Today

Corvette ZR1X is EV-defying drag strip monster

A ten second car, you say? Pah - try an eight-second one

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In one of the least surprising bits of news you’ll read throughout 2026, the four-wheel drive, 1,267hp, mid-engined, twin-turbo hybrid Corvette ZR1X is very, very fast down a drag strip. Preposterously so, in fact, even in these times of outrageous EVs, very tuneable turbos and exotica like we’ve never seen before. 

8.675 is the magic number, that being the ZR1X’s quarter-mile time as tested by Corvette at US 131 Motorsports Park last October. That time was on a prepared drag surface, and the initial roll out has to be factored in (0-60mph was recorded in just 1.68 seconds), but there’s no arguing with a 159mph trap speed. Or 1.75g of longitudinal acceleration - this thing is a monster. 

The Corvette in question really was a stock example, too, using the regular Michelin PS4 S tyres on carbon wheels, the standard aero and plain old pump gas. The car in question, driven by Corvette engineer and test driver Stefan Frick, recorded multiple runs at less than 8.8 seconds, so that stunning 8.675 really is representative of what can be achieved. Even on unprepped tarmac, a ZR1X with the Performance Package went under nine seconds. For a series production, road-legal combustion car, that’s absolutely bonkers. One that costs just $200,000, remember, which Corvette is keen to point out is a fraction of the cost of anything else as fast (with an engine). 

In fact, Corvette used the opportunity to send all the C8s down the strip, and every single one - Stingray, E-Ray, Z06, ZR1 - reached 60mph in less than three seconds. That certainly didn’t happen with every front-engined model. As GM President Mark Reuss put it: “When we made the revolutionary shift to a mid-engine platform, this is the type of performance we knew was possible.” And just imagine what might be possible once the ZR1X gets some proper fuel down its neck and a set of sticky tyres - drag racers of America may have a new hero on their hands. 

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[SR]

I prefer a C6 to this but impressive nonetheless.

[dukebox9reg]

0-60 sub 3 with roll out no doubt so more like 7-60 so pointless metric. Merica twisting facts in their favour again. Though its still a bloody quick car

Edited by dukebox9reg on Tuesday 13th January 16:31

[Arsecati]

VERY dismissive of the 'initial roll out', when it makes a HUGE difference! All these times are utterly irrelevant, as they can't be compared to anything that has been tested PROPERLY to 60 and the 1/4 mile. Yes, yes, yes, this is undoubtedly ridiculously fast, an embarrassment to hypercars many multiples of its price - but this is the UK and you are quoting US times which are only relevant in the US: I guess we'll just have to wait for Mr. Watson to properly test it, so it can be compared to its peers, but slobbering on about '8 second 1/4 mile' times, is just nauseating click bait.

[fooman]

As nice as it is until we have some comparable results it's a bit of an unknown.

[JD]

Arsecati said:

VERY dismissive of the 'initial roll out', when it makes a HUGE difference! All these times are utterly irrelevant, as they can't be compared to anything that has been tested PROPERLY to 60 and the 1/4 mile. Yes, yes, yes, this is undoubtedly ridiculously fast, an embarrassment to hypercars many multiples of its price - but this is the UK and you are quoting US times which are only relevant in the US: I guess we'll just have to wait for Mr. Watson to properly test it, so it can be compared to its peers, but slobbering on about '8 second 1/4 mile' times, is just nauseating click bait.

Which UK drag strips don’t use roll out?

[CountyLines]

Fast as fk. Ugly as fk.

[Terminator X]

Well played. Didn't the EV crowd tell us ICE was dead

TX.

[BlankmanJK]

Even if you don’t agree with how the acceleration is measured, the trap speed says more than enough.

159mph is absolutely insane.

For reference, the Chiron SuperSport did 9.1 at 161mph in Car and Driver’s hands. The regular ZR1 traps around 149mph. The 750S is around 145mph. A 992.1 Turbo S, about 135-137mph.

Incredible for $220K or so…

[wjk_glynn]

dukebox9reg said:

0-60 sub 3 with roll out no doubt so more like 7-60 so pointless metric. Merica twisting facts in their favour again.

1-ft of rollout is an artifact from how 1/4 mile competition drag racing is actually measured in the US. And for various legacy reasons, US publications still include rollout in their published results.

A bit more detail…

Back in the 1960s, the NHRA introduced electronic light beams at the start and end of a drag strip, to more accurately measure the 1/4 mile times. Once a car is pre-staged at the start line, the car can move up to 1-ft before the timer starts - that’s where the rollout comes from. This article from Car and Driver goes into a bit more detail on the pre-staging/rollout procedure.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a30085446/ac...

Anyone in the US can take their own car down to their local drag strip, which are still reasonably common today, and see how they compare to the published results from US magazines.

Of course modern high precision GPS systems can give you a true 0-60 time without having to break light beams at a local drag strip. But in practice, including rollout is still the convention in the US.

[uktrailmonster]

Terminator X said:

Well played. Didn't the EV crowd tell us ICE was dead

TX.

I thought straight line acceleration was unimportant when EVs were owning it?

[nismo48]

Well done, a fair feat for the money it would cost to buy the car as is.

[Terminator X]

uktrailmonster said:

Terminator X said:

Well played. Didn't the EV crowd tell us ICE was dead

TX.

I thought straight line acceleration was unimportant when EVs were owning it?

Just saying you guys said ICE was dead. They don't seem to have listened to you.

TX.

[paddy1970]

Quarter-mile ET with 1-ft rollout is commonly ~0.2–0.3 s quicker than a “true” ET with the clock starting at zero movement.

Trap speed (mph) is essentially unchanged (it is measured near the finish).

~8.8–8.9 s “no rollout” (as a sensible real-world ballpark), while still being ~160 mph trap.

Rimac Nevera R is faster: 7.90 s quarter mile (records set July 2025) and Rimac states this record was done with standard one-foot rollout.

[Cristio Nasser]

Arsecati said:

VERY dismissive of the 'initial roll out', when it makes a HUGE difference! All these times are utterly irrelevant, as they can't be compared to anything that has been tested PROPERLY to 60 and the 1/4 mile. Yes, yes, yes, this is undoubtedly ridiculously fast, an embarrassment to hypercars many multiples of its price - but this is the UK and you are quoting US times which are only relevant in the US: I guess we'll just have to wait for Mr. Watson to properly test it, so it can be compared to its peers, but slobbering on about '8 second 1/4 mile' times, is just nauseating click bait.

Are there no non-US made cars also tested in this way that can be directly compared, or something? Grrrr corvette yanks ..! Amirite?

It’s a very impressive feat, regardless. Pooh poohing it is nothing but sour grapes.

Edited by Cristio Nasser on Tuesday 13th January 19:23

[Cristio Nasser]

uktrailmonster said:

Terminator X said:

Well played. Didn't the EV crowd tell us ICE was dead

TX.

I thought straight line acceleration was unimportant when EVs were owning it?

Touché!

[CG2020UK]

So without a roll out it’s basically bang on a Tesla Model S Plaid except it’s double the price and you can’t fit a family of 4 and your weekly shop in it.

Poor headline reducing what looks like a smashing car for a few clicks.

Track battles with the Porsche GT3RS and Ford Mustang GTD on YouTube are well worth a watch for anyone who hasn’t seen them!

[uktrailmonster]

Terminator X said:

uktrailmonster said:

Terminator X said:

Well played. Didn't the EV crowd tell us ICE was dead

TX.

I thought straight line acceleration was unimportant when EVs were owning it?

Just saying you guys said ICE was dead. They don't seem to have listened to you.

TX.

This is just a novelty ICE sports car. I never said those were dead. Right now I’m looking at a family 5-seat EV with 700 lb.ft of torque and a 0-60 time in the mid 3 sec range. Best bit is that it will cost less than 3 p per mile to run. So I can easily put 15k miles per year on it. Not seeing any ICE competition for that because it doesn’t exist.

[GTRene]

that is fast, sadly I don't like the car, to me to massive? of course I like the tech components and the engine.

great job Corvette.

[SDK]

uktrailmonster said:

Terminator X said:

Well played. Didn't the EV crowd tell us ICE was dead

TX.

I thought straight line acceleration was unimportant when EVs were owning it?

Yep - The Tesla Plaid was doing this 5 years ago, for half the price, whilst 4 up.

But this is news


ahhh, I get it.......It goes brum, brum

[Cristio Nasser]

CG2020UK said:

So without a roll out it s basically bang on a Tesla Model S Plaid except it s double the price and you can t fit a family of 4 and your weekly shop in it.

Poor headline reducing what looks like a smashing car for a few clicks.

Track battles with the Porsche GT3RS and Ford Mustang GTD on YouTube are well worth a watch for anyone who hasn t seen them!

No, it s faster than a plaid. Plaid 1/4 mile (so by definition, includes rollout), is 9.23s with 155mph trap speed according to Tesla. ZR1X does it in 8.65s with a 159mph trap speed according to GM. In short, a faster car. Beating out the Lucid Air Sapphire as well.

It’s a mighty achievement, and to deny it that is just incredibly petit sour grapes.

“bUT, i CAN T Do thE ScHOoL rUn AND wEeKlY shoP wiTh IT!”

FFS, ok, you got us there. How does its ‘ring time compare?

Edited by Cristio Nasser on Tuesday 13th January 21:35