GM's Top end MPH with 2025 ZR1 on Track in Germany

[teamzr1]

GM ran the new 2025 ZR1 at the TP track in Papenburg, Germany where it averaged 233 MPH.

Driving the all new 2025 Corvette ZR1 was GM President Mark Reuss who said he had confidence in the car’s ability thanks to the people who helped prepped the car for the run, but also the engineering that is behind it as well.
Mark says he left it in Sport Mode, and we also see from the data telemetry that the car was in 6th gear with the RPM pegged at the 8,000 red line!

Chevrolet does their top speed runs in two directions and then averages the difference.
Their first run netted a speed of 233.08 while their second run came in at 233.50 MPH.

Chevrolet says that the 233 MPH top speed run is unrivalled by any current production car priced under $1 million, and it wasn’t something that was achieved in a specially prepped Corvette.
This ZR1 had the standard chassis and aero package, standard spoiler, carbon fiber ground effects, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S Tires and aluminum wheels.
During the testing, five engineers and both ZR1 development cars onsite exceeded 230 mph across multiple runs.

Setting the top-speed record in the Corvette ZR1 is a true triumph for Corvette and for Chevrolet, and also an exhilarating, surreal experience for me personally,” said Reuss. “With the current generation’s switch to mid-engine, we knew the outstanding performance and balance made this a real possibility.
To go over there and get it done is a testament to the power of ZR1, and to the incredibly talented team that developed and built it.”

Interesting I was not too far off as to top end using my simulator, that would be I not knowing what the weather and elevation at that racetrack

 

[Roscobbc]

Thanks for publishing that Jon........really significant news. I wonder who will modify the engine and try for 250 mph?

 

[teamzr1]

Being the controllers are locked, not any time soon would people be able to unlock them to do custom tunes to make changes for other mods done to the LT7

As the 2025 ZR1 rounded the curve, it was already going faster than any factory stock Corvette in history.

“He was doing 222 miles per hour in the banking,” says Chris Barber, Corvette ZR1 lead development engineer. At that velocity, the all-new ZR1 had already beaten the Corvette top-speed record by 10 mph. But the 1,064-horsepower machine had more to give.

Coming off the banked curve and onto the 2.5-mile straightaway on the test track in Papenburg, Germany, the driver put his foot to the floor. Seconds later, the ZR1—with General Motors President Mark Reuss behind the wheel, hit a top speed of 233 mph.

In that moment, the ZR1 became the fastest car ever built by an American auto manufacturer, the fastest current production car priced under $1 million, and the fastest factory-stock Corvette on earth.

When development began on the C8-generation Corvette, engineers set a target top speed of 220 mph for the ZR1 on the track. In testing, the car’s 5.5-liter, flat-plane-crank, twin-turbo LT7 V8 blew past the team’s lofty horsepower goals. So they pushed the top-speed objective to 230 mph. “The team had to decide, is this worth the effort,” Barber said.

For Barber and his Corvette colleagues, the answer was immediate. “Everybody unanimously said yes. Let’s go do the best we can do.”

The Corvette engineering team chose ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg, in the northwest corner of Germany, as its test site. ATP’s high-speed oval track is shaped like a paper clip. One lap covers 7.6 miles; in the curves, the pavement is banked nearly 50 degrees, so steep you’d struggle to stand on it. Driving around these bends at 150 mph feels exactly like driving on straight, flat pavement—the tilt of the road counteracts the g-force that would otherwise try to claw you out of your seat.

At speeds over 200 mph, those curves aren’t so gentle. Barber drove the ZR1 at Papenburg himself, reaching over 230 mph on a one-way practice run. (Official top-speed records take the average of two runs in opposite directions to account for wind.)

“Going into the banking was the most intense part,” he says. “That feeling is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It just pushes you so hard into the ground. Even NASCAR tracks, they don’t come close to 50-degree banking. Almost nobody gets to experience something like that.”

As for the straightaway blast past 230 mph? “The car feels stable so that it doesn’t present as that big of an event,” Barber said. The ZR1 that set the speed record was 100-percent factory stock, with production-spec engine software, the standard aero package, and stock-fitment Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires on aluminum wheels. “It just feels like you’re going pretty fast on the highway,” says Barber. “Which is crazy to say, but that’s how good the car was.”

That approachability proved to be an asset for Reuss. The GM president, along with GM senior vice president Ken Morris, had just landed in Germany. The two executives, both seasoned race-car drivers, ran practice laps at 150 mph, getting a feel for the car and the track. A short warm-up was all they needed. “They were both ready to go,” Barber said. “They had confidence, like, let’s do this.”

The next day, Reuss hit 233 mph on two runs in opposite directions, setting a top speed that even the Corvette lead development engineer wasn’t expecting.

“We actually didn’t think 233 was in the cards,” Barber says. “That’s part of the reason everyone was so excited. Not only did we meet the target, we did better. It speaks to the confidence the car provides, how easy it felt for us to do something that sounds just insane.”

Reuss was hardly out of the car before the team gave him the official top speed. “Everyone was clapping, the excitement level was crazy,” Barber says. “We’ve done some cool stuff, but I’ve never seen the group so ecstatic. Having Mark Reuss there as the driver just added to it. We’re proud as the Corvette team, but to have Mark be so involved speaks to the importance of what this means. This is a pretty historic thing.”

Unique to the 5.5L LT7 twin-turbo V8:

• Head castings with unique ports and a larger combustion chamber
• Valve train timing and lift profile optimized for forced induction with higher exhaust temp enabling exhaust valves
• Completely new intake system tuned for twin turbochargers
• CNC machined combustion chamber, exhaust and intake ports specific to the LT7
• Dual, ported shroud, ball bearing, mono-scroll (76 mm) turbochargers integrated with the exhaust manifold to reduce the volume and distance from the exhaust valve to the turbine wheel for quick response with electronic wastegates
• Intelligent anti-lag engine calibration techniques specifically for ZR1 that adapt and react to driving style
• Sixteen fuel injectors
• Dual turbos put out 20 PSI of boost

The LT7 engine also builds upon this engine architecture with:

• Added block and head machining to support turbo cooling and oiling
• Counterweight changes to account for a unique piston, and unique connecting rod for the crank train
• A secondary port fuel injection system added to deliver the needed additional fuel to support the engine’s massive output

To support the dramatic increase in power from the LT7 engine, engineers made numerous changes to the Corvette ZR1’s eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, including:

• Inner and outer input shaft upgrades
• Increased gear capacity with strength increased via shot peening for all gears
• Final drive refinements
• Oil management to support increased vehicle longitudinal and lateral capability
• Increased control valves to accommodate the higher required clutch clamp load for LT7

 

[phn]

Just watched that - absolutely amazing!!