2025 Corvette ZR1 Is a Dyno Breaking, Flame Throwing Machine: Tadge Juechter

Tadge Juechter takes on a deep dive of the 2025 Corvette ZR1, revealing even more compelling details about the engineering marvel.

The recent reveal of the 2025 Corvette ZR1 is something that we’ve known about and have anticipated for years to this point. After all, the fact that the ZR1 was returning for the C8 generation was easily one of the worst kept secrets in the automotive world, basically since the launch of the C8 itself years ago. Regardless, the actual debut of the 2025 Corvette ZR1 was still a shocker, largely because nobody really expected a 1,000+ horsepower machine to emerge from the shadows – at least not without a Zora badge on it.

Regardless, that’s precisely what happened, as the 2025 Corvette ZR1 has easily blown away everyone’s expectations – by a long shot. There are so many nifty details present in this range-topping model that one could easily write a book about them, but in a recent interview with Car and Driver, Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter gave us many more truly interesting tidbits worth highlighting, too. That starts with the fact that the 2025 Corvette ZR1 quite literally proved to be too powerful for most normal dynos to contain, it seems.

“We’ve burned up a lot of dynos,” Juechter said. “We actually had to put in new dynos for the C7 for the 755 horsepower. Nobody ever imagined we’d be operating in that range, so we actually put in new dynos. And they were thinking, ‘oh these are good for a thousand [horsepower].’ Well, we turned out we needed more than that. So yeah, this engine ripped up the dynos pretty good.”

“So there’s parallel development of the engine and the dyno infrastructure here at General Motors. In fact, one engine escaped the dyno. It tore itself off the stand, it became completely displaced, actually breaking its moorings and so we had to repair the dyno. The engine was fine…put it back on the dyno and continued our work. We had re-engineered a lot of the support systems for the engine.”

The ZR1’s LT7 powerplant is its own technical marvel, and avoids turbo boost by leaning on what Juechter calls “smart strategies,” to retain boost even when the user isn’t in the throttle. “The wastegates are closed,” Juechter notes, “We actually don’t relive the pressure – we keep that pressure there so as you crowd back into the throttle it’s there, and the turbos spool up really quickly.”

Even the exhaust system in the 2025 Corvette ZR1 is rather special, which is necessary given the fact that the turbos move enough volume to “empty an Olympic-sized swimming pool in around four minutes,” according to Juechter. That means a large volume of air is going to exit the exhaust as well, creating a bit of a show for those around it. “You can see flames at times, depending on how you’re driving,” Juechter says.” He even shows us that during GM’s testing, he’s seen flames shoot out what appears to be roughly a foot past the exhaust tips.

That extreme amount of airflow also “provides a little bit of thrust to the vehicle – 37 pounds of thrust – which is measurable,” Juechter notes. To make that happen, the ZR1 has to get enough air to the engine, of course, and it manages that thanks to its vast array of aerodynamic bits and features – “the car is flooded with warm air,” Juechter says, a process that starts up front with the car’s unique aero features. There are a couple of cool air intakes, however, which consist of the ZR1’s new brake cooling ducts in the rear fenders.

This is all truly fascinating information, and there’s plenty more in this easily-digestible clip. If nothing else, the 2025 Corvette ZR1 clearly represents the pinnacle of GM engineering at this time, and with Juechter set to retire this week after a successful 47 year career, the Corvette team certainly has some big shoes to fill.

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