Christmas Movie Marathon: Doug DeMuro Reviews the C8 Corvette ZR1, Make Your C8 Z06 Sound Like an F1 Car, Hennessey Drags and Rolls ZR1 vs. Tesla Plaid, and Gymkhana 2025

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Corvette Nation! We are incredibly grateful for all the time you’ve shared with CorvetteBlogger in 2025 and thank you for spending some of your holidays with us! This past week, we’ve been thinking about our dear readers and wanted to put together something special for everyone who is disappointed in Broncos v. Chiefs without Mahomes or has had their fill of TNT/TBS’ 24-Hours of A Christmas Story; for everybody who finds themselves alone or in need of an escape from the in-laws. For those and so many other ‘Vette fans out there, we’ve curated the perfect mental getaway: a video marathon starring the iconic, American, ‘plastic,’ and very fantastic thread that connects every one of our visitors.

Before we get to our headliners, December has been so chock-full of ‘Vette content, it’s very possible that even our most devout readers might have overlooked something really good. Here’s a quick recap of the month’s highlights for an opening act: Hagerty and Top Gear both gifted us cinema-quality on-track comparison tests between the C8 Corvette ZR1 and the closest things that it has to rivals. Producers of both videos brought $325k+ Mustangs (writing that price next to the word “Mustang” still feels wrong!). The collector car insurance specialists, along with Jason Camissa and Randy Pobst, upped the ante by including a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, and both stunning videos resulted in production car lap records at their respective host tracks!

While we’re on the topic of records, Brooks of the DragTimes YouTube channel set a new quarter-mile high-water mark for C8 ZR1s, consistently running in the 9.2s this week. Along with the record video, he also Corvette E-Ray against the new 911 GTS Hybrid in its awesome down-and-back U-Drag format, where Corvettes have flexed their all-around superiority since the Stingray starred in the inaugural episode opposite its LT4-powered CT5-V Blackwing cousin in 2022.

Doug DeMuro thinks the C8 ZR1 is “Incredible!”

When Doug DeMuro caught on at Jalopnik in the early 2010s with his innovative and uniquely engaging “what car should I buy for your amusement?” series, he quickly became one of your author’s favorite reads. While I can’t fault him for following the money to become one of, if not the primary automotive voice on YouTube, something was lost in his transition from humorous and eccentric writer/legitimate car enthusiast to full-time producer of purposely low-budget motoring films. Still, with more than 5 million subscribers and a Carrera GT in his Nantucket garage, the video schtick seems to be working for him, and nobody can ever say that he isn’t still passionate and knowledgeable about his subject matter.

The latest recipient of his trademark “quirks and features” walkaround series is none other than the C8 Corvette ZR1, and the certified Porsche guy made it through while only receiving some minor notes from our side of the tracks – there was no mention of “Gemini” or the twin theme when pointing out the rocket ships under the hood, and he seemed to lean on past experience when he said Zora’s likeness was on the windshield but has since added a note in the comments about it being Tadge on the ZR1. See how it rates among the extensive list of cars on his “Doug Score” scale below. Bonus drinking game: take a shot every time Doug calls the 1,064-horsepower Corvette “incredible.”

Hennessey Drag and Roll Races a ZR1 ZTK and a Tesla Model S Plaid

If you thought the entertaining 200 MPH ZR1 Christmas Tree Run was all the divisive super-tuner Hennessey had in store for its Black ZR1, well, it wasn’t. Ladies and gents, it’s straight-line time, and unlike the GT3 RS battle linked above, the AWD EV isn’t going to be such an easy out on its home turf; an unprepped drag strip. So, the Plaid has been around since 2021, so most are familiar with its blisteringly quick skillset, but actually looking at the numbers can still boggle the mind. In spite of weighing some 400 lbs. more than the shockingly porky Mustang GTD at 4,827 lbs. (making it about 1,000 lbs. heavier than the ZR1 and within 500 lbs. of a Chevy Tahoe seven-seat SUV), its tri-electric motor setup launches it ahead faster than just about any other Earth-bound object.

Car and Driver’s posted stats for the Plaid are as follows: 2.1 to 60, 4.3 to 100, 6.9 to 130, 9.2 to 150, and through the quarter in 9.4 seconds. The ultimate RWD Corvette isn’t far off, but C&D’s 60, 100, and 130 quotes of 2.2, 4.5, and 7.1 before hitting the quarter at 149 in 9.5 seconds pretty well illustrate Hennessey’s standing-start results. While the Drag Times car above, with its wing taken off and the ability to properly launch on a prepped surface, might have fared better, in real-world stop light challenges, the AWD ZR1X is going to be the one to finally take down the Plaid and hard-to-find but brutally quick Lucid Sapphire. In the here-and-now, it’s the roll racing where things get really interesting between Elon’s 1,020-horse sled and the twin-turbo Motown Mauler:

AeroFlowDynamics can Make Your C8 Corvette Z06s Sound like an F1 Car, but Better!

So far, we’ve worked in a lot of ZR1 and a little bit of Stingray/E-Ray, but until the imminent 6.7L Grand Sport gives it a run for its money, my favorite member of the C8 family remains the Z06 and its 8,600 RPM LT6 fantasy motor. Once the Corvette went mid-engined, an attainable 458 Speciale was my dream from day one, and GM more than delivered by adding more than a liter to Ferrari’s sacred formula to walk away with 70 more ponies than they ever could, and nearly 50 more HP than any naturally aspirated production V8 in history. It remains an engineering feat that I don’t think is talked about enough; an engineering feat that I’d still take over its ZR1 big brother on sound alone.

Which brings us to California’s AeorFlowDynamics, a company that typically manufactures upgrades for the kind of stuff that gets your IT guy excited (cars like the WRX, Civic Type-R, and GR Carola) while also dabbling on the other end of the spectrum in the influencer/CEO sandbox by upgrading stuff like the Ferrari 812 Superfast and Lamborghini Aventador SVJ. Their most recent product, though, finally hits the sweet spot right in the middle, for they’ve somehow managed to advance the already world-class soundtrack of the working man’s supercar, the C8 Z06. The system, aptly called the “F1 Exhaust,” makes the LT6 sound like an F1 car… from a time when F1 cars sounded like screaming banshees, instead of the current paddock of six-cylinder Hoovers.

The USA-designed “F1” sound is available on the AFD website starting at $1,999 for Stainless Steel with no valved mufflers and can be spec’d up to $3,499 for Grade 5 Titanium with valves and off-road-only “test pipes,” with several points between, including the $2,899 road-legal Goldilocks muffled regular pipes fashioned out of titanium. Compared to the factory setup, AFD claims up to 50 lbs. of weight savings. Informative as this has been, the F1 setup has to be heard to be believed, so plug in your best speakers or highest quality headphones and prepare to be transported to the automotive nirvana, startup shrieks, stationary revs, screaming fly-bys, eardrum rattling downshifts, and other noises so good, we almost had to tag this post as “NSFW.”

Just For Fun: Gymkhana 2025

The Gymkhana series is automotive stunt work at its best and, fittingly, most viral. Since the tragic passing of its originator, Ken Block, a few years ago, drifting duties have fallen to extreme sports legend and noted Corvette Z06 owner, Travis Pastrana, who hasn’t missed a beat!

This year’s edition takes us Down Under to the Australian Outback, Sydney Harbor, and a Camaro-filled V8 Supercars race at Bathurst in a Subaru Brat with a few minor modifications. As usual, the skill on display in Gymkhana is incredible [take a shot] and produces 10 or so awe-inspiring “holy cow” moments. It really doesn’t need any more ado, so we’ll just leave it here with a final Merry Christmas from all of us at CorvetteBlogger. See you in 2026, everyone!

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