Each year, Motor Trend gathers up some of the hottest performance cars and hands one the title of Best Driver’s Car. This year, Chevrolet and General Motors were represented by just one vehicle: the 2019 C7 Corvette ZR1.
After wringing out 12 different performance machines spanning a variety of powertrains, price points and more, the publication named a winner: the Lamborghini Huracán Performante. Yes, the 2019 C7 Corvette ZR1 failed to capture the title.
But, judging by some of the panel’s impressions of the Corvette, it was never bound to win. During the testing, judges found the Corvette ZR1 was a downright beast of a car, but it failed to deliver power to the rear wheels appropriately and testers never quite trusted the 755-horsepower machine.
One judge commented, “I never, ever, trust the rear.” Another called it a “nerve-wracking ride.” Others lamented a slow-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission. Racing driver Randy Pobst said he probably could have shaved another second off of the ZR1’s posted lap time with 10 sets of tires and another five days, but the competition doesn’t quite have that kind of time.
The Huracán Performante, though, drew incredible praise for being a Lamborghini that finally drives as well as it looks. The car’s all-wheel-drive system and mid-mounted V10 engine were a winning combination that pushed judges to drive faster than they were capable of. The car simply turned any amateur driver into someone greater than their former selves.
Pobst said the Lamborghini turns anyone into a “god,” and “you just get in and you drive like Ayrton Senna.” The same kind words weren’t found for the Corvette ZR1. And we have a feeling the Corvette team is well aware of its downfalls, even if it has no problem spanking the Ford GT around the track.
We’ll be watching for a Best Driver’s Car competition when the mid-engine C8 Corvette is ready to rumble.
Comments
The C7 – from beginning to end, nobody liked that rear-end.
Is it the transverse leaf? Will C8 have one? Apparently, it saves weight, unfortunately, it only operates properly in narrow-window race-car use where suspensions travel a few centimeters at the most, it doesn’t operate on road-car windows where many inches of travel is needed.
I like the C7’s rear end and apparently enough other people do to make the C7 the best-selling Corvette generation at the highest transaction prices in history.
The mid-engine model won’t have transverse leaf suspenders.
You’re correct, I’m wrong, sales figures are numbers that don’t lie!
I did read a few rumblings in other publications about the mm’s of travel being an issue, that’s what prompted my post.
Old Trombone, wrong again, not for the last time…
I never knew the current Corvette had leaf rear suspension. I thought it was more refined than that when Chevy says that they’ve done everything they could to the Corvette. Don’t you think it would get a better lap times and drive better with independent rear suspension ? .. Are leaf springs really the better choice ? … If saving wight was the only issue then they should’ve shaved some weight here n there and not take the easy way out. At least for the ZR1.
The Corvette is independent rear suspension. In this case the transverse leaf is not what your thinking. Rather, there is a leaf spring that traverses the car to suspend each corner. And it works quite well. Corvette have been using this design for quite a few generations. It’s lighter and simpler than coils and it really isn’t worse.
This is where a midengine awd vette comes in. The limit has been pushed for the high power FMR corvette layout. The current platform seems to be best at 500ish HP like the GS, or GS with Z07 package
Because the car is difficult to drive fast it cant be considered a drivers car! Slow shifting 8 speed transmission as compared to what? I think politics had more to do with this decision then the real competition!
Is Motortrend even a reputable publication anymore these days?
Well, they’re bricks-n-mortar operation can be sued for lies, and sponsors can pull their ads, so they’re more reputable than the Old Trombone, and probably more reputable than you.
It seems that the ZR1 lacks refinement. So it may be. The heat will be on the upcoming C8 to deliver.
A whole lot of redesign went into the ZR1 to keep it planted at high speeds and to keep it running cool so I don’t know why one would call it unrefined. How many of the exotics can feel so planted at over 200 mph, it’s seems like it’s doing 70 or 80…ask Jay Leno
Car and driver would say otherwise! https://youtu.be/qh1FhALJLDk?t=3m19s
https://youtu.be/tYIqjmdJzvk?t=3m40s
Didn’t mention the Lambo costs 4X what the ZR1 cost. It probably should outperform the Vette. Just sayin’
This is exactly why I said cars should be compared based on cost! It makes no sense to compare cars that cost 100k vs 500k!
gm engineers have done more with the front engine configuration at lower cost than any of the exotics staff could have…. 13 heat exchangers crammed into the body? it could run more hot laps than the exotics b4 they start to fade… just because it takes some skill to drive it fast shouldn’t be a mark against it…. if that is what they are basing it on, then GTR whips all of them
Even if it’s the best, who can afford the Lambo? Those few people rich enough aren’t going to want to push the car to any extreme anyway. They save it as a collector car and status symbol. We need a driver’s car that is attainable to more people than the super-rich.
That’s true….and I watched a video of a ZR1 chasing a McLaren 720s…https://youtu.be/lKQxKZWZFFE
you’ll see the 720s is clearly faster down the straights due to the weight difference but ZR1 incredible brakes kept it competitive. As the laps clicked off, the ZR1 kept getting faster or the 720s started to fade. I consider the 720s a freaking supercar, so if the half as expensive ZR1 could not only hang with it on the track, but give it fits after the brakes get hot, then that says a lot for the ZR1 period.
So if the ZR1 were to have active areo as the S720 does we would have a video of the McLaren chasing a Chevy!
Bring on the C8!
unless GM engineers pull some other engineers over from Germany or Italy, the C8 initially at least will probably be what other 1st year models are. Bug boxes. But i hope I’m wrong.
So the Corvette lost to a car that cost over twice as much. The one review I saw was not by much, so come on, did it really lose? If they included value for the money, the Corvette is by far the leader. The fact it is even running so close to cars that are 2, 3, and even 4 or 5 times more expensive is more than impressive.
I agree. Motor Trend conducts these tests for ratings and not for true comparison. Ever since they started charging a fee to watch their videos, I’ve been turned off. Shame on them. They post click bait on YouTube and then link the the full videos to a paid page. Not cool
If you knew Randy Pobst, you wouldn’t say or believe what you just wrote. Randy is a totally honest, solid, and experienced pro. He doesn’t cow tow to anyone. The ZR-1 Vette is what it is, and he’s correct.
I do know Randy Pobst. He is an awesome driver and skilled and balanced evaluator. But their are too many other skilled evaluators that don’t bash the ZR1 like Motor Trend has. I get the fact it’s harder to control than a GT2. I don’t own one myself so I don’t truly know either. But I’ve watched a whole lot of in car videos of the ZR1. Enough to know it way more of a “get what you pay for” item than the majority of the competition. The fact that Motor Trend is charging $ for seeing their comparisons is totally bogus. The sheer idea of such, taints Randy Pobst’s otherwise spot on evaluation of vehicles. Too many other skilled drivers have handled the ZR1 in a way that breaks records and puts it in the 200k$+ crowd w/o even breaking a sweat.