In recent years, Chevrolet has seemingly taken a page from Porsche's playbook when it comes to rolling out different iterations of the iconic Corvette. First comes the base model to set the scene; then comes a more powerful, more aggressive Z06; then comes a well-rounded version using the wide body of the Z06 and the base powertrain; then, finally comes a fully thermonuclear all-out assault in the form of a ZR1.
So far, that pattern has held true for the eighth generation of the iconic Corvette. The Corvette Stingray dropped first, followed a couple years later by the howling mad Corvette Z06, which in turn was followed up by the wide-body Corvette E-Ray. Next up, according to the plan, should be the ZR1 — and we may not have to wait too long to see what it's like.
Here's everything you need to know about the 2025 Corvette ZR1.
The 2025 Corvette ZR1 should use a turbocharged version of the Z06's flat-plane V8
When the C8-generation Corvette Z06 launched in 2022, it did so with a jaw-dropping engine under the hood: a flat-plane 5.5-liter naturally aspirated V8, capable of revving to 8,600 rpm and producing 670 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque. So how do you build on that? Well, apparently, in classic fashion: forced induction.
Rumors have swirled for more than a year that the Z06's engine would sprout twin turbos for ZR1 duty, but the closest thing to actual confirmation popped up at the end of October, when anonymous sources inside GM appear to have leaked screenshots from the company's parts catalog revealing the presence of a 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 to Mid Engine Corvette Forum. Whether it will use the Z06's flat plane crank or a more traditional (for American V8s) cross plane crank remains to be seen.
How far will the new turbos push the 5.5-liter V8? Obviously, GM isn't saying yet, but considering the C6 Corvette ZR1 made 638 horses and the C7 ZR1 made 755, the C8 ZR1 ought to put out close to 800 ponies — especially considering that the likes of the Ferrari 296 GTB / GTS and other top-shelf supercars are now spitting out that sort of power.
The ZR1 probably won't be a hybrid
As if Chevy hadn't already broken enough new ground with the eighth generation of the Corvette, the brand went ahead and dropped the first hybrid and the first all-wheel-drive 'Vette on us in 2023. Of course, they were one and the same: the Corvette E-Ray, which uses the 6.2-liter V8 of the Stingray to propel the rear wheels and an electric motor to motivate the front ones for a total output of 650 hp.
But while GM has clearly found comfort using electric motors to help squeeze more performance out of the company's sports car icon, it doesn't seem likely to do so for the 2025 Corvette ZR1. That honor, rumor has it, will be reserved for an even loftier Corvette range-topper, one that will allegedly combine the ZR1's twin-turbo V8 with the E-Ray's hybrid system to put out close to a whopping 1,000 horsepower. Scuttlebutt suggests such a car may be called the "Corvette Zora" — named after Zora Arkus-Duntov, the engineer known as "Father of the Corvette" who championed the idea of a mid-engined 'Vette decades before it became a reality.
It will almost certainly be the most extreme-looking Corvette yet
Each previous-generation version of the Corvette ZR1 has been the most outlandish-looking variant of its era, due to the need for wild aerodynamic effects necessary to keep the car planted and controllable on track at high speeds, and that's unlikely to change for this C8 variant. This new one, however, will be the first mid-engined ZR1. Given that the C8 Corvette already looks like an exotic car in style and proportions, odds seem good that the ZR1 will look as batshit wild as the likes of the most extreme mid-motored supercars from the likes of McLaren or Lamborghini. Think: Senna, Huracan STO...
We should see the new Corvette ZR1 sometime in 2024
The first version of the eighth-gen car, the Corvette Stingray, debuted to much fanfare in the summer of 2019, although it didn't began to hit the streets until February 2o20. (You may have forgotten that, seeing as how you were probably slightly distracted by ... y'know.) The ZR1 followed with a debut in October 2021, and the E-Ray first appeared in January 2023. Considering that works out t0 a very rough range of 18–24 months — or as business types who plan such things think of it, seven to eight quarters — that suggests the Corvette ZR1 should arrive somewhere in the latter half of 2024, likely as a 2025 model year vehicle.
