Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 2010 Review

Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1

Road Test

Price Guide (manufacturer's list price, excluding on-road costs and dealer delivery): $350,000
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): None fitted
Crash rating: Not tested
Fuel: 98 RON PULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 14.5
CO2 emissions (g/km): 345
Also consider: a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche.

Overall: 3.5/5.0
Engines and Drivetrain: 4.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 2.0/5.0
Safety: 3.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.0/5.0
X-factor: 5.0/5.0

About our ratings

North America is not known for truly great performance cars.

Sure, the US of A can turn out some great looking cars -- the chromed excesses of the 1950 and '60s, for example -- and it has no problem building muscle cars that go well in a straight line, but considering that, until recently, North America was the biggest car producer on the planet, it hasn't pumped out as many worthy performance cars as it should have. But the Corvette ZR-1 has changed that.

Not since Ford took on Ferrari (and won at Le Mans) with the GT40 sportscar almost five decades ago has there been an American car that could put fear in a thoroughbred European automotive brand. Racing versions of the Corvette have been spanking the Europeans at Le Mans for six of the past 10 years, taking class wins from more fancied competition. On home turf, the Corvette has won eight America Le Mans series in a row. But until the ZR-1 arrived there wasn't really a road-going Corvette that could live up to the reputation of the racecars on the track.

Fortunately, before the world slipped into recession and GM lost its title as the world's biggest producer of cars after a 77-year reign, GM squeezed this little baby out: the fastest Corvette of all time, and the fastest mass production car that North America has ever built. It could well be the last of its type.

The ZR-1 is so wicked, it has a skull and crossbones stamped into the plastic airbox near the front of the engine. Clearly, GM executives in the right places had to loosen their ties a little in order to get the ZR-1 past the accountants.

The ties were loose because there was probably a lot of sweating on the success of the ZR-1 -- or fear from getting caught for allowing it to go through. Cars like this don't get made unless the people at the top push it through. Rarely do they make good business sense (ie: turn a profit) when mass-market brands attempt them. Exhibit A, your honour: the Bugatti Veyron. It was built because the boss of the Volkswagen Group (that owns the famous French brand) wanted to make a point.

Such cars as the Veyron and ZR-1 are, of course, awesome. It's just that enthusiasts must wait for a car-company boss to get a head of steam up about something to build a game-changing car.

The modern resurrection of our own Holden Monaro was another example. It was only ever meant to be a two-door Commodore showcar to take some attention away from the Falcon at the 1998 Sydney motor show. The public demanded it be built, some Holden hierarchy took some brave pills. The rest is history.

The local ZR-1 comes to us courtesy of Performax, a company that started out doing right-hand-drive conversions on Chevy pick-ups. And now they're also doing cars like this, including Mustangs and Camaros.

The fastest Corvette has what's known in the car business as an impressive set of numbers: 476kW and 819Nm. And this amount of grunt only needs to move around 1500kg -- more than 300kg less than a Commodore.

To put the performance numbers in perspective, the ZR-1 has about 10 per cent more power than the latest Ferrari 458 Italia and Lamborghini Gallardo V10 supercars -- and a staggering 50 per cent more torque than either of the Italians.

It has a 6.2-litre V8 similar to what can be found under the bonnet of a HSV Clubsport, but it's been supercharged. Helpfully, the carbonfibre bonnet has a clear plastic window so you can see the engine in all its glory. The whole body except the doors and rear guards are carbonfibre.

The ZR-1 stops like a racecar thanks to the carbon ceramic brakes that were previously standard equipment on the Ferrari Enzo. That's a good thing because the ZR-1 has a top speed of 330km/h. And the official claim for acceleration is a 0-100km/h time of 3.3 seconds.

This is ridiculously quick, I thought, so I attached a Racelogic satellite-based timing device to the windscreen to find out for myself. The first pass was a 5.4-second run -- but I got off to a bad start and spun the wheels most of the way. After a few more messy goes I got it down to 4.7 seconds. And then I discovered something quite remarkable.

The mistake I had been making was shifting to second gear. The ZR-1 will do 106km/h in first gear according to the manufacturer (and 104.9km/h according to the speed readout on my speed-measuring device). Performance motorcycles can easily top 100km/h in the first gear, but most cars run out of legs at about 70 or 80km/h.

In the ZR-1 the other five gear ratios are along for a free ride -- and to keep engine revs down so you can hold a conversation. In Australia, where the speed limit is 110km/h in most states, you don't need any more cogs.

Eventually, I manage a time that's repeatable -- and do three 0 to 100km/h runs of 4.3 seconds in a row. But all still had a level of messiness about them, no matter how gentle I tried to be on the accelerator.

Such is the power of the ZR-1's blown V8 that the rear end even wants to cut loose in third gear -- and I didn't dare switch off the traction control! The warning light was doing so much flashing it may need to be replaced prematurely.

The ZR-1 is a real handful, but in an exhilarating way. While every other performance car maker has tamed their machines, this one is what I imagine Formula One cars would have been like to drive in the 1980s. No doubt with perfect road conditions a high three- or low four-second 0 to 100km/h time is possible.

The ZR-1 steers nicely -- easily better than any American car before it -- but it is still not quite in the same league as a Porsche 911 despite the fact the Corvette's chassis was developed on Porsche's home turf: the Nurburgring. And this despite the massive rubber patches on the road: 285/30ZR-19 fronts and 335/25ZR20 rears, all four being Michelin Pilot Sports, the equal best tyres in the business to the new Pirelli P Zero.

The conversion job is excellent and it has a factory feel to the finish. You'd never know it was converted to right-hand drive unless someone told you.

The only blots on the ZR-1's copybook are GM's fault, not Performax's. And it's a well-documented complaint: the seats are woeful. They're flat, unsupportive and look like they've come out of an old Chevy A-Team van.

But you know what? All is quickly forgotten as soon as you floor the accelerator, get the bi-model mufflers open and hear the racecar-style bark coming through the ZR-1's four massive exhaust tips.

They should sell tickets to ride in the ZR-1. There'd be a queue for miles.

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