2012 Corvette ZR1 Runs Fastest Time at Car and Driver’s Lightning Lap #6 at VIR

Over the past six years, Car and Driver has brought 115 production cars to Virginia International Raceway (VIR) 4.1 mile Grand West Course. The result is an American-style Nurburgring-like timed lap test called the Lightning Lap. Currently, the 2010 Corvette ZR1 sits 4th fastest on the list with only a Viper ACR and two Moslers that have run faster. We were excited to see how the 2012 Corvette ZR1 tested with the new Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires would compare to its previous lap time and the results do not disappoint.

The 2012 Corvette ZR1 Centennial Edition with the new Michelin Sport Cups ran a blistering fast lap of 2:50.7 – a second faster than the previous time of 2:51.8 set by the 2010 Corvette ZR1.

The ZR1 was the fastest car overall of the 20 vehicles that were tested. The Nissan GT-R (2:53.2), the Porsche Cayman R (3:03.9), the Audi TT RS (3:0438) and the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG (3:04.9) round out the top five of those cars tested in the LL3 class. That’s not a big surprise to Chevy fans considering the 638-horses and an overall weight of 3,363 lbs gives the C6 King of the Hill a ridiculous 5.3 on the pounds per horsepower chart.

Corvette Team members Harlan and Tadge have both mentioned the Car and Driver Lightning Lap previously in their talks with Corvette enthusiast so you can count on them to tout the improvement as validation to the changes made to the latest model.

There is a wealth of information about the Lightning Lap and the cars tested on the Car and Driver website. Click here for the Feature Intro or jump straight to the video of the 2012 Corvette ZR1’s Lightning Lap. There is also a page where you can see the Historical Lap Times.

The feature can also be found in the February 2012 issue of Car and Driver.

Source:
Car and Driver

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