​​The Corvette ZR1X is the Quickest vehicle Car and Driver Has Ever Tested​ 

Car and Driver, which tests just about everything on four wheels, recently announced that the Corvette ZR1X, the most powerful in the Corvette model line, is the quickest production vehicle its editors have ever tested. Not the quickest American car, not the quickest gas-powered car, but quite simply the quickest production car – ever. McFarland Chevrolet gives you the details on this feat. 

For such a niche vehicle, the Corvette has many variants. The model line starts with the “entry-level” 535-hp Sting Ray, which at a price of $73,495 can break 200 mph, making it the least expensive model you can buy to do so. As you move up, you have the Grand Sport, the legendary Z06, the fastest Corvette until the ZR-1, and the ZR-1 itself, which has a 5.5-liter twin-turbocharged flat-plane V-8 making an astonishing 1,064 horsepower and 828 lb-ft of torque. Just below the ZR-1 in acceleration is the E-Ray, the first Corvette with a hybrid drivetrain and all-wheel drive (AWD). It wasn’t long before Chevrolet’s engineers decided to combine the ZR-1 gas engine with a version of the E-Ray hybrid system to create the ZR-1X, quite simply the fastest Corvette ever sold to the public. 

To be more specific, the above-mentioned ZR1 engine is complemented by an electric motor driving the front wheels, rated at 186 hp and 145 lb-ft of torque. The engine is paired with an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, while the electric motor operates independently, giving the ZR1X that extra push off the line compared to the ZR1. The total system power is 1,250 horsepower and 973 lb-ft of torque.  

How quick is the quickest?  Let’s start with going from a standing start to 60 mph in 1.8 seconds. That must feel like being stationary and then suddenly rear-ended by a 60-mph freight train.  The car races through the quarter-mile in 8.9 seconds with a trap speed of 155 mph. Given the space, it will go to reach a governed 233 mph. The model also achieved 1.14g on the skid pad. 

To reach these numbers, Car and Driver tested at its usual Michigan testing location in the morning, with temperatures in the low 70s. They continued working with the adjustable launch control system until they reached the most aggressive setting, which ran the engine up to 3500 rpm before the brake pedal was released. Car and Driver performed acceleration runs in both directions and averaged the best result from each.   

The magazine points out that the quarter-mile time of 8.9 seconds beats the Lucid Air Sapphire and, perhaps more amazingly, the $3,825,000 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport.  Suddenly, the ZR1X’s as-tested price of $255,960 starts to look like a bargain. At $43,765 over the base price, Car and Driver’s tester included: 

• $13,995 Carbon-fiber wheels  

• $11,000 3LZ package (heated steering wheel, leather interior, Bose Performance Series stereo, power lumbar seats, front and rear cameras, two inductive phone chargers, power-folding and heated mirrors, heated and vented GT2 seats)  

• $10,495 ZR1X Carbon Fiber Aero package (visible carbon-fiber wing, dive planes, and hood spoiler) 

• $2,595 front-axle lift 

• $1,500 ZTK Track Performance package (ZTK suspension and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tires) 

• $1,500 carbon-fiber interior trim 

• $995 body-color carbon-fiber split-window trim 

• $695 blue brake calipers 

• $595 Stealth interior trim package 

• $395 black exhaust tips  

Visit McFarland Chevrolet to see what the engineering talent can do for you, from the record-breaking Corvette ZR1X and its siblings to the surprisingly attractive Trax, with plenty of massively capable SUVs and trucks in between.