2019 Corvette ZR1 Gets High Marks During 3-Lap Track Review
2019 Corvette ZR1 Gets High Marks During 3-Lap Track Review
Quick evaluation of the new ZR1 at Lime Rock Park reveals some interesting truths about the ultimate Corvette.
Like chicken wing flavors, the types of Corvettes that Chevrolet offers go from mild to wild. Consider the base Corvette the beginning of that spectrum. The Grand Sport kicks things up a notch. Then there’s the Z06, which adds even more heat (and horsepower). At the other end of the spectrum is the 2019 ZR1, the wildest Corvette around.
Road & Track‘s Travis Okulski and Sam Smith took one out to Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park for what the magazine calls a “Three Lap Review.” It’s pretty much what it sounds like. Over the course of three laps around the 1.5-mile course, Okulski and Smith point out interesting facts about the ZR1 and what they like about it.
What their analysis reveals is the dichotomy between the ZR1’s appearance, stats, and positioning, and the machine that it truly is. Despite its multitude of air intakes and vents, giant front splitter, bulging hood, and park bench-like rear wing, the ZR1 is not a difficult or terrifying car to drive. If it starts to lose grip, it doesn’t snap its rear end out and fly into a tree. It communicates its limits calmly and gently. Even though it’s the most focused Corvette ever, it doesn’t concentrate on performance at the expense of interior quality. Its racy looks don’t compromise its outward visibility, either.
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Okulski even goes so far as to say that the ZR1, which has a starting price of $121,000 and can get into the $143,000 range like his test car, is a bargain, citing the prices of European supercars that are double what the ZR1 costs.
In many ways, the ZR1 is as wild as Chevy goes with America’s sports car, but at its core, it has some of the liveable and useful qualities of a more mild machine. That’s what makes it so appealing. It’s not a quirky, hyper-expensive exotic. It’s a Corvette.
