of testing and promotion the Corvette engineers delivered a car that cost $30K more and yet only had Z06 performance, that is not "human error". That is a big fuk up!
Bart @ Apr 10th 2008 8:20PM
I just hope this shuts up the people that normally barge into unrelated topics with "the corvette would...". Yes, with 7:40 its fast, but not AS fast as you like people to believe.
Andrew @ Apr 10th 2008 10:38PM
Did you miss the part where they mentioned that photographers were clocking lap times and that these times should be taken with a grain of salt?
Also the ZR1 is closer to production trim than the V-Spec - who knows if that V-Spec is representative of a street legal version.
Both are amazing cars but this is hardly a fair comparison of the two. I'll wait for official 3rd party lap times before believing one is faster than the other.
BAMF @ Apr 11th 2008 1:59AM
Yeah and by the way, the ***Bugatti Veyron*** lapped the 'Ring at 7:40. I doubt that was an "official" time, but apparently thats what its done. So either way, what value!
HeyHuub @ Apr 11th 2008 5:53AM
The Veyron was never clocked on the ring, it was just a speculation by some magazine that it would do that time.
TKOsoccer03 @ Apr 11th 2008 9:37PM
The problem with the Veyron is that it doesn't handle that well to begin with. Yes, it handles great, but not as good as a Zonda, S7 TT, or even a GT3... it's just too heavy to handle well.