The New ZR1 Is A Beast – The Numbers Don’t Lie
Someone had to Be the First..
When Chevrolet announced the arrival of the 2019 ZR1 last year, there was little doubt that this Corvette would be the most powerful production model in the brand’s 65+ year history. Now, however, as the ZR1 is finally available to the public, new owners of this incredible super-Corvette are proving just how powerful it really is.
YouTuber Mike “Streetspeed 717” took his brand-new 2019 Corvette ZR1 to RaceProvenMotorsports to determine exactly how much power his alleged 755 horsepower ‘Vette was actually putting down at the wheels. On March 29, 2018, Mike – and indeed, the world – got their answer when RaceProvenMotorsports published a video of Mike’s car on the dyno.
According to the video, Streetspeed 717’s ZR1 is just the fourth production ZR1 – VIN004 – and the first stick-shift ZR1 of its kind in the country. Since rolling off the assembly line in Bowling Green, it’s also only clocked a couple hundred miles on the odometer. Still, wasting no time between delivery and being the first to dyno the car, RaceProven and Streetspeed decided it was more than time to put the car on the dyno and find out just what the car was capable of.
It is commonly known that all cars lose some power between the engine and the rear wheel. The ZR1’s factory 755 horsepower rating was measured at the crankshaft, not the rear wheels. When determining rear wheel horsepower, an approximate 15% power loss between the crankshaft and the rear wheels is normally expected in most vehicles. The big question that Corvette enthusiasts around the globe have wanted answered was whether or not the 2019 Corvette ZR1 would be able to produce more than 642 horsepower (or 85% of the car’s proclaimed 755 horsepower) at the rear wheels.
The results are beyond impressive.
…to Share the Dyno Results
The ZR1 produced 668 hp and 644 lb-ft of torque at the wheels on its second dyno run. That’s just a 12 percent drivetrain power loss, which is actually somewhat better than the expected power loss on a car like this. Further, after making the pulls on the dyno, the technician running the dyno stated that increasing fuel output and adjusting timing/properly tuning the ZR1 would increase the rear wheel output. (NOTE: For anyone considering such modifications to their new ZR1 Corvettes, tuning your car will likely void the warranty – so proceed with caution.)
One thing is certain, with this much power at the rear wheels, there is no question that the new 2019 Corvette ZR1 will be a beast at the racetrack. Earlier this year, Chevrolet crushed the Virginia International Raceway (VIR) laptime record previously set by the new Ford GT.
