New Corvette ZR1X review: America's most powerful production car

Verdict

So much for the idea that electric drive has no place in a sports car. When you combine it with a twin-turbo V8 and put it all in a Corvette, things look very different. In terms of performance, the Corvette fully catches up with the European elite – yet despite a new, higher price tag, it still remains a bargain.

A punch like a steamroller, a sound like a hard rock band, and acceleration like a jet fighter – for the first few metres, everything in the Corvette ZR1X is as you’d expect in the most potent version of America's number one sports car. 

Plant your right foot and after the kickdown, your head is practically glued to the seat, your ears are ringing from the roar of the V8 engine, your hands are gripping the steering wheel in panic until your knuckles are white, and what little sense you have left can barely process the flood of images from outside, the landscape is flashing by so fast. 

But just before you're on a collision course with the horizon, you realise that something is different here. That this Corvette accelerates even faster than usual is something you can only read about later and then boast about, claiming you can effortlessly feel the difference between the ZR1 and ZR1X – those two-tenths of a second between 2.2 and 2.0 seconds for the standard sprint. Will anyone believe you? Who cares? Because you don't need the sensory perception of a Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen to realise, at the latest by the end of the straight, what the X in this supercar's name brings. 

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Where you previously had to summon all your courage to somehow scrape through a corner, this Corvette now handles it completely on its own and never even enters the danger zone. Then suddenly, even more so than during flat-out acceleration, you feel the exhilarating power of the electric motor, which drives the massively wide 275-section tyres on the front axle and propels the car from full speed into an arc like an aerobatic pilot in a dive just before impact. 

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And just as the audience at an aerobatic display gasps in amazement, the driver, too, is suddenly bewildered. No holding their breath, no squealing tyres, no nervousness – just pure performance and precision. And this in a Corvette? The sledgehammer of sports cars? Yes, since it switched to a mid-engine layout for the current generation, the Corvette has lost a good deal of its American brusqueness, but gained a great deal of seriousness in return. And ever since the ZR1 was launched a year ago with what was then the most powerful V8 engine in GM history – in fact, in all of Detroit – they've been on their guard in Maranello, Sant'Agata, Gaydon, and Zuffen, too. Now Captain America is now fully in the big leagues. 

Just like the new Ferrari 849 Testarossa, the Lamborghini Temerario, or the Aston Martin Valhalla, the Corvette has frighteningly attainable performance. To reach this point, however, the Americans had to overcome considerable resistance. They've always been wary of electromobility in Detroit, and since Donald Trump took over and slashed all subsidies, nobody wants to hear about electric vehicles anymore. Unless, of course, it's not about efficiency but performance – and in this regard, the guys at Chevy will stop at nothing.

That's why they first developed the Corvette E-Ray, significantly increasing the Corvette's everyday usability thanks to its all-wheel drive. Then they simply transplanted this electric technology into the ultra-focused ZR1. On paper, the 1079bhp of the V8 engine and the 189bhp of the electric motor combine at the same time for a maximum 1,232bhp, making the Corvette the most powerful production car ever made in America. Furthermore, thanks to its insane 1,320 Nm of torque, it covers the all-important quarter mile in less than nine seconds, a feat also unmatched in the States. 

In practice, this propels the car into a completely different league. The electric all-wheel drive becomes the secret weapon of the Corvette. Where previously the rear wheels would beg for mercy when you floored the accelerator, the car now catapults you out of the corner with four driven wheels. It balances on the ideal line like a gymnast on a beam, its Michelin Cup tyres practically glued to the tarmac, and it remains completely composed even under acceleration. Where other muscle cars primarily shine on the straights, the Corvette develops astonishing precision. The electronics manage the power in the background while the driver charges ahead – with the reassuring feeling that there is always a little left in reserve. The extra 90kg weight from the hybrid system is a small price to pay for this. Because if you feel it at all, it's in your head, not in the corners. 

Unlike their European competitors, the Americans don't even try to use electric technology as a greenwashing gimmick either. The Corvette therefore has neither a plug nor can it travel a single metre on electric power alone. Why would you turn down the sound of this orchestra when you have the sharpest instrument from Motown right behind you? Besides, that would require a larger battery than the current 1.9 kWh pack, a charging cable, and a power outlet, none of which would fit in the Corvette’s snug carbon-fibre body. Plus, there’d be the added weight to consider. 

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In Detroit, they'd rather invest in an even more aggressive design with even bigger spoilers, ensuring the Corvette strikes fear into the competition not only in the pit lane but also on the boulevard. The Corvette hasn't just changed in terms of driving dynamics, though; and the first shock hits you at the dealership. Especially as an American, because the ZR1X is ridiculously cheap considering the performance it offers.

Ultimately, $209,700, or roughly £152,000, is more than double the base car’s price in the US – and that doesn't even include the extras. But for the European market, the Corvette remains a bargain among supercars. After all, you'd only get a Lamborghini or Ferrari for that kind of money after many years as a used car. Maranello and Sant'Agata are probably celebrating every day that the ZR1X isn’t coming to this continent. 

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