When you’ve competed in more than 700 races and won more than 100 of them, folks tend to listen to your opinions about sports cars.
That’s certainly the case with veteran racer Randy Pobst, who just issued his thoughts on what he describes as the new “64 plus a thousand”- horsepower 2025 Corvette ZR1 in a post for grassrootsmotorsports.com.
Perhaps his most interesting comment comes when Pobst compares the new C8 ZR1 to an NA Miata with 10 or 11 liters, explaining: “While it’s easy to overcome the grip of the two driven DOT tires out back, it’s in a really controllable way–not a snap oversteer, at least if the throttle is approached with a modicum of good sense. Makes the old C7 feel like it’s on ice.”
Indeed, that’s his major criticism of the last of the front-engine Corvettes, calling the C7 “twitchy under power, and the more it has, the worse it gets.” He frets about the C7’s “notorious power oversteer, the kind that snaps sideways and sends the cars into the crowd whilst leaving cars and coffee should a foolhardy show-off switch off the StabiliTrak and attempt a burnout.”
The C8, on the other hand, puts power down so well, Pobst says, that even the base Stingray “overachieves” 0 to 60 times for its 495 horsepower and rear-wheel drive. Terming it his 1065th favorite thing about the ZR1, he says that the C8, in all versions, “hooks up extremely well,” a trait he credits to the mid-engine weight distribution as well as the geometry that creates “so much forward bite.”
His 1066th favorite thing about the ZR1, he says, is its virtual lack of lag when delivering its massive power, a trait aided by the electronically controlled wastegates of its turbo system capable of closing during braking to set aside some boost for when the driver accelerates again. Pobst says he felt no real lag on the track, making “this outrageously muscular car feel controllable.”
He did have one piece of advice for Chevy. With the recent introduction of the even more powerful ZR1X, Pobst concedes that he would have delayed the 1250 horsepower X a little to give the ZR1 time “to shine longer before making it old news.”
Check out the entire article at grassrootsmotorsports.com.
Source:
grassrootsmotorsports.com
Related:
[VIDEO] Cammisa’s Ultimate Track Battle! Corvette Z06 vs Porsche GT3 RS vs BMW M4 CSL with Randy Pobst
The Fastest Corvettes (and Other GM Vehicles) at Laguna Seca
[VIDEO] Randy Pobst Hot Laps the C8 Corvette at Laguna Seca for MotorTrend
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Stability control reacts to steering input, lateral acceleration and yaw rate that is incorrect for the steering angle. The system will react by reducing torque if required, or applying the outside front brake to reduce the yaw rate.
We all hear NASCAR drivers talking about a car being loose on entry, loose in the middle or loose on exit. Those are all oversteer situations in different parts of a corner and can result in a “snap oversteer” if the driver doesn’t modulate the throttle properly.
Def: A yaw rate sensor (or rotational speed sensor) measures a vehicle’s angular velocity about its vertical axis in degrees or radius per second in order to determine the orientation of the vehicle as it hard-corner or threatens to roll-over.
Thanks,
Ray
C7 Grand Sport is definitely a more agile track car than the Z06, unless you can turn the boost down.
Makes the case for a turbo or non roots style supercharger.
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