Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X and ZR1 Nürburgring Lap Times: Impressive… or not?

The Ford Mustang GTD’s time at the top of the American cars around the Nürburgring turned out to be short-lived. As you might have heard, the Mustang GTD became the fastest American car to ever lap the Green Hell, first in August 2024, and then again in May this year. It set a time of 6:52.072 around the 12.9-mile course, which is impressive. But now Chevrolet has come along and grabbed that title from Ford.

Chevrolet took three Corvettes to the ‘Ring and set three times, two of which beat the GTD. The Z06 set a time of 7:11.826, which beat the 7:12.13 set in 2010 by the Dodge Viper ACR. The ZR1 set a time of 6:50.763 with Brian Wallace (the car’s dynamics engineer) behind the wheel, while the ZR1X completed the lap in 6:49.275 with Drew Cattell behind the wheel. Chevrolet claims this makes it the fastest lap with a non-professional racing driver behind the wheel, which is a subtle jab at Ford and Porsche, both of which used current or retired racing drivers to set their respective lap times.

In summary, the ZR1 and ZR1X beat the GTD by roughly two and three seconds respectively. While these times are impressive, given the cost of the other machines that fall under the seven-minute category, there’s one car that still manages to school both 1,000-hp-plus Corvettes with half the horses, and it’s not even the latest Porsche 911 GT3 RS…

A Closer Look At The Corvettes

As Standard As Possible

The three Corvettes were as standard as the Nürburgring allows, which actually puts weight back into the cars as it needs a roll hoop, premium racing seats, a fire extinguisher, and a six-point safety harness. The Z06 was equipped with the Z07 Performance Package, while the ZR1 and ZR1X were equipped with the ZTK Performance Package. A ZR1 with the options mentioned earlier costs just over $200,000, while the Z06 is just over $150,000. As value propositions, these Chevrolets are unbeatable.

But, overall, the times set are only mildly impressive when you look at the 992.1 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, which completed the same lap in 6:44.848. The 911 GT2 RS with a Manthey Performance Kit did it in 6:38.835, which is less than 10 seconds behind the mighty Mercedes-AMG One, which costs millions of dollars. You look at the times and wonder why these cars have all that power, and the same goes for the 800-hp Mustang GTD. It’s not so much about how much power you have, but how much power you can effectively transfer to the road. To make it easier to understand, look at the table below.

The GT2 RS with the Manthey Performance Kit only has 55.2% of the power of the ZR1X, and it beats it around the Nürburgring by six seconds. It’s even bleaker when we compare it to the GT3 RS. It only has 41% of the ZR1X’s power, and it’s only a 10th of a second slower over a 12.9-mile lap. You mess up one corner, and it’s a tie. And as we mentioned earlier, it’s not even the latest, improved GT3 RS. Porsche is busy putting the final touches on the next-gen GT2 RS, and it will be interesting to see where it lands. We doubt it will usurp the One, which is powered by an actual F1 engine, but one can never doubt Porsche when it comes to such things. I called the pre-facelift GT3 the best sports car ever made, and Porsche went ahead and improved it anyway.

The Question Of Cost

The Porsche RS Badge Isn’t Cheap

Porsche produces RS cars in very limited numbers, ensuring that owners will always get a healthy return on their investment. That’s if you can even get on the invite list. The 911 GT2 RS had an MSRP when it was new back in 2019, and that has since increased to an average of $411,603 according to Classic.com. The 2023 GT3 RS has had an even more impressive climb. If you were lucky enough to get invited to buy one and the dealership was nice enough to charge MSRP, you would have paid $241,300. These days, you can expect to pay $404,493.

We don’t know the price of the ZR1X yet, but it’s safe to assume it will be $300k with a healthy dose of options added. And that’s just if the dealer is feeling kind. Chevy already has policies to keep flippers at bay, but we all know it’s not going to work. The price of a previous-gen ZR1 has already climbed to $244,000, up from a base price of $122,095. Basically, people will be happy to pay a premium for America’s first mass-produced hypercar, and why not? It is certainly something to be proud of considering you have to spend more than $1 million to reach its 233- mph top end.

Why Are You Putting Chevy Down?

It’s About The Power

The Porsche GT3 RS is the real winner here, because it proves that 500 hp is more than enough, and that this constant chase for four-figure outputs is a bit ridiculous. But Chevy also proves this with the Z06’s time. While the ZR1 and ZR1X will get most of the hype, it’s important to remember that the Z06 has a time of 7:11.826. Like the Porsche, it’s naturally aspirated, and the real hero here. Even at a cost of $130,000 with all the options included, it beat out several $1 million-plus cars around the Green Hell. The list includes the Porsche Carrera GT, the Porsche 918 Spyder, the Lexus LFA with the Nürburgring Package, and the Ferrari 488 GTB. It also beat the standard C8 with the Z51 Performance Package by nearly 20 seconds.

To me, the Z06 is the real star of the show here because it’s right in supercar territory, but without the supercar price. It’s perfectly in keeping with the Corvette’s blue collar image and origin. That, and I’ve always been a fan of naturally aspirated engines.