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What Is New In The Brand New C8 Corvette ZR1? | 2025 Corvette ZR1 CORVETTE TODAY
May 8, 2025
Hi! We're excited to have you here for an insightful discussion on the 2025 Corvette ZR1. Also, take advantage of this opportunity to explore what is new in the brand new C8 Corvette ZR1.
This video provides a comprehensive overview of what is new in the brand new C8 Corvette ZR1. Some of the topics we will discuss include:
- New C8 Corvette ZR1 features
- Innovations in the brand new C8 Corvette ZR1
- What is special about the C8 Corvette ZR1?
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This CORVETTE TODAY Extra introduces you to the brand new C8 ZR1.
Your CORVETTE TODAY host, Steve Garrett and Keith Cornett from CorvetteBlogger give you the full run-down of this awesome machine!
Check it out...it's the brand new C8 Corvette ZR1.
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Explore our other video content here on YouTube where you'll find more insights on what is new in the brand new C8 Corvette ZR1 along with relevant social media links.
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[Music]
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welcome to Corvette today the show that
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talks about everything Corvette with
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your host Steve Garrett lifetime member
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of the National Corvette Museum
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president of the Corvette club of Kansas
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City Missouri and radio disc jockey at
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the number one radio station in Kansas
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City for over 45
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years here's Steve
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Garrett thanks for listening and
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watching Corvette today the show that
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talks about everything Corvette and the
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only current podcast dedicated to
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Corvette I'm your host Steve Garrett I
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appreciate you tuning in this is a
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special edition of Corvette today this
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is a Corvette today extra my buddy Keith
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cornette from Corvette blogger.com is
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here we are going to talk about the new
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ZR1 that was just released Keith welcome
0:50
back to the show the numbers are
0:51
mindboggling for the ZR1 well now we
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know what Unthinkable means right
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because I certainly wasn't thinking 1,64
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horsepower neither was I buddy that's
1:01
amazing an 828 pound feet of torque yeah
1:04
that thing's goingon to be a torque
1:05
monster it's just mindboggling to see
1:07
what they put together here yeah it's
1:09
amazing why don't you go through some of
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the numbers that we got from Chevrolet
1:13
and we'll start off with that and kind
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of go from there all right well
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obviously we're talking about the
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fastest most powerful Corvette ever the
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Corvette ZR1 features a 5.5 L twin turbo
1:22
doc flat plane crank V8 they call it the
1:25
lt7 it produces 1,64 horsepower at 7,000
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RPM and 828 foot pounds of torque at
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6,000 RPM like I said it's the most
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powerful engine ever produced by
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Chevrolet and it's the most powerful V8
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ever produced in America by any auto
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manufacturer that's right and as a
1:42
matter of fact I saw somewhere where the
1:43
lt7 engine was developed right next to
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the lt6 from the Z06 engine but it's not
1:49
a Z06 engine base yeah it's like they
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started it up and they said okay this
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one's going to be naturally aspirated so
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we'll put the lt6 over here and we've
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got the twin turbo here and because it's
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going to make so much horsep we've got
2:00
to really build it up so there was
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definitely twin tracks there and if you
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look closely at any of the photos of the
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engine you'll see the little lt6 rockets
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on them so definitely part of that same
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Gemini engine small block family that's
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true and it's nice because what they've
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done is with turbos there's always a lag
2:16
and I think they've taken care of that
2:18
lag so there won't be any yeah they're
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probably using some software on it that
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really is toned to the driver and so it
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actually showed that there's like some
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sensing technology so it reacts to how
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you're driving at the times I mean if
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you're probably on a track it's going to
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do things that eliminate any kind of
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Turbo lag and again with the amount of
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power that this thing's got you know
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even a little bit of lag you're still
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going to get up and go and with the ztk
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package it creates 1,200 pounds of
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downforce it's just unbelievable yeah
2:46
the two Arrow packages are great and the
2:48
nice thing is that you can even get that
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Arrow even though you don't have the ztk
2:52
package itself you can get that carbon
2:54
Arrow kit on the base ZR1 as well nice
2:57
also in the front we have lost the frun
3:00
because we have an air scoop in the
3:01
front kind of like an S scoop that we've
3:03
seen and a gurnie lip as well yeah you
3:06
know we also wondered about how that was
3:08
going to handle I know a lot of people
3:09
will be disappointed that the front is
3:11
gone again you got increased downforce
3:13
in the front increased cooling because
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you got radiators where that air flow
3:17
goes through some people say okay I have
3:20
no problem losing the frun if I'm
3:21
getting this kind of downforce and this
3:22
kind of performance yeah and we've got a
3:24
coupe and a convertible the interior is
3:27
really nice it looks about the same as
3:29
we have from everybody else you know
3:31
that's the one thing about the Corvette
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that's both great and a little bit
3:34
disappointing because F I'm sitting in
3:36
the ZR1 it basically looks like a
3:37
stingray it might be an upper level
3:39
Stingray depending on the trim level
3:40
that you get but you do have ZR1 badging
3:43
on the steering wheel you got ZR1
3:44
badging on the plaque behind you and
3:47
then of course the door cills will also
3:48
have ZR1 there is the little things and
3:50
then they're also talking about we're
3:51
going to get the blue calipers for the
3:53
brakes right and it sounds like we're
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going to get a matching blue seat belt
3:57
so it might be like a dark blue seat
3:58
belt as opposed to the light blue that
4:00
we currently have and we also have some
4:02
unique ZR1 stitching on the door panels
4:05
as well which will look really really
4:06
nice those door cards look fantastic I'm
4:09
like wait a second let me go back and
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look at that so that's been my whole day
4:12
let me go back and look at that there
4:13
you go yeah absolutely now let's talk
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about the wheels because we have a brand
4:18
new carbon fiber wheel and we have a
4:20
brand new ceramic disc brake too yeah
4:23
you know and in fact the wheels don't
4:24
really show well in any of the pictures
4:26
that they shared with the media I'm
4:28
anxious to see some of the photos that
4:29
maybe coming out of the Live party down
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in Miami I guess you could say it looks
4:33
like a really great carbon Revolution
4:35
wheel it's got some additional spokes on
4:36
it it looks like the old kind of cup
4:38
tires but again I haven't really been
4:40
able to get a real clear look at those
4:42
and then on the the alloy wheels there's
4:44
four different finishes and one of
4:46
them's I think Edge blue is what they're
4:48
calling it nice yeah that's kick back to
4:50
the old ZR1 days from the C6 ZR1 isn't
4:53
it yeah but to have Chevrolet do a blue
4:55
wheel who would have thought that you
4:57
know just five or six years ago yeah
4:59
that's it was pretty amazing I mean
5:00
they're not making Chrome but they're
5:02
making Edge blue wheels again there's so
5:04
much out there with this release that
5:05
really boggles the mind and I don't want
5:07
to keep saying Unthinkable but I mean
5:09
you got of really just see it to believe
5:11
it and top speed tell them about top
5:13
speed buddy okay so top speed is
5:15
estimated to be over 215 miles hour and
5:19
I like that because I think it was the
5:20
C6 ZR1 that was 205 and then who got up
5:24
to 214 215 that was the C7 ZR1 I think
5:28
so and now you've got greater than 215
5:31
in fact if you go to Car and Driver
5:33
their video out they actually show on
5:36
the Milford Proving Grounds they're
5:37
running upwards of 206 miles an hour I
5:40
believe they did that in a span of just
5:42
30 seconds 20 seconds or so in fact I I
5:45
got a stat on that the ZR1 can go from
5:47
80 to 200 miles an hour and then back to
5:50
80 miles an hour in just 24.5 seconds
5:53
wow and they say that's 22% faster than
5:56
the C7 ZR1 and 53% faster than the C6
6:00
ZR1 so it definitely has got the ability
6:02
I mean you're looking at the speedometer
6:04
on the PDR on this car and driver video
6:07
and how fast it's moving through the
6:09
160s 170s 180s you know before it always
6:11
kind of like creep up sure you're just
6:13
blowing past those boom boom boom it's
6:15
just an incredible car yeah have we left
6:17
anything out oh I'm sure they say that
6:19
on the very first lap at the mil for
6:21
Proving Ground so you know they break up
6:22
the car like okay let's go see what they
6:23
do so go take it out to the test track
6:25
it already clocked faster than the
6:27
production C7 ZR1 so right of the box
6:30
they're faster than the previous
6:31
generation cr1 and of course we've heard
6:33
that the quarter mile time is a sub 10
6:36
seconds so very quick and then all four
6:40
test drivers that were driving over at
6:42
the nerber ring clocked over 200 miles
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per hour Peak speed on their very first
6:46
lap so to see that kind of traction and
6:48
that kind of speed on the track is just
6:50
again mindboggling and then they said
6:52
that the lt7 produces more power than
6:54
two LS7 engines the legendary 7 L V8
6:58
from the sixth generation Corvette Z
7:00
wow you seen those custom cars where
7:01
they'll put like two V8s together this
7:03
engine's more powerful than two of those
7:05
there's all these crazy stupid stats
7:07
like that Steve and I guess that's what
7:08
we've been waiting to hear absolutely
7:10
right buddy and this is really cool too
7:12
they paid homage to the 63 split window
7:14
Corvette yeah so we got the very first
7:17
split window and that had to be a hard
7:18
decision you know I know when C7 came
7:21
along they were talking about bringing
7:22
back the stingray name and there's such
7:23
a discussion of not only is it time to
7:26
bring it back but is the car that we're
7:28
building worthy of that name right in
7:30
this case is this car worthy of having
7:33
the very first split window design since
7:35
1963 of course it was only a one-year
7:36
design you know I got in a conversation
7:38
with a friend he said you know I thought
7:39
that was going to be on the Zora I'm
7:41
like well technically Zora hated the
7:42
split window but with the rear view
7:45
camera you know it doesn't really matter
7:46
anyways and not only that but the way
7:48
they built in the split window it's very
7:50
functional it's got vents in it so it's
7:52
adding to the cooling aspects of the car
7:54
where it can let that heat out it comes
7:56
in two different finishes you can get
7:58
visible carbon fiber or you get body
8:00
color we're going to see some really
8:01
neat things that are people doing back
8:03
there with it the split window is very
8:04
Lamborghini esque it looks really good
8:07
and it does help with the cooling it
8:09
looks really nice so if you're a 63
8:11
split window fan like me you'll see this
8:13
homage paid to that car and it's really
8:15
pretty cool to have on there yeah and
8:17
speaking of homages you know we had the
8:19
Zora head that's featured on the
8:20
windshield right the icon of the very
8:23
first Corvette chief engineer well
8:25
Chevrolet to honor Tad's Jer he's just
8:27
retiring Corvette chief engineer after 4
8:29
7 years 31 years at Corvette they're
8:31
going to put a tad head on the top of
8:34
the left hand side of the split window
8:36
and the back so you'll have zor in the
8:38
front and then Taj in the rear and again
8:40
just a great way to celebrate taj's
8:42
amazing career and another one of these
8:44
Easter eggs that we're gonna I'm sure
8:46
find on this car we've got like I said
8:47
the lt6 Rockets got the Tad head I'm
8:50
sure there's going to be a lot more yeah
8:51
that's a great way to pay homage to Tad
8:53
that's really really cool we still got a
8:55
little bit extra cooling as well on the
8:57
ztk package we we've got cooling on the
9:00
wishbone and then a vent on top that
9:03
kind of reminds me of the C7 Stingray
9:05
yeah it's very reminiscent of that and
9:07
that's for cooling the turbos and stuff
9:09
inside there and then the side bent that
9:11
goes straight to the brakes and the
9:13
brakes let's talk about the brakes for a
9:14
second these are the largest bro brakes
9:16
ever to appear on the Corvette the front
9:18
rotors are 15.7 in wow and the rears are
9:23
15.4 amazing stopping power out of this
9:25
car and I guess you would need it if you
9:26
got that much power and also Keith this
9:28
is cool because it's still going to be a
9:30
2025 car yeah they definitely said 2025
9:33
they said it'll be available in 2025
9:36
it's going to be interesting to see how
9:37
they do the model year switch over last
9:40
couple years we've seen September as our
9:42
breako now which I kind of like better
9:44
than the July it's a little bit closer
9:45
to the end of the year makes a little
9:47
bit more sense when are we going to see
9:48
this thing it's already we're placing
9:50
orders right now for September first
9:51
orders went in on Thursday for the 2025
9:54
is this kind of going to be like we've
9:56
seen how they start building eays in
9:58
January this year even though it was in
9:59
the middle of the model year that's
10:01
probably what's going to happen January
10:02
February March will start to see them
10:03
start to trickle out yeah again very low
10:06
production I'm guessing very hard to get
10:08
the price we have no idea what do you
10:10
actually think this is going to be
10:11
priced at Steve well now that we're at
10:13
1,64 horsepower Keith I would think
10:16
maybe 185 175 185 maybe so I was
10:20
thinking you know the the base price for
10:22
the Z6 is what 113 115 or so right I
10:25
know it just changed so I'm thinking the
10:27
base price for this car is probably I'm
10:30
going to be a little bit more optimistic
10:31
I'm going to say in the 140s I hope I
10:33
hope you're right you know it could go
10:34
to 150 but you know what'll happen is
10:36
like people did on the Z6 they'll just
10:38
be able to load it up with options so we
10:40
will definitely have some $200,000 zr1's
10:44
out there I'm certain of it absolutely
10:46
well buddy thanks for being back on
10:47
Corvette today for this Corvette today
10:49
extra I can't wait to see this ZR1 in
10:51
person well that was a lot of fun Steve
10:53
we've got content up on Corvette blogger
10:55
of course there's content everywhere I
10:56
think what we're going to do we're going
10:57
to have a link Festival where have one
10:59
page that's got like all the different
11:01
videos in there because they did invite
11:03
all these influencers obviously up to
11:04
Detroit first to do some of their own
11:06
previews so there's going to be some
11:07
good stuff there so we're going to pick
11:08
through the better ones and have them
11:10
posted and I don't see myself sleeping
11:12
for the next couple days me neither
11:14
buddy thanks for everything thank you
11:16
Steve we see you out there keep waving
11:18
thanks again for listening and watching
11:19
Corvette today and be sure to tell your
11:21
family friends and other Corvette
11:23
enthusiasts about the Corvette Today
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Show thanks for checking out Corvette
11:28
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11:35
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thanks again for listen listening and
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