The new C8 Corvette ZR1 is a true performance powerhouse, throwing down with 1,064 horsepower (possibly more) thanks to the twin-turbocharged 5.5L V8 LT7 gasoline engine. Essentially a boosted variant of the 5.5L V8 LT6 that powers the C8 Corvette Z06, the LT7 incorporates a pair of BorgWarner turbos to elevate output to that mind-boggling four-figure number just mentioned. In fact, the ZR1’s twin BorgWarner boost-makers are the largest passenger car twin turbochargers on the market.
Each of the C8 ZR1 turbos incorporates a 76mm forged milled compressor wheel and ported shroud, plus a 67mm turbine wheel mounted inside a mono scroll turbine housing. The turbos also include an integrated exhaust manifold with equal length runners, a compressor-mounted blade pass speed sensor, and a decoupled ball bearing system for quicker response, reduced noise, and increased durability.
Other highlights include a zero-clearance heat shield and turbine housing for improved thermal efficiency and lower engine compartment temperatures, as well as an electronically actuated wastegate. The turbos are designed and manufactured in the U.S. Interestingly, the turbos also include a small Gemini rocket insignia as a nod to GM’s involvement in the NASA Gemini missions during the ‘60s.
Vice President of BorgWarner Inc. and President and General Manager, Turbos and Thermal Technologies, Dr. Volker Weng, commented on GM’s decision to tap BorgWarner for the new C8 Corvette ZR1.
“We are proud to secure this contract and support General Motors in making the most powerful Corvette ever built. This technology has been in the works for some time now and to see it come to fruition is both exciting and fulfilling,” Dr. Weng said. “BorgWarner and General Motors have a long history of producing market-leading applications across a wide range of segments, and we look forward to continuing to develop new technologies and push industry boundaries together.”
GM’s decision to run BorgWarner turbochargers on the new ZR1 was due in part to BorgWarner’s success in the NTT IndyCar Series. IndyCar has incorporated BorgWarner turbos on its series race cars since 2012.
Like all C8 Corvette variants, the C8 Corvette ZR1 rides on the GM Y2 platform and is produced at the GM Bowling Green plant in Kentucky.
Comments
If I borrowed one for my Trax the ZR1 would still be plenty quick.
Insane………………………Waste gas & pollute
What’s your vice? I’ll bet it has a bigger carbon footprint
Some still seem be unaware of how fracking and shale oil extraction eliminated the old left wing population control argument of running out of oil for thousands of years. Scientists thousands of years from now should be smart enough to figure out their own problems if the education systems don’t continue to distract them with hysteria like catastrophic man-created climate change hoaxes. We don’t need to solve their energy needs any more than Plato should have worried about ours.
Some people are not up to speed on automobile pollution – specifically on new turbocharged cars. The air today is cleaner than it was 25 years ago thanks to the gradual introduction of modern electronically controlled fuel injection systems and retirement of older cars. As for this specific car, the combination of Non-methane organic gasses and Oxides of Nitrogen emitted by the ZR1 is only 0.070 grams per mile on the FTP75 driving cycle – cleaner than background air samples in some big cities. The turbos don’t even hardly get a chance to boost during normal driving. When they do, you have so much power, you can’t stay on the gas for long. Big polluter? No. And just like other very expensive “special” cars, there won’t be very many of them built, or used as everyday transportation compared to the 100s of millions of other passenger cars and trucks. When it comes to pollution, one has to have a sense of perspective – not hysteria.
Why don’t these people with dumb comments take a look at their climate leader, John Kerry where all he does is fly around on his private jet wherever he goes. Him and all the other elites that are dictators to our government. They want everything for themselves, our oil, our farms, our air, and our money! And GMs CEO is falling right in line with them, pushing EVs when Ford shut down their EV plant and are now instead making more Super Duty’s at that plant. She’s going to run GM into the ground, my parents are getting their last ICE vehicle from GM this year