General Motors is cooking up yet more of that go-faster good stuff for the mid-engine C8 Corvette, with the next model variant out the gates expected to be the new C8 Corvette ZR1. So far, we’ve seen the upcoming C8 Corvette ZR1 out and about testing as a camouflaged prototype, with GM Authority spy photos offering up an enticing early look at the mid-engine supercar. Now, the C8 Corvette ZR1 has once again been spotted on public roads, but this time, it’s rolling on a set of uncovered wheels.
As we can see, this C8 Corvette ZR1 prototype was spotted at a stoplight in Colorado, and although we can only see it from the rear three-quarters view, there’s still quite a lot of detail to pick out.
Let’s start with the wheels. This C8 Corvette ZR1 appears to be running mismatched rollers, with C8 Corvette Z06 wheels up front, and a new multi-spoke design in the rear. The rear wheels are of particular interest, as they appear to have the same design as those leaked this past May, including multiple split spokes creating an intricate, cross-hatch style. It’s possible this same design was hiding underneath the wheel camouflage on previous C8 Corvette ZR1 prototypes, as GM Authority covered previously. It’s hard to tell, but it appears as though the rear wheels may be wrapped in ultra-stick Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. Also of note are the Z06-style wheels equipped by the prototype model just behind the C8 Corvette ZR1 up front.
Further details worth noting are the quad exhaust tips mounted centrally in the rear bumper, as well as the Z06-style rear bumper design and the massive Z07 Package-style rear wing attached to the rear deck lid. This particular example is a Coupe model, rather than a Convertible.
As for what’s lurking under the lid, the C8 Corvette ZR1 is expected to cradle a new version of the Z06’s 5.5L V8 LT6 gasoline engine upgraded with forced induction.
Stay tuned, as we’ll have plenty more to say about the C8 Corvette ZR1 in the future, and remember to subscribe to GM Authority for more mid-engine Corvette news, Corvette C8 news, Chevy news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Photo credit: Yichong Liang
Comments
I think these new wheels are ugly…and reminds me of some of the recent BMW wheels…in a way, it makes sense because the C8s and several BMWs have overly-busy exterior styling.
I certainly wouldn’t want to have to clean all those spokes and little spaces.
I have a feeling that 95% of people that will be driving these or the BMWs either one, arent washing their own cars
Yeah, if they’re like anyone in my area, they are just buying the unlimited car wash memberships at the crappy wash tunnel places. They are absolutely horrible at cleaning cars. I clean my trucks in my own yard including one that has black wheels.
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of seeing these black wheels that seem to be the rage nowadays placed on just about every vehicle sold, from sub compacts to SUV’s and especially on late model Corvettes. I got a glimpse of a black C8 the other evening doing what they do best, cruising the streets of SoCal
and it was a totally BLACK C8, I mean this coupe even had the windows tinted black and in truth, it looked like a big black entity of something going down the road, you could not distinguish any of its body lines, nor the color of the interior, couldn’t even see if there was someone behind the wheel even! The exhaust tips were black (chrome I guess) and brake calipers, yep black also…and while the owner is certainly entitled to pretty much do as they please with their vehicle (except for the deep black window tinting, that’s got to be illegal)
this “make it all black” rage going around seems to have caught this new generation at a time in their lives where they seem to forget that these latest C8’s are a strikingly attractive vehicle when they are given some kind of a colorful factory paint job with (dare I say) some attractive wheels to go along with the body color! I seen and owned a few black ‘Vette’s from the late C-1’s right on through to the C-7 design and in most instances they’ve been fairly attractive with a combination of polished wheels, small additions of chrome or maybe a factory stripe package, but this latest rage of all black everything sure takes away from some eye catching body designs…in my humble opinion of course and if you’ve ever read any of the many books and magazines about the design and development of every Corvette generation, I’ve never seen these designs being made and shown for consideration by the designers in BLACK!
The final design usually has a striking body color that really shows off their body design handiwork. Oh well, ‘nuff said, just thought I’d add my two cents worth about too much black added in modern Corvette designs, and especially those huge spoked wheels! Yuck!
You’d have a tough time getting those tires inside the guide rails in a carwash tunnel. The wheels look a little like an update of the C7 Z06 wheels.
“Overly busy” pretty much sums up current automotive design in it’s entirety. Every surface, every space, positive or negative, MUST be subdivided into angular details with no rhyme or reason, with extra points if it can be formed into a scoop, vent or winglet, fake or functional, it doesn’t matter. You’d be forgiven for wondering if designers get paid by the facet.
God I can’t wait until we’re passed this.
Too busy.
Yet another Corvette we may never see in a dealer’s showroom.
Really GM ? As bad as common sense vehicles are needs you waste money an time on another SAUV (stupid an useless vehicle) that even the 1% don’t want. How about you give us the Chevy S10 pickup sold in Mexico … How about you give us a Checy Malibu station wagon … How about you give us back the Chevy Astro. The above three are needed, and needed right now … do it before Hyundai or Toyota does it.
say I cant afford a vette without saying you cant afford a vette……
Say I want to make people think I can afford a Vette without admitting I can’t.
I have a Vette, could afford a ZR1, and largely agree with him. Take your pick – Hummer EV, F150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, the list goes on. How, on earth, did $80,000 to $100,000 become an common price for average vehicles, especially at a time when the middle class is squeezed to it’s limit?
i like vettes. C7 way more than c8. dont need one and dont really care for them. however i will totally buy 50 and line them up as hallway artifacts if i could afford it.
yes i would have really volumetric hallways…. ok back to reality
Those who can afford vettes are still buying them. Corvette operates differently than the rest of GM because of that.
Saw this wheel on Brink of Speed YouTube show. The bigger news is that someone in Colorado caught two ZR1’s accelerating away from his car and they were silent. Brink of Speed claims with 95% certainty that the ZR1 is going to be a Z06 (5.5 liter) with an electric drive motor in the front making it a more powerful ERay. According to the video this comes from someone high up on the Corvette development team.
We could be looking at twin turbos being added to the Zora only when we thought the hybrid system would be the differentiator. Also will we see a RWD hybrid system instead of AWD like the E-Ray.
Won’t be long before we see one crashed and another one falling off a lift. LOL, but true.