American car makers are slowly returning to their storied roots.
It seems the experimentation into “greener” vehicles has finally subsided.
And Chevrolet has car enthusiasts in a frenzy over this new American supercar.
The new Chevrolet Corvette has blown past both the 800- and 900-horsepower barriers.
A huge power surge over the last Corvette
The 2025 Chevy Corvette ZR1 seems to be well on its way to its claimed sub-10-second quarter mile and a top speed of over 215 mph.
The new ZR1 is powered by a flame-shooting, twin-turbo 5.5-liter V-8, which gives it massive 1,064 horsepower.
That is a huge 309-hp mega increase over the last Corvette to bear the ZR1 name.
Of course, a lot has changed in the five years since the last Corvette ZR1 showed up on the stage.
Unfortunately for real car enthusiasts, most of today’s powerful cars run on batteries.
But the new Corvette engine makes it a vehicle with a true muscle-car mindset.
And to make the new ZR 1 even more appealing, it is expected to cost at least $100,000 dollars less than its European rivals.
Just like the 638-hp C6 ZR1 and the 755-hp C7 ZR1, the 2025 C8 Corvette ZR1’s amazing output of power is the result of engineers getting as much power as humanly possible from its small-block V-8 engine.
“The reason they’re odd numbers is because we didn’t set a target horsepower ahead of time,” Executive Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter said. “We want the most power technology will give us.”
According to MotorTrend, the technology involved in the 2025 Chevy Corvette ZR1’s LT7 engine “involves a rare combination of displacement, revs, and turbo boost.”
“Like the Corvette Z06’s LT6, the LT7’s eight forged pistons spin a flat-plane crankshaft that unlocks a quicker- and higher-revving engine while also unleashing side-to-side vibrations severe enough that, if not mitigated, will shake the oil filter off the V-8. Automakers have traditionally kept this imbalance in check by limiting the displacement to 4.5 liters or less, but both Ford and Chevy have pushed higher with their recent V-8 screamers. For a flat-plane-crank V-8, 5.5 liters is positively huge.”
Torque in the new Corvette tops out at 828 lb-ft at 6,000 rpm, and the 1,064-hp max hits at 7,000 rpm.
And redline in the VR 1 is only reached at an amazing 8,000 rpm.
A loud “star-spangled” blare
MotorTrend reports that “during a very short, very fast ride in the passenger seat at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds in Michigan, the LT7 emitted a loud, proud, star-spangled blare deeper than your typical flat-plane V-8, more of a wail than a howl.”
And Juechter says the LT7 “isn’t just a boosted version of the Z06’s LT6 engine.”
The obviously proud engineer went on to say, “Development of the two V-8s nicknamed Gemini began in tandem and share a block casting, but Chevy says the ZR1 is built with unique internals, cams, and cylinder heads plus additional cooling measures, an extra oil scavenge stage, and a supplementary port fuel-injection system. For full details on what’s new and notable, read our deep dive on the 2025 Corvette ZR1’s LT7 engine.”
Juechter also said the latest ZR1 is so amazingly fast that it surprised even his engineers.
“If you know anything about vehicle development, you have to crawl, walk, run, and you don’t get to big speed until late in the program,” he said. “This is the first time I can remember where, out of the box, the prototypes were faster than the production version of the car before it. Usually that doesn’t happen until late in the game.”
The great American muscle car is back, and it’s only fitting that Corvette is leading the pack.
