Autoblog

We've all watched the video of Mr. Mero's fantastic ride around the Nurburgring in the Corvette ZR1; not even the horrid compression that YouTube serves up could ruin the sound of a force-fed LS-series V8. Rides are nice, and we'd hop right on in for adrenaline therapy, but what we want to do is drive the Super-'Vette. 0-60 Magazine shares our thinking, so they stuck their own shoe, Thomas Lyman, behind the wheel and sent him off around Milford. It looks like it was awesome, but everybody's keeping mum until the embargo lifts on August 20th. The video does a pretty good job of speaking for itself. Putting words in our future-mouths, our first impression is likely to go something like "holy mother of pearl!" repeated several times while breathing into a paper bag.

[Source: 0-60]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Corvette ZR1.

Motive was invited out to the Milford Proving Grounds yesterday to sample GM's latest and greatest Corvette, the ZR1. Thankfully, the online pub was smart enough to mount a camera inside the 638 hp uber-Vette and captured video of Jim Mero, chief engineer and the man that lapped the ZR1 around the Nurburgring in 7:26.4, caning the coupe though the General's test track.

Hit the jump to check it out.

Thanks for the tip Mark.

Automobile Magazine was invited into General Motors Performance Build Center to watch and lightly assist in the buildup of a ZR-1's internal combustion heart. It takes four-and-a-half hours of real time to go from a bare block to a fire-breathing, supercharged LS9, but through the magic of sped-up video, it only takes seven minutes of your life. You won't come away with anything productive for that time, unlike the people in the video, who get the pleasure of creating a small-block V8, but it's a neat picture of how it all comes together. We just hope that some other poor sucker gets the motor that the magazine intern fiddled with. Video posted after the jump.

[Source: Automobile]

Click above for high-res gallery of ZR1 on the 'Ring spy shots

Corvette Chief Engineer (and Autoblog commenter) Tadge Juechter said last week that the new ZR1 "will be able to take the production-car track record at any racetrack" and should lap the famed Nurburgring race track in Germany in "seven minutes, twenty-something seconds." Considering Nissan just posted a new official lap time of 7:29 for the GT-R and that the GT-R V-Spec is reportedly clicking off laps in 7:25, them sounds like fightin' words. Well, the ZR1 is officially being flogged around the Ring as we speak, though no one has yet to report a lap time for this gorgeous red prototype that was spotted by KGP photographers. BridgetoGantry.com reports that yesterday there was a helicopter over the track "chasing something that sounded very V8 and awfully supercharged," so perhaps lap times will soon be forthcoming. We imagine the supercharged LS9 V8's 628 horsepower and the ZR1's 205-mph top speed will not disappoint.


[Source: KGP Photography]

GM reached a climax of the senses with its Corvette ZR1 introduction at the GM Style kickoff to the 2008 NAIAS. Kid Rock was singing about the Motor City while Jeff Gordon drove in the ZR-1 on stage. The General threw in some scantily clad women and flashing lights for good measure, and the crowd of 1,500 was on its feet. We were there too, with camera rolling. Hit the jump to view the ZR1's grand entrance. Don't get too disappointed that the GM execs are blocking the view of the company's $100,000 supercar, as the super Vette gets elevated 15 feet in the air on a giant pedestal about halfway through the video.

If you want to be among the first in the world to get your hands on the highly anticipated Corvette ZR-1 supercar, you'd better start planning a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, around mid January next year as the first car is tipped to be auctioned off there. Though everything remains unofficial, the guys at CorvetteZR1Forum.com are betting the car will be sold through Barret-Jackson auctions just days after its debut at the Detroit Auto Show.

As for the specs, most are surmising the car will in fact be labeled the ZR1 and should develop around the 650hp mark thanks to a supercharged version of the new LS9 6.2L V8. Recent spy shots of the car revealed new details such as 20-inch wheels, a hood intake and cooling vents on its flanks.

Considering the substantial performance leap the new ZR1 will have over the 'regular' 505hp Z06, we suspect there'll be an equally substantial price hike. You can bet the car being auctioned at Barret-Jackson, meanwhile, will go easily for more than a hundred large.

Thanks for the tip, Scott!

[Corvette ZR-1 Forum]