GM has a new halo car and it’s called the 2025 Corvette ZR1. The newest supercar from Detroit comes with 5.5L flat-plane crank V8 equipped with twin turbos that produce 1,064 hp. And did we mention it has a top speed capable of 233 mph?
So far, GM has been a bit reticent about where the mighty new ZR1 will be offered, but we can already name a number of markets where it won’t be for sale and they include Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
This news comes from General Motor’s Australia Managing Director Jess Bala, who stated quite simply that “it’s not built in right-hand drive.”
With the arrival of the C8 era, GM made the Corvette a true car for the world by being able to offer it in certain markets in the right-hand drive configuration which is done at the Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green. Customers in Australia, Japan and the UK can order the Stingray, E-Ray and Z06 as a right-hand drive vehicle, but so far the ZR1 will remain off limits to these customers.
So far, the only export market that we’ve seen the ZR1 confirmed for is the Middle East. That news came from GM’s Trevor Thompkins who does PR for the Corvette. In a statement to Road & Track back in the Fall of 2024, Trevor stated that “Corvette ZR1 will be available in our North American and Middle East markets.” This was backed up by the sighting back in March of a Hysteria ZR1 show car at the Port of Wilmington for shipping to Dubai.
It’s not known why the ZR1 will not be offered in RHD or available in its current configuration in markets like Europe, but we would assume the car would have to be modified like the export Z06s which are detuned thanks to the required gasoline particulate filters and sound regulations that saw the bespoke center mounted exhaust system moved to the corners.
Of course, the plus side of less exports is more Corvette ZR1s for the United States, and that’s a plan we know that most of you can get behind!
Source:
torquecafe.com
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So much of the LT7 is precision matched forced induction that detuning it would probably cause a host of issues with flow efficiency, scavenging efficiency, power at a given RPM, etc. I believe that the LT7 is the first production engine where the manifold/headers are all single piece with the turbo. Highly efficient. Extremely difficult to detune effectively.
Gee…..maybe they’ll make a domestic ZR1 some day.
Better yet, why not make some ZR1s for the Americans that can be ordered with really weird options like a freaking high wing for a ZTK packaged car?
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