It's a vehicle that has even the purists drooling. The 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 was unveiled by General Motors on Wednesday much to the delight of 'Vette fans. The vehicle is also due to be showcased at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month.
Although the ZR1 is based on the Z06 Corvette, its performance is much sharper than the latter. The body is made of carbon fiber, but it hides the supercharged LS9 engine under it. This engine is GM's latest offering and combines eight cylinders.
The 'Vette ZR1 uses a sixth-generation Eaton supercharger in order to hit torque of 585 pound-feet. Harlan Charles, project manager for the Corvette unit at GM was mum on the actual power of the ZR1 but he revealed that it was "capable of producing at least 100 horsepower per liter. That's at least 620 horsepower, and approximately 595 lb.-ft. of torque."
The 15.5-inch carbon-ceramic front rotors are kept quite and cool by brake cooling ducts. The ZR1 aims to compete with fast cars like the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano F1 coupe.
Although the pricing model is yet to be released, it is expected that the ZR1 will cost at least $100,000.
