en | fr | de | it | es | pt | ru
blog.niot.net
VIDEO: Jay Leno takes delivery of Corvette ZR1

Jay Leno just picked up his new Corvette and posted a little video of its reception on Jay Leno's Garage. As you might expect based on some of his other vehicles, this isn't just any Corvette. No, it's a ZR1. Jay gives us a quick walk-around of the vehicle and points out the unique touches make this the most powerful Corvette ever. He even offers up some trivia, letting us in on the little known fact that the clearcoat used on the ZR1 costs $60,000/gallon. After the tour, Jay takes his newest addition out for a spin and shows off some of the steak behind the sizzle. Our favorite line? Jay tells us that repairs are relatively simple for the Corvette in his own unique way.
more ...
posted : 12/22/2008 @2:59:14 PM

With GM on the brink, what will happen to the Corvette?

Some Corvette fans and avid forum members over at GM Inside News have already asked the unfathomable question of what automaker should take over the reigns of America's longest-running sports car if its parent company were to lose custody. Their answer, rather shockingly, was Toyota. We sure hope it doesn't come to that. Still, tough questions deserve thoughtful answers, and Motor Trend is asking away. Even if The General survives, what does the future hold for Team Corvette, which has seen its ranks diminished in the past few weeks with the loss of key players including Vehicle Line Executive Tom Wallace and John Heinricy, test-driver extraordinaire and director of the performance division?

With such important personalities retiring from the 'Vette project, one might wonder if GM's iconic performance car will lose out on planned development. That seems like a real possibility, but we need to realize that R&D funds may be better spent keeping the leaky company afloat, something that the Corvette isn't a major part of. At least there's an excellent, proven platform for the new team to build from.

posted : 11/30/2008 @7:45:11 PM
Corvette ZR1 to cost £109,000 in UK

The car that Top Gear liked to drive, if not exactly to look at, has a price they definitely won't want to pay. At an on-the-road price of £109,000, the ZR1 costs nearly £48,000 pounds more than a Z06 in the UK. As if that weren't problematic enough, that price puts the left-hand-drive-only ZR1 £8,000 past the 911 Turbo and a colossal £55,000 beyond the GT-R Premium Edition. True, that's still the base GT-R, but Nissan has a whole lot of room to play with when it prices the V-Spec. True as well, the price of the ZR1 also includes a driver training course and a 3-year / 60,000-mile warranty, which should count for something. Perhaps not £55,000, though. Luckily for Chevrolet UK, it will only have to sell two of them this year, and single digits in the years to come. You can read the full press release after the jump, and then decide if you'd rather have one lump of incredible American metal or a GT-R and a Swiss bank account.
posted : 10/3/2008 @8:28:09 PM
Corvette ZR1 dyno'd at 535 rwhp

It always happens this way. Shortly after a new performance car is released to the public, it will find its way to a dyno shortly thereafter. When that new vehicle is the new performance king of the automotive world, aka the 2009 Corvette ZR1, our collective interest is piqued. So, how does it fare on the rollers? Two separate 'Vettes were tested, and the average output was about 535 horsepower at the rear wheels. After factoring in the normal 15-percent drivetrain losses for a rear-wheel drive car, that's pretty darn close to the claimed 638. After a bit of tinkering the team got that number up near 570, saying it's running a bit rich from the factory. Click here for the full graph. Until the V-Spec GT-R is unveiled the ZR1's most natural competitor might be the normal Nissan GT-R; despite the pricing disparity between the two, they are the two most amazing performance bargains currently on the market. For what it's worth, the GT-R seems to be averaging about 420 horsepower at the wheels. Apples to oranges? Sure, but it's always fun to throw a little more fuel on the fire. If we didn't do it, you know it would come up in the comments. And so it will, have fun.
posted : 10/3/2008 @6:17:18 PM
Top Gear reviews ZR1, hard to get past Corvette looks

Let's not beat around any shrubbery with this: Top Gear magazine has reviewed the Corvette ZR1, and the quotes you need to know are, "The dynamics are better than an Aston DBS...," and "...[M]ake no mistake. What we have here is one of the truly great supercars." Of course, there are caveats: it looks like a Corvette, the interior doesn't match those of its supercar rivals and the steering could use more feel. The latter quip is why you get other critiques like "...you don't get the precision of a 599." To have a UK magazine critique a Corvette against a 599 is probably the opposite of the insult it might appear to be on the surface. But don't take our word for it, follow the link and read for yourself how the ZR1 has "the performance and the chassis to match an SLR 722." It's not a bad way to start the week...
posted : 9/23/2008 @11:26:49 PM
Enter the Rumormill: 2012 C7 Corvette ZR1 with twin-turbo V6

While the world watches in awe as the Corvette ZR1 wretches the performance crown from its competitors, some people are already concerning themselves with its successor. How could GM possibly improve on its best 'Vette yet? Popular Mechanics speculated on what the 2012 Corvette could have in store, and some of the answers they've dug up are a bit surprising. Dual clutch gearboxes? Nope. Mid-engine? Nope. How about losing a few cylinders? Heresy! Before all of the V8 loyalists get their panties in a bunch, remember that you can do a lot with a twin-turbo six. While the Nissan GT-R is the latest example of huge pressure-induced horsepower from a six, the Jaguar XJ220 and past Noble efforts have proven the engine configuration more than adequate. While we don't have any problem with the idea of a high-boost 3.6-liter direct-injection sixer, we know that there's still plenty of room for a range-topping V8 engine and we feel confident that America's preeminent sportscar will soldier on with one -- at the very least -- as an option.
posted : 9/2/2008 @12:50:49 PM
First Drive: 2009 Corvette ZR1

Last week, General Motors' Bowling Green, KY assembly plant began manufacturing the fastest, most powerful production Corvette in its 55-year history. We got our first official look at the 2009 Corvette ZR1 at the Detroit Auto Show in January and, at that time, Chevrolet officials hadn't finalized the numbers. Over the intervening months, GM continued to tease us with bits of information, including the ZR1's 205 mph top speed, 638 horsepower, 605 lb.-ft. of torque, and 7:26.4 lap time at the Nurburgring. Throughout all of this, we've been waiting patiently for one of the most anticipated invitations of 2008: the ZR1 First Drive. That wait finally ended a few weeks ago when we got the call to arrive at GM's Milford Proving Grounds. All we needed was cooperative weather. As the sun crested the horizon on the appointed day, the darkened skies threatened to put the kibosh on our time with the King. But a few hours later, the clouds dissipated and the fun was officially underway.
more ...
posted : 9/2/2008 @3:20:21 AM
C4 Corvette ZR-1s gather for the coming out of their successors

At the coming out party for the new ZR1 Corvette last week at Milford Proving Grounds, General Motors decided to bring out a handful of ZR-1s (note the dash to distinguish it from the new model) from the first go around in the early '90s to remind us all of how far things have progressed in the past 18 years. The original ZR-1 was built from 1990-95 and, as with the new model, its engine was the heart of the car. In the late '80s when the ZR-1 was conceived, GM owned Lotus. The British sports car specialist designed the LT5 V8 specifically for the ZR-1. Aside from sharing bore spacing with the regular small-block, they had nothing else in common. The LT5 was an all-aluminum, dual overhead cam, 32 valve V8. At the time of its introduction, the motor had an output of 375 hp (eventually bumped to 405 hp in the last couple years of production), which was huge for the day, though tame by today's standards. Unfortunately, the C4 Corvette wasn't a great car to start with. Even with the beefed up sills that were added to to the convertible, the C4 wasn't particularly rigid. The car rode hard and the huge clam-shell hood quivered constantly on anything but glass smooth pavement. While the expensive ZR-1 never sold in huge numbers, it did spawn some interesting derivatives that GM keeps in its Heritage Collection. Among the ones brought to Milford were one of the active suspension prototypes. These used a fully active hydraulic suspension system with no springs, but the hydraulics reportedly consumed upwards of 40 hp. One unique car from the collection is the DR-1 (above). This was the only ZR-1 convertible ever built and was produced for Don Runkle (hence the DR), who at the time was chief engineer at Chevrolet. The other three cars were stock ZR-1s of various vintages.
posted : 9/2/2008 @3:05:46 AM
Drives the 2009 Corvette

Chevrolet officially kicked off series production of the 2009 Corvette ZR1 at its Bowling Green KY assembly plant this week and decided to celebrate by inviting the media out to drive the new "King of the Hill". Since there are still several more waves of writers scheduled to drive the cars over the next week, we can't tell you what we thought of how it drives just yet. We can, however, share some photos of the cars we drove today around the Lutz-ring at General Motors' Milford Proving Ground. Stay tuned next Wednesday, August 20 for our full evaluation.
posted : 8/31/2008 @4:49:17 PM
GM releases pics of Corvette ZR1 lapping 'Ring

The stats we throw around when comparing cars has remained the same for years. A car's 0-60 mph time and top speed are the two most well known, but this year a new stat has emerged that tells us more about a car's overall abilities than just mashing the accelerator would. It's the lap time of the Nürburgring, and you're just not a contender for supercar of the year until you've done it. The Nissan GT-R really brought attention to this statistic when it began impressing spy photogs who watched it slither around the 'Ring all through its development. Then the GT-R posted a blistering 7:29 lap time. The stat was further thrust into the spotlight when a Corvette engineer promised that Nissan would not hold the record for long. And it didn't. On June 27th, the Corvette ZR1 ran the 'Ring in 7:26.4 to take the crown. While we've watched video of the ZR1's fast lap over and over, we haven't enjoyed any professoinal images of the ZR1 running the Nürburgring yet, until today. GM has just released four new photos of a production ZR1 on the famous German track, and while these aren't pics of the record run, they still show a ZR1 on the 'Ring and that's enough to become our next desktop wallpaper.
posted : 8/30/2008 @3:11:11 PM
< back ( 1 2 ) next >
:: new posts
:: popular posts
copyright 2007 (C) - powered by ceastudio