Following E-Ray and Z06, ZR1 Three-Peats on Wards Auto’s 10 Best Engines List

Oct 23, 2025

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Following E-Ray and Z06, ZR1 Three-Peats on Wards Auto's 10 Best Engines List

Photo Credit: Keith Cornett

We would say that the LT7 will go down in history as the most powerful production V8 engine ever built, which it currently is.

But then again, who knows what rabbits remain to be pulled out of the hat by Chevy’s talented engineering team, based on the ever-evolving and constantly improving nature of their work in the past.

The world has certainly taken notice of the amazing accomplishment the 1,064-horsepower ZR1 engine represents, including Wards.

For the third year in a row, a Corvette engine has been named to the Wards 10 Best Engines & Propulsion Systems listing.

Photo Credit: Chevrolet

The Z06’s LT6 won the honor in 2023, followed by the E-Ray in 2024 for its clever combination of the base LT1 and an electric motor. In fact, every C8 model has made the list as the Stingray’s 495-hp V8 engine was honored back in 2020.

Now the ZR1 and its LT7 are standing on the podium this year.

The superlatives about the LT7 come gushing from the Wards judges, words like

“stupendous,” “staggering” and “phenomenal,” to name a few.

Says one judge Dave Zoia, of the LT7 and the ZR1: “This is an engineering tour de force. It’s a quick-to-respond rocket of a sports car that also is easy to drive, settling down nicely at highway cruising speeds. Bottom line: The powertrain is definitely on brand. Does it sell the car? Oh yeah.”

Chevy’s engineering team took the naturally aspirated LT6 5.5L V8 and added twin turbos and heavier-duty components like cylinder-head castings with unique CNC-machined ports and cylinder-block machining that create larger combustion chambers, along with upgraded pistons and connecting rods and related changes to crankshaft counterweights.

But that doesn’t mean the LT7 is a monster all the time. “The NVH engineers did a fantastic job of taming the beast that lies within, for moments when you don’t want to jolt the neighborhood,” another judge, Christie Schweinsberg, pointed out.

She seems to agree with our assessment at the beginning of this story, praising “the continued work of GM powertrain engineers, who without fail, year after year, manage to wring ever more power out of the LT engine.”

Source:
Wards Auto

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