It’s the age-old East v West battle for supremacy. In the red corner is Nissan’s heavyweight, the R35 GT-R. Don’t let its weight fool you though: this sumo can whistle its way through a lap of the mighty Nurburgring in 7 minutes and 29 seconds thanks to its complex AWD system and sophisticated suspension design, earning it the title of the world’s fastest mass-produced car. However the GT-R’s got a new challenger now: a bantamweight American upstart who’s here to spoil the Japanese supercar’s day.
It’s the Corvette ZR1, and it’s just lapped the Nurburgring Nordschliefe in an astonishing 7:26.4.
GM fans have long waited for this day. Over in The Land Of The Free, fierce debates have raged since the GT-R’s debut over which car is better, GT-R or Corvette. It appears we now have an answer, and Nissan die-hards might not like it.
Jim Mero - a development engineer on the ZR1 project - was the man responsible for driving that 7:26 lap and he accomplished it in a completely factory-spec car with standard tyres, standard suspension and alignment settings and a completely standard engine. The lap was timed not only with an electronic transponder, but also with two separate stopwatches,and was a flying lap as opposed to beginning from a standing start. After the lap Mero commented that there was a strong headwind on the final straight which may have cost him a few vital fractions of a second and that there were a few other parts of the track where he felt more time could have been shaved off. As if 7:26 wasn’t fast enough.
The ZR1 has well and truly earned its supercar badge now: at 7:26.4 the ZR1 is 1.4 seconds faster than a Pagani Zonda F. The fact that Mero believes the ZR1 is capable of slashing a few more seconds off what is already an epic lap is even more impressive and this news should be a real wake-up call for the more ‘traditional’ European supercar manufacturers. It should also be ringing alarm bells over in Japan too, as Honda and Lexus have long been gunning for the “fastest production car” mantle with their new NSX and LF-A. Nissan haven’t given up either and will be launching a lighter, faster and more powerful GT-R Spec V later this year, so Godzilla ain’t down for the count just yet.
Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter says that video proof of Mero’s record-breaking lap should be available sometime around July 7. Can’t wait.
[GMNext]
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No suprizes there.
Suprised me Dan. I didn’t think the ZR1 was in the same race as the GT-R…
Steane, I’d never be a bloke to say “I told you so!”
BUT I remember a bloke saying this to me when discusing the ZR1 in competition with the GTR Skyline at the ring! “I’ve got $10 riding on it with Dan and I’ll even throw in one of the soon to be created TMR polo shirts if I lose - or more to the point the GT-R loses.”
So on that basis, rather than “I told you so” I’d like my $10 in two crisp five dollar notes thankyou very much!
Finally, an American Muscle car comes to my rescue.
Bugger, forgot about that… The ZR1 has certainly taken me by surprise. $10 coming your way! Oh, and a polo shirt. What size are you again?
[...] http://www.themotorreport.com.au/…/ [...]
XL Steane, of course I’m just ‘big boned’
and being 6′4 doesnt help either.
And the $10 means we have coffee the next time we do a road test togther.
Damn, that is quite impressive. Makes me want one more and more.
yea, i want one of those TMR polo shirts, they’ll make more ZR1 than TMR polo shirts.
Sounds like a plan Dan.
Good on GM. I’d love a Vette as well. Bring on the V-spec GTR though.
The TMR polo shirt will be a limited edition but it won’t cost US100k.
At least the comments here are a hell of a lot more level-headed, unlike a certain other online motor blog that seems to have 90% of the people commenting on this same article with an IQ of 60
Haaaaaaaaaaa Godspeed your right mate bunch of “Dingbats” on some sites haaaaaa….
Yes, I think the V-Spec will wrestle the crown back but its certainly a mighty effort by GM - I’m not sure why am I so surprised still.
I was expecting this from the Corvette ZR-1 after all it is lighter (by at least 200kg than the GT-R) and massively more powerful, BUT, will the ZR-1 make average Joe blow look like a hero? The thing about the GT-R is it’s incredible ability to perform ballistically with incredible ease, something tells me the Vette won’t be so easy to punt around. Secondly the GT-R is quite alot cheaper than a ZR-1. If you look at US pricing the GT-R is $70K USD and the ZR-1 at least $100K USD. The GT-R in it’s current form is still a big, comfortable heavy GT car. It’s been mentioned a million times but the V-Spec GT-R will be the Zr-1’s natural competitor. If I was a betting man I think on the race track the Nissan will come out in front if not the road…and if the road/track happens to be a little damp….
Nissan’s engineers must be filling their pants after seeing that time, and working around the clock trying to do last minute tweaks to the V-Spec to ensure that its quicker than the ZR-1’s time.
The ZR-1’s factory tyres (the Michelin Pilot PS2’s) have a UTQG treadwear rating of 220. Considering the GT-R’s Bridgestone Potenza RE070’s have a UTQG of 140, and in theory the faster wearing tyre should be softer and grippier, the V-Spec is going to have to set a significantly better time on its inevitable R-Comp tyres to be credibly faster. That’s before you even factor in the non-dialled in suspension setup, for its street “compromise” setup.
If the V-Spec can’t do it, then with my preference for RWD my “dream fast car” may have a new leader.