The 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 was the first in a line of Chevrolet Corvettes that blend cutting edge technology, distinctive styling, luxury components, and plain old American know-how and workmanship into a high performance machine that has become one of the world's most desirable supercars.
Chevy Corvette ZR1 Offers a Lot of Performance for the Money
For 2011 the Chevy Corvette ZR1 has a manufacturers suggested retail price starting at $111,100. That is a significant amount of money and out of reach for the average American but when compared to the price of high performance exotic European cars, such as the Ferrari or Lamborghini, the proud owner is getting a true top of the line exotic supercar at roughly 40% to 50% of the price. For those well-heeled buyers who can afford to pay in the low six figures for an automobile the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 supercar is a bargain.
Chevrolet advertises the ZR1 Corvette to be General Motors fastest production car of all time. This is easy to believe when you see that the Corvette achieved a test track top-end speed of 205 miles per hour. That is really a sizzling speed for a production car running on pump grade gasoline. That top-end speed should be quite sufficient for your Sunday afternoon drive down to the Sonic drive in to add some glamour and glitz to their parking lot. Now really, that is one of the cool satisfying pleasures of a muscle car, isn't it?
High Power and Low Weight Equals Blazing Corvette ZR1 Performance
The Corvette ZR1 achieves its blazing speed with a 6.2 Liter LS9 aluminum block V8 equipped with a four-lobe Eaton® Twin Vortices Series™ supercharger with intercooler that produces 638 hp. However, as any good automotive engineer will know, using raw horsepower to gain top performance by itself is not enough. The Chevrolet ZR1 engineers used an aluminum frame and high performance aircraft type carbon fiber engineering in body parts to save weight and to achieve an extremely robust power to weight ratio of 5.2.
The combination of high power and low weight, matched with race car handling and braking characteristics, deliver a car that performs exceptionally well against the world's best sports cars. That performance includes superior braking ability through the use of Brembo carbon-ceramic brake rotors which can withstand heat of 1,000 degrees Celsius without a system failure.
How Will the Corvette ZR1 Stack Up Against the 2012 Shelby Super Snake Mustang?
It will be interesting to see how the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 stacks up against the just announced 2012 Shelby GT500 Super Snake Mustang. The Shelby Super Snake will be introduced at the New York International Auto show. Public show dates are Friday, April 22nd through Sunday, May 1st.
Shelby has announced a supercharger package that will take the Super Snake's horsepower rating up to 800 hp. That would give the super snake a significant advantage over the ZR1's horsepower rating of 638. However, as every supercar fanatic knows raw horsepower alone is only part of the performance package. How that horsepower is transmitted to the road surface and how well the automobile can navigate and stay on that road surface is equally important.
It will be great fun to see how two superbly engineered and expertly built American supercars stack up against each other and against the best exotic supercar automobiles built anywhere in the world. One thing appears certain. When you compare engineering, style, workmanship, performance, overall quality, and price the two American supercars seem to be best of class.
The engineers, technicians, and craftsman, at Chevrolet, Shelby American, and Ford Racing have produced high performance products to make Americans proud. Go Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. Go Shelby GT500 Super Snake. Let this year's supercar games begin.
Sources:
- Chevrolet.Com : "The Ultimate Corvette"
- Chevrolet.Com : ZR1 pictures
- Supercars.Net : 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
Gerald Greene - Technology may save the world but it is a hard task master. It takes increasing amounts of work to keep up with the latest and greatest.
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