2012 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 shaves 6 seconds off 2008 Nurburgring lap time

2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1

The Nurburgring Nordschleife is the place of the face of the Earth to test cars to the limits. The 20 odd kilometer long racetrack is popular with automakers who visit the Ring to test and fine-tune the handling of their cars before letting them run of public roads. Porsche is one of the regulars and the one place to spot future test mules is the Ring.

2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (illustrative image)

Now, American manufacturers too are travelling to southwestern Germany to fine-tune their sports cars. Sports cars from Uncle Sam’s nation sure are catching up to the Europeans and this shows from the times they are setting the Nuburgring. The latest news comes from General Motors and Chevrolet. The 2012 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 just had a go at the Nurburgring and was right away able to beat the time set by the previous model.

2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1

The new updated ‘Vette went round the track in 7 min 19.63 sec, six seconds quicker than the current model. With this, Driver and Corvette engineer Jim Mero and the 2012 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 found a place in the Nurburgring record books. Jim and the ZR-1 moved to seventh spot with the 7.19 sec time they set for production cars. The car was in stock condition apart from a few onboard safety equipment which actually increased the weight of the car.

The ZR-1 ‘Vette ran of optional Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires which essentially being road legal are more track focused. The tires offer the best grip in warm and dry condition and this results in improving the cars performance by about 8 percent. The 2008 record run was done on Michelin Pilot Sport tires and the man behind the wheel of the Corvette Zr-1 back then was in fact Jim Mero himself.

Jump to Youtube for the video

Share and Enjoy: