Corvette ZR1 is America's hot new drive

June 5, 12:07 PMCorvette ExaminerMark Leevan

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   Jay Leno loves the Corvette ZR1 calling it the"performance bargain of the decade."

Corvette ZR1 is the America's hot new drive.  There is no other U.S. made automobile that can match Corvette's iconic status, storied history, and cultural impact.

Plus the ZR1 will snap your head back with and incredible launch then take your breath away with blindingly fast top speeds.

A Corvette owner once cracked "my ZR1 is so fast, my girl has to wear a sports bra when she rides with me."

No other car company has had such an impact on American pop culture than GM, and especially Chevrolet and especially the Corvette.

The Corvette ZR1 is simply the best sports car ever made. Bar none.

Performance keeps it's numbers among the best in a world of seven digit price tags, but comes in for six digits. Zero - 60 in 3.3 seconds and a 200+ mph top end are the envy of many more expensive sports cars.

The ZR1 is not just a hopped up version of the powerful Corvette Z06. It's a completely reengineered card that has a body style resemblance to it's cousin, but little else.

The powerplant is based on the LS3V8, but the ZR1 LS9 has a supercharger sitting atop the engine (and visible through the Laxan hood.) The supercharger helps the Corvette V8 makes. 638 horsepower.

Will you notice the power under the hood while touring? Hardly, the low speed RPM's for the highway linger around 2,500, keeping the interior quiet and comparable to German luxury vehicles.

When you lower your foot and the RPM's begin to rise the LS9 springs to life, opening the second exhaust valve and brings the engine song from refinement to ridiculous.

The Corvette design team and engineers took special pride in eliminating the whine that accompanies most superchargers. By adding teeth to the drive gears, the sound is beyond human hearing ranges.

Romp into the loud zone and 300 horsepower hits around 3,000 RPM and 100 mph comes before the engine has hit it's peak RPM's.

The Corvette ZR1 does not come with an automatic transmission. The close-ratio gears means you shift fast, but the torque and power keeps the car comfortable in third gear for any driving about 30 mph.

The interior of America's only true sports care is loaded with ZR1 and Corvette logos as an optional package.

Other options on the $103,000 car are chrome wheels.

The ZR1 is comfortable on two terrains throught the magnetic shock absorber dampening inheirted from the Cadillac XLR that use to be made in the same plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Choose "touring" and you can enjoy the neighborhood ride or the road trip on the interstate. Chose the other option and you will be driving a car that provided the thrill of running a lap at the famed  Nurburgring in 7:26.4.

The Corvette ZR1 is the car Jay Leno said is the performance bargain of the decade (see video below).

The Corvette ZR1 is the hottest new drive on America's roads. It's not for the beginner, but it's a wonderful car to learn the challenges of artfully transferring high performance to the road surface.

The Corvette ZR1 isn't all about speed, but it is all about performance.

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Watch the Corvette ZR1 being built at Bowling Green Assembly Plant