625hp 09 Corvette ZR1: King of the Hill again?

kaisen · 01-10-2008, 07:44 AM

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/12/19/detroit-2008-the-king-is-back-atop-the-hill-2009-corvette-zr1/

Interested to hear Pelican's comments

Supercharged 620-650hp V8, dry-sump lube, hand-built, lots of titanium bits
15.5 F / 15.0 R carbon ceramic rotors with six piston Brembos (same as Ferrari FXX)
Carbon fiber fenders, hood, roof, splitters/skirts/diffuser
335/25-20 Michelin Pilot Sports in the rear
Should weigh in around 3200 lbs

~$100,000 price tag

Details on the engine:
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/12/19/detroit-2008-the-heart-of-the-king-the-ls9-is-born/

TheMentat · TheMentat's Garage

Read the R&T article on it the other day. I'm not a big corvette fan, but if I'm gonna drive a car with that sort of performance envelope on the track in anger, I'd rather do it with a $100,000 car than with any of the alternatives.

dd74 · 01-10-2008, 07:57 AM

Too close in price to a GT3, which I'd rather have...

or 50 Tata cars from India...

...for 50 friends...

frogger · 01-10-2008, 08:16 AM

Cool. I'm glad Chebby is keeping the pressure on the other sports car mfgrs.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Does it still share an interior w/ the Cavalier?

legion · 01-10-2008, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speeder

Does it still share an interior w/ the Cavalier?

Cavalier hasn't been made for four years.

Next!

kaisen · 01-10-2008, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speeder

Does it still share an interior w/ the Cavalier?

Yes, although now it's the Cobalt not Cavalier.
This is why the car is $100K and not $150K (or $300K)

The ZR1 comes standard with french stitched leather dash, doors, and console.
It covers the Cobalt bits.

gr8fl4porsche · gr8fl4porsche's Garage

Nice car but I still think the rear end is ugly. The taillights are boring.

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

I love it = My biggest complaint(s) are #1 it looks way to much like the $40,000 base car.

#2 how long before they start reproducing all the ZR-1 components that people will stick on their 40,000 model?

#3 the interior STILL looks like a $40,000 model

Anybody want to make a bet of how loing it takes for someone to wrap one of those around a pole and sue chebby for making a car to fast for the average consumer.

speeder · speeder's Garage

The buttons and switches, (headlights/power windows/etc...), are straight out of a Chevette.

Yeah, I know. They don't make Chevettes any more either.

The point is that I would have a hard time spending $100k for a sports car and looking at that schit. "It would have cost $150k otherwise" would not soothe the pain. It's GM's achilles heal, just incredibly cheap materials and interior buttons that look like they're melting.

pwd72s · 01-10-2008, 09:03 AM

Hell of a bang for the buck...performance wise, this is up there with Ferrari and Maserati. GT3 would NOT be track competitive with this 'Vette....

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

That looks like bags of fun, but for six figures, there are many other cars I'd rather have.

The upside I suppose is that in five years you can probably pick one up for $50k

Billbo · 01-10-2008, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gr8fl4porsche

Nice car but I still think the rear end is ugly. The taillights are boring.

That is the view most will be looking at.

Mule · 01-10-2008, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dd74

Too close in price to a GT3, which I'd rather have...

And with a skilled driver you could stay in the same zip code! Maybe.

rammstein · 01-10-2008, 09:23 AM

What an awesome car! I dig it. That will be a monster on the tracks, as if the Z06 wasn't already.

kaisen · 01-10-2008, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeremyD

I love it = My biggest complaint(s) are #1 it looks way to much like the $40,000 base car.

#2 how long before they start reproducing all the ZR-1 components that people will stick on their 40,000 model?

#3 the interior STILL looks like a $40,000 model

The same could be said about the $192,000 911 GT2:

They still look way too much like a $74,000 base 911.
And all of the wings, wheels, and badges are available for people to stick on their $74,000 model (and they do).

The larger point may be that a $100K car (ZR1) is up 100hp and 100lb-ft, weighs within 50 pounds of the $192K car (GT2). About half the price, at least equal in performance.

Even the GT3 w/ PCCB is $117K, and is down over 200hp and weighs about the same. That's still $17,000 more.

But they DO have nice switches.

legion · 01-10-2008, 09:54 AM

The article I read in Automobile described the ZR1 as being more of the "GT" version of the Corvette while the Z06 was supposed to be more of the "track" version.

Doesn't mean the ZR1 won't whomp a Z06, though.

the · 01-10-2008, 09:58 AM

Seems fine, but you'd have to be a really Corvette fanatic to spend $100K on a Corvette.

JavaBrewer · JavaBrewer's Garage

That or someone who really wants to dominate at the track...

I've never been a vette guy and never will be. It sure would be fun to take for a spin though.

Chocaholic · 01-10-2008, 11:04 AM

I really like the car....switches too. But, I'm not so sure about that "window" in the hood. From the pictures it looks too contrived. And the view from above seems to be of a plastic engine cover. Perhaps it looks better in real life.

Otherwise, I think it's the best bang for the buck (supercar) to be had. In this performance category, nothing can touch it anywhere near $100k.