Watch: 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Makes Historic Top Speed Run
The 1,064 horsepower ZR1 takes a trip to Germany to break several top speed records.
Usually when discussing supercars that have top speeds well over 200 mph, those cars are from Europe and part of very limited production runs. The 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 just American muscle'd its way into that conversation. The 1,064 horsepower ‘vette just made American history on a German test track while cameras were rolling.
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Chevrolet sent a small team, including Corvette ZR1 lead development engineer Chris Barber and General Motors President Mark Reuss to ATP Automotive Testing grounds in Papenburg, Germany. Their goal was to push the ZR1 to its limits, but as GM tells it, the team figured out the ZR1’s limits were higher than previously estimated.
“This [ZR1] car actually overachieved,” said Barber. The ZR1 team anticipated the car’s top speed would sit somewhere around 220 mph, however in early testing it became apparent that the goal posts needed to be moved to 230 mph. We had our own turn at a speed run in the ZR1 not too long ago, but the top speed reached was 206 mph.
It turns out that the team’s 230 mph estimate was still off. With Reuss behind the wheel, the ZR1 set a top speed of 233 mph. That makes the 2025 Corvette ZR1 the fastest production car built by an American automaker, the fastest production car under $1 million, and the fastest factory-stock Corvette. Note that the top speed is measured by an average of two runs in opposite directions. GM says the ZR1 hit 233 on both runs.
ATP Testing’s 7.6-mile course was specifically made for runs like this due to its near 50-degree banked turns. The banks counteract g-forces so that taking the curves at 150 mph feels like driving on a flat surface.
GM says the ZR1 that set the record is “100-percent factory stock, with production-spec engine software, the standard aero package, and stock-fitment Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires on aluminum wheels.”
They key to the ZR1 will be its price. All we know is that it will be under $1 million, which is a vast range. However, depending on where the price ultimately lands, the ZR1 could shake up the supercar, perhaps even the hypercar market; especially if the 2025 ZR1 can come in under $500,000. Imagine an American production car that can outrun Europe’s best hypercars for less than half the asking price? What a timeline we would live in.
Andrew Beckford’s passion for cars started as a middle schooler when his friend Richie explained how an internal combustion engine works. He was bitten by the bug and the rest, as they say, is history. He dug deep into the tuner scene and eventually wrote for Turbo Magazine, Import Tuner, Super Street. He covered car shows, feature builds, and reviewed racing games for those magazines in addition to covering motorsports including Formula Drift, Indy Car, and F1 for his personal blog. Eventually Beckford joined MotorTrend to cover the daily automotive news beat. Besides being a gearhead, Beckford has been a gamer since the ’80s and is a huge fan of the arcade racing games of the ’90s like Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, and Ridge Racer. Beckford’s a movie buff as well, especially comic book films from DC and Marvel. When car culture crosses over with gaming and entertainment, rest assured Beckford is aware of it. In addition to serving as a consultant on a “triple A” racing titles, he’s reviewed major racing games such as Forza Motorsport, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, F1, and more. He’s also interviewed blockbuster directors including Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Neill Blomkamp (Gran Turismo). His biggest profile to date was with Robert Downey Jr. on his love affair with cars and his show Downey’s Dream Cars on MAX. Beckford’s profile of Downey Jr. was the first print cover story written by an African American in MotorTrend’s history. Along with KJ Jones, Andrew Beckford also heads up MotorTrend’s celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting diverse voices in the automotive industry and motorsports. Beckford’s first car was a 1982 Nissan Stanza affectionately named “Stanley” by his late mother.
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