VIDEO: Corvette ZR1 7min 26.4sec Nurburgring Run

by Brian Potter
July 11, 2008 3:00 PM
Filed Under: American, Chevrolet

After much controversy over the authenticity of recent Nürburgring Nordschleife timed laps between the Corvette ZR1 and Nissan GT-R, GM finally released their video footage of their ZR1's ring run yesterday confirming the time of 7 minutes 26.4 seconds.

To view a split screen comparison of the ZR1 and GT-R runs check out this video by Garage419.com.

Source: GM

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Comments

A very impressive run. The ZR1 looks like a handful, though. From what I can tell it was just a constant balancing of initial turn-in understeer to controlled drift on exit. I know this course is bumpy but the car did bottom out a few times as well.

An impressive feat for GM for making a car that is very quick around the 'Ring but manages to retain very "American" handling characteristics. A potential buyer must be very aware of what they are getting into before attempting any high-speed antics.

For the money, I'd still pick the GT-R but you can't deny GM's stellar accompishment.

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by Vision7 | July 11, 2008 3:57 PM

.Waaaaaaaaaahahahahahaha.... The Corvette did not even beat the "un-official" timing of the GT-R V-spec, 07:25!! What an embarrassment!! -More power+less weight=slower car!! Nice theory Americans :)

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by NitrousOxide | July 11, 2008 4:05 PM

It kind of is embarassing!!! The regular ZO6 power to weight is 6.20 pounds per hp and it ran a 7:49 on The Ring. The GTR has a pound per hp of 7.91 and ran a 7:29 on the Ring. In order for the ZR1 to finally beat the GTR it has 5.21 pound per hp. That is HUGE. This means that the ZR1 engine has to carry 2.7lbs less per horse power than the GTR.

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by pzigly | July 11, 2008 9:02 PM

Waaaaaaaaaahahahahahaha.... The Corvette did not even beat the "un-official" timing of the GT-R V-spec, 07:25!! What an embarrassment!! -More power+less weight=slower car!! Nice theory Americans :)

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by NitrousOxide | July 11, 2008 4:03 PM

I don't see any embarrassment (yet), the GTR V-Spec hasn't been actually launched. You're telling me the ZR1 is an embarrassment for GM because it didn't beat a theoretical time, which hasn't been confirmed yet!? Then you say "nice theory americans"... You have some logic problems you need to fix asap. As you can see from the film, the ZR1 time is as real as it gets, but there is no V-Spec movie anywhere. Using basic logic, I'd say the V-Spec time is the theoretical one at the moment. A couple of years ago, GM didn't even bother to test their cars on the Nring and now the have one of the best (proven) time there. I say it's a big achievement!

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by ShinyG | July 11, 2008 5:14 PM

Duh!

It'd be really embarassing if the top version of a 2007 designed car can't beat the top version of a 2004 designed car ¬¬'

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by Andres2007 | July 11, 2008 8:23 PM

Wow, first of all the GT-R Spec-V was unofficial. Secondly you can't compare AWD to RWD. Thirdly, any twit can drive a electronically controlled, paddle shifted car that switches gears in one tenth of a second. Fourth the ZR1 driven by a development engineer nd not a racer as was the Cadilac CTS-V which by the way set the all time record for a sedan on the Ring. Had this same racer driven the ZR1 I am pretty sure he could have made that run in 7:21. Just by watching the development engineer drive the ZR1 it was evident that there were at least 5 times when he was in the wrong gear. Fith, it takes a real driver to drive a car with 3 pedals and a stick shift and even though the ZR1 was not driven by a racer as was the GT-R, it proves that even someone with average skills can take the ZR1 way beyond what anyone can expect.

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by Shark | July 14, 2008 7:48 PM

In order to get a car in and out of The Ring in one peice is skill. In order to get a car no matter what car it is around The Ring in less than 8 sec is a very experienced driver around The Ring. This guy clearly has experience around The Ring and has been developing thas car around The Ring so he is a competent driver. He wouldn't be driving The Ring if GM didn't think he was fast. Also we know the GTR has technology to help you get a good time. This is what makes it so good, becuase you get a consistent time all the time and you just need to focus on your turn in rather than everything else. It helps the driver focus more on the road.

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by pzigly | July 14, 2008 10:24 PM

Why are people still comparing these 2 cars? It is not a correct comparison. Its exactly like comparing a regular sentra to a Civic Si. If you want to compare the Civic Si to something, you have to compare it to the Sentra SE-R otherwise you know the Si will win if it was compared with the regular sentra.

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by pzigly | July 11, 2008 9:03 PM

It's still not the same. The Sentra and the Civic were both redesigned around the same time (one year more for the Sentra, I think). The GTR has a 4 year advantage over ANY C6 Corvette in terms of technology.

And it does matter. It's like comparing a 2004 Mercedes E55 AMG against a 2004 BMW M5. The E55 would murder the M5. Now compare both cars but the 2006 year (after the M5 was redesigned) and it's almost a technical tie.

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by Andres2007 | July 11, 2008 10:33 PM

the ZO6 what introduced in 06. The GTR was done in 07 but they were testing its reliability for over a year. its about a year or 2 apart. The spec V will be introduced in less than a year from now. Spec V and ZR1 should be compared.

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by pzigly | July 12, 2008 12:13 AM

Nope. The C6 Vette was introduced in 2005. The GT-R was introduced this year. That makes a 3 year difference (not a 4 year diff. like I said before but it's not 1 or 2) That's all I have to say. Reliability testing? They did that, too, with the Corvette. In fact, the famous ZR-1 model has been tested for almost two years if I'm not mistaken. There's at least three years of difference between the 'Vette ZR-1 and the GT-R V-Spec, and, like I said before, their basic platforms also have 3 years between one another. The C7 'Vette will be introduced in 2011, so it'd be a three-year difference as well...

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by Andres2007 | July 12, 2008 2:41 AM

You cant compare the C6 to the GTR. That would be murder. The Z06 with 505 hp was an 2006 model.

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by pzigly | July 12, 2008 4:45 AM

When I say C6 I refer to this generation of the Corvette, including from the ZR-1 all the way down to the first basic 2005 model. The Z06 is just the mid-range model of the whole C6 range.

I get that confused sometimes, too! ;)

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by Andres2007 | July 12, 2008 7:57 PM

nice performance, yet the car wasnt obviously driven to its extreme limits, so theres still a remaining margin

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by ck314 | July 11, 2008 11:28 PM

ummm AWD versus RWD .... 80k budget ..... Enough said!

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by JTZ | July 12, 2008 12:30 AM

one things for sure... this has a very good driver, very good brakes, very good power, annnnnnd HORRIBLE handling... well actually not horrible, but you have to admit that this has quite a bit of understeer, and it is very hard to control, even by this guy, who's literally fighting with it through out the whole ring. I dunno, very good job by GM nontheless at comming this far.

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by carcrazy1234 | July 12, 2008 3:09 AM

My point is, in terms of basic platforms and the technology available for every single model within them, the GT-R has a three-year advantage over the C6 Corvette that well influences the comparison. When the C7 comes out, it'll also have big advantages over the GT-R, and then when the GT-R Gen-II comes out it'll have the advantage, and so forth.

It's pretty much like the Mercedes S-Class vs. BMW 7 series thing. For three years the S Class has the upper hand, then there's a new 7 series with more up-to-date technology, then comes a newer S class and so on.

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by Andres2007 | July 12, 2008 8:02 PM

Any way you slice the cake. The GTR will always beat the vette on the track and the vette will beat the GTR most of the time in a straight line. Also the hyper tuned ZR1 still cant be compared to the GTR. It has to be compared to the spec-v to make any type of comparison. It doesnt matter what anyone says. The advanced AWD that the GTR has will always beat the RWD vette on the track unless the vette does something like force the issue with more HP. Dont forget though that GTR owners are still able to increase HP dramatically and still be able to get that power to the ground.

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by pzigly | July 12, 2008 8:45 PM

As an American i can say this: even if it was more then 5 seconds slower the GTR around the track we have to look at the bigger picture. An american car made it around the ring! and was able to beat out some of europes finest's lap times!. I hate americans cars mainly because for the longest time they would not make anything but dragsters that couldnt take a turn on the way to the grocery store. I say great GM but i still hate you.

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by Damian6 | July 15, 2008 7:36 AM

As an American, I feel the same way, but I want to add that I didnt like american cars because they would always break down and every thing was put together with chewing gum lol. But things have changed and everything is starting to get better.

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by pzigly | July 15, 2008 7:51 AM

The problem is the driver not the car. Change the driver guys he is a chicken.Let Schumacher drive it or Hamilton they will get great lap time.

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by Blackeyes21 | July 23, 2008 3:55 PM