The Last of the Front Engine Corvettes: The ZR1

The hallmark of American Sports Car has arrived at its final plateau, and this is my final letter to a car that established itself in magazines, videos, and minds of most of us car enthusiast as the baddest a$s car that money can buy in Murica. See the Corvette in rumors and some alleged announcements is not going away but taking a new more stable form let this next line be petitioning for GM they should make Corvette a brand and there should be multiple layers including this front engine monster that can kill you if you don't respect it correctly. Sadly there is a new mid-engined Corvette coming one that truly competes with the supercar competitors such as Porshe, Lambo, Mclaren, and Ferrari. It's more reflective of the times and the needs to step up even though the Corvette's have well held there own in the market punching much higher than it's weight for the costs, even if there were some ?? around the interior.

See GM wants to be the best and the original proposal for the Corvette was a mid-engined monster from a man named Zora Arkus-Duntov (The Papa of the Corvette). See this was not just an emotional request but one that stemmed from a history of watching mid-engine cars wipe the floor with front engine cars around the race track in the 1930s and first hand watching the thesis hold true in a race in 1957 for the 12 hours of Sebring in a Corvette SS. This thesis was on the borderline of being envisioned true through a multitude of pr
ototype offerings that GM volleyed but never quite served into reality including the most widely known prototype wearing the cape of the XP-895 nicknamed the Aerovette. Let's quickly layout the differences between the mid-engined and the front engine to see the why Zora had this vision.

Front Engine - Rear Wheel Drive 

• Better Weight Distribution in most cases - this affects the handling feel
• More space in the trunk 
• Usually more space in the interior 
• Great looks, this is subjective but I fancy the designs 

Mid - Engined

• Traction balance 
• Heat distribution 
• Transmission and Engine can be bolted together 
• More stability in turning 
• 50/50 weight distribution is more easily achievable

So if you're a sports car focused, track killing Auto house the advantages are clear the mid-engine provides the best opportunity to reach your goals if reaching the highest boundaries of Automotive statistics. So where are we here its a funding issue and Chevy well GM, doesn't quite see a path where two kings can survive or a brand can be developed though we have heard these No's before from Sports Makers in Italy .. We don't produce SUV's pffff URUS. Now back to Murica of things...

The ZR1 comes hot on the heels of the most successful Corvette's to date the Z06 and the Z51. The Z06 though a great street racer suffered from heat stroke, really upon its release the GM engineering lead hinted at such issues the Z06 a track focus car not able to do 3 laps around a ring without stalling out was a problem. I will mention for most sports cars the manuals appear to do better around tracks I have no clue why but I think the trannies play a role but that's just Macheene science. Well if heat soaking is your issue just look at the Nostrils on the ZR1 and you know GM was relentless in keeping down the temps. Included with the new areas of ventilation which includes an open engine scoop, there are 5 More radiators cooling the front outboard and new front low-temperature radiator or the LT5.  You got 2 choices for this carbon fiber monster a low wing configuration that is meant for high-speed runs and a high wing meant for track experiences generating 60% more downforce. That alone makes for a huge performance improvement but it doesn't stop there be advised most of the nutrition improvement of this car from the Z06 is focused on the engine as the suspension for the Z06 was strong enough to handle a performance bump. 

• 755 HP and 715 LB TQ with about 600 lb tq. available at 2200 RPM - Top Speed Low Wing (212 MPH) 
• New Larger Supercharger - 52% larger displacement 
• A throttle with a larger BORE (95mm) this allows or more air flow 
• More fuel more power - direct injection port fuel rail and injectors 
• No oil loss, Dry Sump Oil System - 9.8-quart capacity 
• Mag Ride Control - Comfort despite the power (Daily driver anyone....) 

So now we have the foundations, of what makes it the greatest Corvette ever with more power than you can use on a street in NY, not Florida because believe me we can use it lets get into the interior ... CRICKETs. That's a code name for WHO CARES, ZR1 logos and Chevy interior not much more needs to be said, and seriously this performance monster should be offered with no audio.