2009 Corvette ZR1: New SuperVette revealed!
Chevrolet has taken the wraps off the 2009 Corvette ZR1, the highly-anticipated uberVette scheduled to be officially revealed at the 2008 Detroit auto show. Want to see it? Of course you do! Check out my 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 photo gallery.
The 2009 ZR1 is powered by a supercharged version of the 6.2 liter (376 cubic inch) V8 that's making its debut in the 2008 'Vette. Output for the regular 'Vette is 430 horsepower. Output for the ZR1 is -- are you sitting down? -- six hundred and twenty horsepower. That's 115 more than the current Corvette Z06 and 20 more than the 2008 Dodge Viper. Hell, General Motors used to build diesel locomotives with less horsepower than that!
But there's more to the ZR1 than just ponies. Among the attributes highlighted in the ZR1 press release:
- 6-speed "race hardened" manual transmission
- Suspension tuned for more than 1g of lateral cornering grip
- 19" wheels up front, 20" in back
- Specially developed tires
- Carbon-ceramic drilled brake rotors
- Magnetic selective ride control
- Carbon-fiber hood with polycarbonate window, showing intercooler below
- Carbon-fiber front fenders, roof, and other body panels
The release goes on to state that the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 will be "the most powerful and fastest automobile ever produced by General Motors." Amen to that!
GM isn't talking about pricing, but the rumor mill has the ZR1 priced around $100,000. If that seems like a lot for a Corvette, it's peanuts compared to the cars the ZR1 has in its sights -- cars like the Lamborghini Murciélago, Porsche 911 GT3 and Ferrari 599.
Question time: Let's say you had unlimited funds to spend on a car, and let's say it turns out that the ZR1 really does prove to be a better car than the Lambo, the Porsche or the Ferrari. Which would you buy? I've set up another vote, since the last one went so well -- or you can click the "comments" link below and expound. Or do both. Have at it! -- Aaron Gold
Vote: Which supercar would you buy?
- Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (620 hp)
- Dodge Viper (600 hp)
- Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 (640 hp)
- Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano (620 hp)
- Porsche 911 GT3 (415 hp)
Related: 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 photo gallery
Photo © General Motors
Comments
Like the first ZR-1 it is still just a Corvette…no matter how fast it is. Just wait ~17 years and you can pick one up for $18,000.
When you start talking about $100.000.00 for a car, A whole slew of candidates appear. Aston Martin, Maserati, Lambo,Audi, and The prancing Horse.
I’m sorry, but none of the three American Car Makers will ever make anything that I would plunk down that kind of money for, Not as long as the above mentioned Europeans are in the car business. Besides 10 years from now, you’ll still have a “used corvette” selling for $15,000.00
you guys obviousely have never saw the Barret Jackson auction in Scottsdale and the prices of Vettes.Owned 4 vettes always sold them for a lot more then I paid for them.My buddy just bought a 10 yr. old Porsche for the same price I sold my 11 yr. old Vette for except his Porsche was 2.5 times more then the Vette was back then
I was staggered by how well last years model tested on the Top Gear test track with the stig (BBC America, best car show ever) It dusted anything under 400K. This would be a great track car for the weekend warrior, but I would not want to be the cheese d*ck wearing gold chains and a members only leather jacket handing the keys to the valet at Ruths Chris taking my stripper date with the fake boobs to the office christmas party. Nice lease, what you gona drive next year if you don’t get your bonus? Again it is a corvette. No Matter how good the build it, and it is getting much better, it is not the car that a wealthy professioal would drive. Cars say a lot about a person. Corvettes don’t say anything classy.
Obviously the prior people havn’t checked the price of an old Corvette lately… Luke
Yes, actually I have “saw” the auction. I amazes me what rednecks will pay for muscle cars that were worth 10 grand 15 years ago. I could put a hemi sticker on a Dodge and double its value the way these guys throw money around. Oh wait, they already do that. The new vette is still a red neck sled. It is the car for the 50 year old to lease to take his ret a stripper to Ruth Chris for the Christmas office party. Nice members only jacket.
Paul & Luke,
Check out the link…http://www.zr1netregistry.com/ZR1_sale.htm
$18,000 for a 1990 ZR-1
I have friends who buy cars at Barret Jackson…nothing to do with true value…all to do with the “moment”. I do agree about Porsche…never understood the allure…though I would take a new 911 Turbo if you twisted my arm.
I too have seentthe Barrett Jackson Auctions, and the 1959 ,1960, ect Vettes go for outrageous sums of cash….But, these are collectable 50 plus year old cars. Try selling an 1990 vette for that sum at an auction !
Funny how people look at names. In Europe a you can ride in a Mercedes taxi. Years ago you could go to the Car rental place and get all excited cause you saw a Porsche in the lot to rent. The guy behind the counter was astonded because “You vant to rent the Volkswagen???”. All the car mags have been talking about the value you get in the Vette compaired to the Porsche. You really get more in the Vette than the Porsche for less money. These are also the same people that are still buying Chinese goods from Wallys world. YOu will never be able to prove that anything made in the us is good, and they are too afraid of there friends and what they would say. I bet if you put a Hyundai tag on it then it would be better than a Porsche.
If you’re looking at this car for a “put away” classic and an occaisional driver, it’s definitely a good choice and at a fantastic price for its performance.But that’s it. It’s not a daily driver and as far as investments go, I think I’d rather plunk down 100k in an investment that returns me serious cash every year, rather than 30-40 yreas later. The return may not be as big, but I don’t have to worry about dying before I can get to enjoy the profits! Besides, now that the Federal Govt. has mandated a future 35mpg Corp average, a 620 hp car is a socially irresponsible statement by its maker and owner…in short arrogant, kind of like most of the wealthy people I know.
Obviously not too many people have been paying attention to the leaps and bounds the ‘vette has made since the C6 model came out. Quality and performance are at least equal if not better than almost everything out there. Not to mention it’s just plain gorgeous(my opinion). Hey Gary, what are you like 12? Anyone who wants to know who the redneck is just has to read one of your posts!
As for the resale value, I challenge anyone to find a used C5 or newer for 18grand that doesn’t have high miles and been driven into the ground.
I’m not saying it’s the best car ever but you have to start somewhere and GM has come through with a winner and a half with the newest ‘vette.
I agree with Jeff. The latest generation corvette is an incredible sports car that rivals anything out their costing twice as much. Check out the show modern marvels and they show you how the Z06 is created. They did not cut any corners on this car. The engine is put together mostly by hand. It has an all aluminum frame designed by Dana Corp. The quality is the best and is not reflective generation 4 corvettes or before. Not to mention its mpg is 25. The recent corvette has dominated the sports car racing circut as well. You should really look into it before you make a negative statement.
I’ve owned 5 Porsche’s and although I love them (including my 997S) I would more than consider a new Corvette. I could have bought 2 for the price of my Porsche and have better performance. The new Z06 will be an incredible car. We’ll see if the value holds better than the traditional Corvette.
GM has done a good job pushing the envelope with the Vette. I’m not a huge fan but I must admit that this car is going to be quite awesome. Couple of suggestions to GM – do something about the plastic engine cover in the center of the hood (cheapens the super car image they are going for(I think)); and, second, improve the interior (still the same old cheap plastics on a $100K car?!).
The question Aaron put to us was predicated on the Corvette being better than the competition (Lamborghini, Porsche, and Ferrari) and that money was no object. Well, obviously if money is unlimited, depreciation doesn’t matter any more than asking price. All that matters is performance. In the scenario that Aaron gave us the Corvette wins that category too. That leaves things like image, feel, and prejudice to make your decision for you. I think I’d just get all of the cars to settle that. In regard to what Mike said about the same old cheap plastics; even this year a full leather interior (including dash, etc) is available. From the look of what I’ve seen in pictures of that interior and the one in the gallery I’m going to guess that the leather option was on it. Is it standard on the ZR1? I hope so at that class and performance level. -another Mike
Mike has an excellent point. Base your decision on the quality and level of performance value per dollar, not on some uninformed and inaccurate decision like depreciation. If you’ve got 100K or more to spend on a ride, are you really that concerned about depreciation? Besides, with the new CAFE requirements coming in the next few years, factory muscle cars and exotics may be a thing of the past, so don’t expect the collectors to just ignore a car like this. And the “gold chain” and “stripper” comments were tired in the 80’s. The Vette is an affordable sports car, and easily one of the world’s best – it’s not the “mid life crisis guy” car. An exotic car will never be a daily driver, so again, the question is, with unlimited funds, what’s the best choice for a performance car? For a boatload less money, I get more performance from the Chevy, so I’d take the Vette every time. And it comes closer to being a daily driver than any of the others. Plus, you can take it to any GM dealer for service. Where do you take the Murciélago or the Ferrari? Jiffy Lube?The Lambo and Ferrari have always been just a step above Formula 1 race cars. Add a leather interior and radio and you have a consumer race-car. The Porsche is easily the most refined car other than the Vette, but if I’m basing my decision on value, performance, and livability, the ZR1 would get my vote every time.
No amount of performance could ever get me to consider a Corvette. The name is so repellent to me, after years of shoddy construction, derivative and usually ugly styling, terrible ergonomics, and how about all those automatic transmissions? Corvettes have always been “sports cars” (cough) for people who don’t know anything about sports cars. The new ones appear to finally be making more of a serious effort, but I for one cannot take anything seriously with that nameplate on it. It probably doesn’t help that I don’t own any gold chains to wear around my neck.
Re: the Top Gear review – the Stig did a good time but it certainly wasn’t record-breaking, and they did knock it for its cheap feel (flexy fiberglass) and said that while it was effective on the track, they found it pretty bad as a street car.
Now, had I $100k to drop on a performance car – it’d be a used Ferrari 355, Spyder if possible. Or maybe a Porsche Cayman or Boxster and a Caterham 7 or Lotus Elise. If I want an American torque monster, I’d definitely go for the Viper – what, the extra 20 hp of the ZR1 are worth an extra $20k or so? I don’t think so, and the Viper is just plain bonkers and unapologetic about its purpose – it’s also much more unique on the street, if you value that – no watered-down much-less-power automatic-tranny ones driving around.
HELL YES!
Chock one up for the U.S., we can easily add this to the top ranks for American super cars!
I.e. FORD GT….
M.M.
I admit that I have a MiniVan and a pickup truck parked on the driveway BUT in my garages I have 5 Corvettes. I just love the darn things, they keep me feeling young and have proven over the years to be much more reliable then the couple of Porsches I have owned …I do not own any gold chains, I refuse to own an automatic.. and like to turn my own wrenchs…my next one will also be purchased for museum delivery ..
Bob G.
No Jeff, I will stick with my Lexus IS while I restore my Alfa. I don’t like spending my saturdays with the car club at the Waffle House. I also don’t wear Oakley wrap arounds, leather jackets with huge Chevy logo’s or mullets with extra gel or jean shorts. The only come as options with the vettes apparently. Fly to Monterey next summer in August. By one ticket for the Concorso Italiano. Take a tour of what hand crafted italian beauty looks like then tell me a corvette is not a redneck sled.
Gary, thank you for illustrating so beautifully my closing line in comment #10. Your contemptuous, condescending arrogant elitism betrays your incredile lack of sensitivity and humanity. Hold on tight to your trappings of wealth, for without them you have little or no substance.
It is still a Vette, and from its beginnings on a pick up chassi, it remains hype and a way to get a lot of poeple to buy a mundane and substandard automobile.
I can’t believe the utter ignorance of alot of these people comments. The vette has a truck chassis? Are you kidding me?!?!?!?! The corvette is an award winning AND race winning chassis. So does it have a BOF style chassis, yes. SO?
Don BTW they nixed the 35 mpg plan. The oil companies salvaged a win because they would have to pay taxes. To the sum of 13-15 billion a year for some, so big oil nixed the plan.
How can people propagate such miserable comments like redneck sled around when they have proabbly never even been in one. The vehicle is world class and its engines are phenomonal pieces of Americana.
So what if it has cheap plastics? for 47k you get a 436 hp vehicle that can either beat or be competitive with anything upwards of 180k. You want performance you got it. You can also get the 4k “slab everything in leather” option. I should call cars “place where ignorant people bash domestics”.
In an aside, a Corvette was the only car that Johnny Carson would drive. ANd he could drive any car he wanted.
“No amount of performance could ever get me to consider a Corvette. The name is so repellent to me,”
I never though I would be saying that a Corvette isn’t a suitable car for shallow people, but you have changed my mind.
Andre, I presume you’re talking about the basic Vette.You are 100% right on that being the ultimate balance of awesome performance, reasonable gas mileage,attractive design at a real world price.In my eyes there is no better value ANYWHERE in the world! The new Vette is overkill and casts a bad light on the rest of us car lovers as selfish, irresponsibe, ecological ignoramouses. But as to that legislation: it did pass. Go to Popular Mechanics, Car Buyers Guide that tells how the auto companies can meet the coming standards.
W.R.T. to the leather glove and driving mock crowd, who are so ready to plunk down a quarter of a million for a few luxuries and a slight increment in performance(if any) I can only say, “a fool and his money are soon parted”.
I have an 04 loaded convertible with under 2000 miles. I’d take a new one anyday and sell this one, if any one is interested?
It just so happens that I’m test-driving a base-model Corvette this week. I haven’t taken it out to the About.com Top Secret Curvy Test Road just yet — that will happen this weekend; hopefully it’s cold enough that the weekend biker crowd won’t be out — but I have to say, from the few in-town miles I’ve put on it, it has proper sports-car potential. It certainly sounds right and goes right. I just wish it didn’t feel bigger than a Mack truck.
I know what you mean about it feeling large, Aaron. It’s that expanse of hood that really became evident with the Mako design c.1968. But you’ve got to have it if you’re going to stick a gargantuan V-8 in there. I would’ve hoped that mighty GM could’ve come up with a tecnologically superior 4 or 6 banger for the sake of weight and MPG’s. OOOPs I can hear the purists cackling already…did I just hear someone yell the word heresy?
Sorry H.D. Didn’t know I was whispering so loudly. Hey…how about a diesel Corvette? It could be a 4 cylinder Cummins they nabbed from the Freightliner bin. Plus the car would be rated to tow 15,000lbs. I bet Jay Leno would buy it
Anyway, back to reality. It really is too bad that cars like the Corvette have such a mythology to live up to. Otherwise a strong 4 or 6 cylinder engine would be a possibility. Or maybe not, but at least all options would be open.
LOL They stripped the bill of those provisions which would have killed it. The funny part is what truck will get 35 mpg? I can’t wait to be driving a 4 thousand pound car with a 150hp engine. I can’t believe they put so much on automakers and nothing on the real people who spew the toxins in the air, sad.
Andre,
That’s 70’s thinking. What this legislation is meant to do is to accelerate the development and public acceptance of alternative fuel and hybrid technologies. The car companies have basically acquiesed because they know that the science is right there in their reach. In the seventies, due to the lack of technologies, they either could make the car smaller(Mustang II) or build a gutless small engine (180 HP L-48 Vette) or both. That isn’t the case anymore. The GM Volt, Honda Hydrogen, new diesels and other new concepts are all within reach of becoming real every day drivers. By the deadline, there should be little doubt that these objectives will be met. As to the sale of 625 HP Vettes…Barrett-Jackson will be standing by!
It looks like you haven’t heard how popular the vettes are in Europe. They sell for 160k or even 200k. Go to Italy and you are not going to pay the same price for a Ferrari. Besides, the technology you have in a vette is pretty much the same now compared to the big names. It’s always the same. I bet you if GM was charging 200k for the vettes everybody will be saying, Oh my gosh! The vette is amazing. Give GM 160k’s or 200k’s and let’s see if that vette doesn’t smoke a Murcielago or whatever you want to put in front of it. Let’s be fair and give the vette the credit it deserves. There is no question that the Ferraris and the Lambos are great super cars! But let’s be fair. Besides, the vettes have been around since the 50’s, that is a lot of history guys!
bmw the whole meanning of life
Gary,
You say redneck like it’s a bad thing?
C
I totaly agree with rdv. Corvettes have been around since 1953 and have a great name in America. These cars are legendary! The only reason you guys are talking bad about Corvettes is because they’re not over priced pieces of crap like the Mercedes or BMW. Well, guess what? Corvettes are much more reliable, their faster than most (if not all) Mercedes of BMW sportcars in it’s league, and if you don’t believe me go check the comsumer reports on those “cool” cars. Not a very good reputation. So if you want to be the snobby rich dude broke down in the ditch with his hooker girlfriend in the car be my guest cause when you’re waving for help, I’ll just laugh as I’m driving in my brand new vette!
I don’t know where you Mercedes and BMW guys have been, but if you pay attention to anything, you would know that mostly any German, French, Italian ect.. car is basicly an overpriced piece of crap! The only reason they cost more than a Corvette is because they have to be imported across the Atlantic ocean! If I were to go to Germany right now, I could go out and buy myself a brand new mercedes for 40k or a BMW for 30K, and for what? Just to break down in the ditch along with all the other snobby rich dudes trying to impress his hooker girlfriend. Well, how impressing is it to sit in the ditch waiting for a toe truck to pull you out? I’d take a Corvette over a Mercedes any day! They’re America’s legendary sports car, and soon to be supercar. Take that into consideration. If you don’t believe me, go check out the consumer report on a mercedes slr mclaren, or a BMW M4.
FOreign sportscars are great unbtil you have to obtain a special part to fix it. Then, you can wait for a boatload of them to come in. With c Vette, you get your parts at the Chevy dealer, and there’s a million of them.
Guys! Ease up a bit on the German cars.
I already have effused, on several occaisions as to the brilliance of Corvette’s engineering and its downright sensational value. However, the Vette is but one car. The Germans and others have many brilliantly engineered cars. Show me an American flagged car company that makes a car comparable to my Mini Cooper, or to a BMW m5? We don’t. We don’t have anything as durable as a Subaru or a Honda and nothing, including the Vette that handles with the precision of a Porsche at speed. We are fortunate however, to live in a country that we can buy any car we want without unbearable import taxes, so we can drive the exact car that meets our exact desires from anywhere in the world. As to the German/foreign cars…the crashing US Dollar shall be cutting deeply into their sales as their prices shoot up after their old inventories dry up. Will our companies hold the line on prices? Nope, GM just announced a big price hike for 2008. Instead of taking advantage of this pricing edge, they’ll keep reduced production and increase “per unit” profit, so the fat cats at the top can get theirs. Kinda makes you wanna put away that flag!
The simple fact is that America has half the millionaires in the world.
Of the millionaires that live in the united states, the #1 car that those successful millionaires drive is a corvette, enough said.
Nobody wants a 1970 PORSCHE 911, estimated value around $5000. People however do appreciate a 1970 corvette, estimated value about $25-70,000. Gee, was not the porsche more money when they were both new?
How would you feel if you spent $250,000 on an italian car, and are petrified to go against the $95,000 LS9 corvette. Would’nt that be embarrasing, especially with the girlfriend next to you. If i was a certain high end auto maker like PORSCHE or FERRARI, i would be quite nervous. Its the economics of scale, the more you make of something, anything, the cheaper you can make it. Its hard for Ferrari to compete, their per item expense is huge, and becoming hard to justify. Italian cars are like a fine SWISS watchs, Overpriced, and always decline in value. Would anyone like a Magnum P.I. ferrari? Or a early 90’s 308?
Anyone leaving comments on here about the price of this car versus a European exotic needs there head examined this car and for that matter even a z06 is the best sports car you can buy it will out perform in any category you want to look at and half the cost and with the impending goverment fuel regulations this cars value will only appreciate as one of the greatest american engineering marvels of all time.
If you want a real race car try an Acura NSX 2005.
The problem is not what you spend for a car, the problem is when you like to sale it and how much get you back!
Gary is a friggin’ idiot who’s probably living in his mom’s basement. He rides a bike, and will never have a hot car. Who cares what the Eurotrash wannabe, will never own retards have to say? Jaysus.
If you about winning then I’m not even sure what the arguement is about. I’m not sure who’s a car collector or not but I know enough to know that Jay Leno’s got a few to say the least. Take a look at what he has to say without getting paid I might add.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymR4wtYmzmU
The 2009 Corvette ZR1: What good is all that power when it’s hidden behind so much ugly?!?
Clarification…
The Corvette used to be uniquely American, inside and out, front to back. Now its design is more akin to a poorly crafted, pregnant Ferrari that’s about to erupt into a giant Transformer toy.