German Car Zone

Since the new ZR-1 beast is out , the Nurburgring track is the place were the Americans can prove their cars are the best . For instance , Cadillac's CTS-V went round in 7:59 , which is the fastest 4-door sedan to go their. And the ZR-1 did it before in 7:26.4 when it was in Jim Mero's hands , which is pretty amazing.

Now though , it was Driven by Jan Magnussen. Which he was able to take the monster in 7:22.4 round the 13 mile feary track . That's a whole 4 seconds faster than before. Which makes it now faster than a Ferrari Enzo , Pagani Zonda F Clubsport and a Maserati MC12 ! However , it still didn't take Dodge's Viper ACR off the lead (which did it in 7:22.1). Its just awesome seeing the Americans beating the Europeans on there own land .

Here's the ZR-1's NEW lap time profile :

Lap time ID: 49063045e0652
Car: 2008 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (476 kw)
Track: Nordschleife
Lap time: 7.22.4
Driven by: Jan Magnussen Submitter
IP: 24.208.168.135
Date & time of submission: 27/10/08, 23:19:01

Source: Autoblog via Motor Gears

It's a nice car, but GM now solidified how useless these 'Ring times have become lately.

Don't think for one moment I have become a yankophic, but after these cheating accusations from Porsche against Nissan and now GM who is desperate for attention and cash, I no longer believe in these super fast lap claims.

Quote:

Its just awesome seeing the Americans beating the Europeans on there own land

Well the Europeans never intended to build the cars to set lap records around the Ring. And I am pretty sure Ferrari Enzo , Pagani Zonda F Clubsport and a Maserati MC12 didn't use the Ring during their development.

Still, seeing a "vulgar" 'Vette beating an Enzo or Zonda F Clubsport in a racetrack, well... Pretty amazing. And it means that, even if these cars were buid for that, they arte extraordinarily fast around a track. No doubt the Europeans are faster around another track, but not as much as the pricetag would suggest. The Z06 was already impressive, this one is a reaal Beast!

Even more amazing than a GTR beating an 911 Turbo on every track in every test I saw (despite what Porsche says, I have yet to see a test where a Turbo is faster than a GTR)!

Let the usual petty excuses begin...

Great work by GM! Simple as that!

Nice time.. that car sure is mighty impressive

Ok sooo which Europeans are you referring to, and what exactly is your point anyway?

Ferrari Enzo , Pagani Zonda F Clubsport and a Maserati MC12. My point is, people are overlooking the fact that they are comparing the ZR-1 with cars that wasn't really developed on the Ring, plus the ZR-1 has 638hp, so it shouldn't be that surprising that the ZR-1 is the quickest of them all.

Anyway the ZR-1 is definitely a very impressive performance car.

ZR1 has the power, yes, but its gearing is still fairly tall, and the shifting is slower than what an Enzo/MC12 can acheive. It's also front-engined so shouldn't have as quick response as the others; with the long hood, it's also probably a bit more difficult to sight and aim for the apex, especially when coming up on a hill. Runflats add unnecessary unsprung weight, and I'd also wager the downforce on the other cars are higher.
I think it can shave more than 4 seconds off the time, but the report is false. This was posted on a 'Vette forum:
"it isn't true. Just received confirmation from a well-placed source on the Corvette program. Ring season has ended and the Corvette team has not been back there since Mero's run."

People also forget they are comparing a relatively "low-end engineering" product with an extremely agressive pricetag to the finest of European's SUPERCARS costing maybe ten times more...
Of course the 'Vette was designed for the Nurb. But if it's that fast on the 'Ring, it's also extremely fast anywhere else.

OK, sure, the Maser, CGT, Enzo, Zonda and co are surely faster on another track. But it's a car that cost ten times less!!! And it can be faster on certain tracks!!

What GM achieved with the Z06 and now with the ZR-1 is absolutely mindblowing. Mindblowing. Even if this 4sec thing is fake, the performance of the ZR-1 is completely unreal given its price and engineering.