The Corvette ZR1X Just Made Hypercars Obsolete With Drag Strip Numbers That Don’t Even Sound Believable

It feels like every new bit of tech and trim added to the C8-generation Chevrolet Corvette since its debut in 2019 has been leading up to the ZR1X. The top-level, most expensive ‘Vette ever is a greatest-hits mashup of parts from other trims, combining the 1064-horsepower twin-turbo V8 from the normal ZR1 with the electric front motor and battery from the E-Ray.

The result is an all-wheel drive supercar that makes a combined 1,250 horsepower and doesn’t need to fight for grip. With 3,914 pounds to push around, the ZR1X was always going to be an absolute rocketship in a straight line. Just how much of a rocketship, though, no one really knew. When the ZR1X was announced, Chevy claimed a 0-60 time under 2.0 seconds and a quarter-mile time of under 9.0 seconds. But no exact figures were revealed … until now.

The company announced today that the ZR1X is capable of going from zero to 60 mph in just 1.68 seconds, onto a quarter-mile of 8.675 seconds, all on the stock Michelin PS4S tires. That’s quicker than pretty much every street-legal hypercar ever, all for a fraction of the price.

Don’t Think You’ll Be Doing This On Your Local Side Street

Chevrolet released a short documentary of its two-day test run, which it held at US 131 Motorsports Park, a dragstrip in western Michigan. The video, hosted by Bob Sorokanich (who, coincidentally, was my former boss when I worked at Road & Track years ago), reveals that engineers used a prepped surface and even waited for the temperature to be just right to squeeze the most power out of the 5.5-liter V8. Here’s the full video:

That means the 1.68-second 0-60 run and that wild 8.6-second quarter-mile probably aren’t very repeatable unless you get yourself into a very specific scenario. Chevy does note it was able to at least stay consistently close. From its press release:

The car was equipped with ZR1X’s standard aero configuration, standard Michelin PS4S tires, and available carbon fiber wheels. This acceleration was not a one-off, either – the vehicle used for testing completed multiple back-to-back quarter-mile runs all under 8.8 seconds.

Chevy also notes that if you choose the more aggressive ZTK aero setup, your straight-line performance will suffer due to the aero drag – but it’ll still be insanely quick. The company tested a ZTK-equipped car on an unprepped surface just to see how quick it could go, and engineers managed to squeeze out a 0-60 time of 1.89 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 8.99 seconds.

Here Are All The Cars It Beat, And The Cars It Didn’t

In the press release, Chevrolet claims the ZR1X is America’s quickest production car. But that’s only half true. Before this announcement, the quickest American car currently in production was the Lucid Air Sapphire, with its 1.89-second 0-60 time and 8.95-second quarter-mile time. But the ZR1X still wasn’t able to best the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, which, according to Dodge, was able to do the sprint in 1.66 seconds.

The Demon 170 isn’t in production any longer, but it’s still quicker. So I’d argue the title of America’s quickest production car still belongs to the Dodge. But for cars currently in production, the ZR1X takes the crown.

The ZR1X is, by my math, the third-quickest-accelerating production car when it comes to 0-60 timing. It’s quicker than any Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, or Pagani. The Rimac Nevera R, the all-electric Croatian hypercar making 2,107 horsepower, still has it beat, with a time of just 1.66 seconds, matching the Demon. There’s also the McMurtry Spéirling fan car, which can do 0-60 in just 1.4 seconds, besting even top-level WRC cars. But I don’t really consider that a real production car.

When it comes to the quarter-mile, the ZR1X has the Demon 170 beat by nearly 0.3 seconds. But the Rimac can do the sprint in a dominant 7.9 seconds, which I don’t see being beaten by any combustion-powered car any time soon. Its sister car, the Pininfarina Battista, can run the quarter in 8.55 seconds (though its 1.79-second 0-60 time is slower than the ‘Vette’s).

Whether you put any value in acceleration numbers like this, you have to admit the ZR1X’s times are impressive. For any gas-powered production car to hang with the quickest modern electric vehicles in a straight line is a monumental achievement, much less a Corvette that costs less than any of them.

Top image: Chevrolet