You are looking at official pictures of the fastest ever Corvette, the new ZR1 supercar.The ZR1's trump card is its new supercharged, 6.2-litre V8 small block engine, which GM claims will endow the car with 620bhp, 595lb ft of torque and a top speed of at least 200mph. Chevrolet General Manager, Ed Peper, said that "the goal with the ZR1 is to show what an American supercar can deliver, at a price that trumps exotics that cost three or four times as much - and does so with exceptional driveability."We wouldn't doubt the performance aspect of that claim. The ZR1 will be based on the same aluminium chassis as the Z06, and uses swathes of carbon fibre in the bodywork to bring the kerbweight down to 1519kg. That gives the ZR1 408bhp per tonne; over 50bhp per tonne more than the Z06, and a better power to weight ratio than the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 and Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. Of course, performance has never been an issue with Corvettes, but the "driveability" claimed to be a core aspect of the new ZR1 is harder to believe given that it shares its basic suspension with the Z06, which is notoriously unforgiving on the road. However, the addition of a new Magnetic Selective Ride Control system may change that. The system uses electronically controlled shocks filled with a fluid that reacts to magnetic pulses – which Corvette claims gives "almost instantaneous damper adjustment".We'll have to wait until late next year to get behind the wheel of the ZR1 and find out if the claims are true, but expect to find out more details on the fastest car ever to come from General Motors following its unveiling at Detroit in January.
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