[VIDEO] Emelia Hartford Volunteers to Durability Test the 1250HP Corvette ZR1X

Mar 4, 2026

7702

[VIDEO] Emelia Hartford Volunteers to Durability Test the 1250HP Corvette ZR1X

One of those lucky to drive the new 2026 Corvette ZR1X was YouTuber Emelia Hartford during the official Ride and Drive event held nearly two weeks ago at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California.

As one of the first 2020 Stingray owners, Emelia was also among the first to twin turbo her LT2 V8, and for a good while she held the world record time for the C8 Corvette at the dragstrip. What’s interesting is that many of things that she and other tuners like FuelTech were doing would eventually become available from the factory on the Corvette ZR1. But then Chevy had another ace up its sleeve and that was merging that twin turbo powertrain with a performance hybrid system to create the 1250hp all-wheel drive Corvette ZR1X.

Chevy brought out everyone for this event including Executive Chief Engineer Tony Roma, Vehicle Chief Engineer Josh Holder, as well as development drivers Aaron Link, and Cody Buckley who all appeared at different times in the video to provide feedback and additional details of how this special car was developed. We even saw Cody driving the Yellow ZR1X used to set the benchmark at the Nurburgring as the lead car on the track. This video clocks in at 44 minutes long, so make sure you grab your favorite beverage and get comfortable as this video is one fun ride!

During the event, Emelia drove the car both on the road course and at the drag strip, and Chevrolet’s engineers were there to make sure she had a car that was set up for what until now would have been “unthinkable’ speeds for production Corvette. That included getting a fresh set of Michelin Cup2R straight from the warmers and onto the car before heading out on the track. Following her first lead-follow session, she remarks:

My cheeks hurt so much from smiling so hard the entire time. This thing is insane. 1,250 horsepower. I will literally be 50% TPS (throttle position sensor) on the throttle and forget I have 50% more because of how fast it is. And then you step on it and then she just scoots. This is crazy. I also don’t have a ton of seat time in all-wheel drive cars. So this is this is unreal. It just it’s got all the traction in all the right places and all the power you want on top of it.

Before heading to the dragstrip, Chevy had set up a burnout prep area which was just a crazy way to create smoke and destroy some tires, and she made the most of it. On the drag strip, she had three opportunities and each run went faster and faster with the final run clocking in at a time of 9.1-seconds at 156 mph!. She was told the day before when the weather was a bit better that drivers were getting into the 8s, which again for the factory stock Corvette is just…well, “unthinkable.”

From Emelia Hartford via YouTube:

Source:
Emelia Hartford

Subscribe Now:

2 COMMENTS

IPD Mar 5, 2026 At 8:37 am

Shame she couldn’t see the light earlier. She could have done the Twin-Turbo thing to an ER; quite literally swap it over to an ER, and go. She’d have understood years ago what the ZR1X was going to be like.

She’s not alone. There’s a litany of corvette owners/fans–who all thumb their noses at AWD.
Rc Mar 6, 2026 At 7:21 am

Just another YouTube schill paid by GM for clicks. Wonder if they paid for her nose transplant.