Chevy Will Soon Reveal the New Corvette ZR1's 'Ring Time: Teaser

Car and Driver

21 hours ago

The Chevy Corvette ZR1 appears to have lapped the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife, and a teaser suggests we will soon learn its official lap time.
A video posted on the Corvette's Instagram account shows a yellow ZTK-equipped car lapping the track with the caption: "Fast as green hell."
An online report from earlier this month claims Chevy was recently testing multiple Corvettes at the 'Ring, so the company may release several official times.
Will the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 make history and become the fastest American-made production car to ever lap the 12.9-mile Nürburgring Nordschleife? Based on a new teaser video posted on the Corvette's official Instagram account, we will find out very soon.
The post shows a yellow-painted car with the optional ZTK performance package—judging by its unmistakably massive rear wing—roaring down a straight section of the famous German racetrack before braking and downshifting as it enters a tight left-handed corner. A caption on the video post reads: "Fast as green hell."
It's unclear if the Vette in the video is the 1064-hp rear-drive ZR1 or the 1250-hp hybrid all-wheel-drive ZR1X. It's also possible that Chevy has lap times for the ZR1, ZR1X, and the Z06, as earlier this month CorvetteBlogger reported that the bow-tie brand was spied lapping several production cars that included those three variants at the 'Ring. It's also worth pointing out that Chevy hasn't yet published an official lap time for any C7- or C8-generation Corvette.
The Corvette aims to dethrone the Ford Mustang GTD, which earlier this year recorded an official lap time of 6:52.072, making it the fastest American production car to lap the 'Ring and the fifth fastest production car overall. The cars that are faster and provide other bogeys for the ZR1 and/or ZR1X include the Porsche 991 GT2 RS with the Manthey Performance kit (6:43.300), the Mercedes-AMG Black Series (6:48.047), and the Porsche 911 GT3 RS (6:49.328).
Currently, the top spot for a production car is held by the Mercedes-AMG One, which set a time of 6 minutes and 29 seconds. That's crazy. But it's worth noting that Chevy shared the teaser on June 28 (a.k.a. 6/28)—is that just a coincidence or perhaps a clue? Stay tuned.
Eric Stafford
Managing Editor, News
Eric Stafford's automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual '97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a '90 Honda CRX Si. Read full bio