ZR1 Blitzes Big Willow Track

[John]

Another superb achievement by the 2019 ZR1. Same lap time as the $455,000 Ford GT. Interesting end article comment about how Proust said his challenge was getting the power down coming out of a corner, then noting that that will be addressed in the ME Corvette.

[Quote=GM Authority] Randy Pobst Blitzes Big Willow In The 2019 Corvette ZR1: Video

• BY SAM MCEACHERN
• — FEB 11, 2019

The ‘Big Willow’ circuit at Willow Springs International Raceway in southern California is may be one of the most white-knuckle laps in America. Back-to-back high speed corners leave the driver with little time to take a breather and fast cars can cover the entire 2.5-mile course in well under 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Motor Trend’s in-house racing driver Randy Pobst recently teamed up with Chevrolet and Tire Rack to show what the 2019 Corvette ZR1 with the ZTK Performance Package and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires can do at Big Willow. Fair warning: this video is essentially an ad for Tire Rack, but you came for a Corvette ZR1 hot lap, and in that sense this video delivers.

Pobst manages to wrestle the 755 hp Corvette ZR1 around the ultra-fast circuit in 1:23.70. The Ford GT, by comparison, set a virtually identical time of 1:23.69 around Big Willow, also in the hands of Pobst. The production car lap record holder at the track is the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, which Pobst hustled around Big Willow in a stunning 1:21.08.


Fiat Chrysler will be happy to see that the C7 Corvette’s long-standing rival, the Dodge Viper ACR, remains faster than the 2019 Corvette ZR1 at Big Willow. The 640 hp ACR set a lap of 1:21.24 in hands of Dodge test driver Chris Winkler in 2016, which remains the second fastest lap of Big Willow for a production car.

Pobst praised the ZR1’s grip under braking and its front end grip through the corners, but said that it was hard to get the 6.2-liter supercharged LT5 V8’s power to the ground on corner exit. That’s not much of a surprise, really, and is part of the reason the Corvette team is switching to a mid-engine platform for the next-generation C8 Corvette – General Motors has basically exhausted the capabilities of the front-engine Corvette platform with the C7 Corvette ZR1.

Check out Pobst’s 2019 Corvette ZR1 hot lap in the below video.[Quote]

Read more: http://gmauthority.com/blog/2019/02/randy-pobst-blitzes-big-willow-in-the-2019-corvette-zr1-video/#ixzz5fLsOVp9f

[OnPoint]

It's going to be a revelation to many how much the ME platform will prove superior in putting power to the ground. Whether from a standing start, or from throttle on in curves.

I can't wait to get my hands on one of the higher hp variants.

[John]

So true. You sure got that right.

It is 40 degrees today. If i were to take my C7 Z06 out right now, it would take throttle modulation to the nth degree to go anywhere. Doubt I would be getting more than 200 functional horses out of it in this weather.

[OnPoint]

It will be (along with vastly different/improved sightlines) perhaps the most noted and remarked upon improvement of the car. I fully expect the first several magazine reviews of the ME to touch on this point. And the thing is, it directly translates to lap time. As Pobst noted. The sooner you can get back into the throttle, the more speed you can sustain/gain. Carrying speed through the corners is what makes fast lap times. Such why the instructors at Spring Mountain can outrun students when the students are in Z06s or ZR1s and the instructors are in Stingrays. They know how to carry speed through the turns better than the students. It's why the person who gets the jump in a roll race is nearly guaranteed to win the roll race, as it takes a huge dollop of hp to make up for the speed/head start of the other guy.

So they can keep adding power all they want to the FE platform. At some point (as in now) all you do is reach limited to no returns on the road course with it, leaving trap speeds and 1/2 and mile runs as the remaining advantage of the higher hp. I enjoy road course work (tho I'm no pro at it), and I've got over 150 runs at the mile events - so I want both, the ME and the hp. That said, if they give the base ME 500-550 hp, it's going to post lap times very close the current Z06, along with similar 0-60. It won't hang with the current Z on 1/4 mile traps or 1/2 or full mile runs (hp rules the roost on those latter two events), but it'll be a stout runner overall.

And a heck of a lot more controllable for street driving, particular in cold temps.

[John]

Great analysis OnPoint. You repeatedly earn your forum name! Thank you.

[VH1]

Big Willow definitely rewards rear grip through the long turn 2 and the late apex exit of turn 9 onto the front straight! No surprise that the rear engined Pierschr did so well. Jack Olsen was able to do a 1:26.88 in a 272 hp 911 with RSR body. I can’t wait to try the ME out on the big track!

[Ronstar]

How did the front engine viper get around so fast? Second fastest of ANY production car ...including mid engine cars

[OnPoint]

How did the front engine viper get around so fast? Second fastest of ANY production car ...including mid engine cars

The did it with 1,500 lbs of downforce on the ACR (far exceeding the ZR1). And if you added the special aero package, it added another 500 lbs for a total of 2,000 lbs of downforce. The most downforce of any production car.

Oh, and they ran Kumho Ecsta tires which were gumbo sticky at even cold temps (the flip side of that is they sometimes failed at track speed/temps earlier than desired).

[3 Z06ZR1]

It's going to be a revelation to many how much the ME platform will prove superior in putting power to the ground. Whether from a standing start, or from throttle on in curves.

I can't wait to get my hands on one of the higher hp variants.

I agree since I have the two C7's Z06's with even more power than the ZR1. The limit has been reached with caution being needed even at highway speeds. The traction can simply can go away.
The weather has a lot to do with it. But still must be vary when you lean on the gas real hard road surface and irregularities can cause the loss of traction in any weather . Really wanting to see the HIPO version as well. The Mac 720 is another want for me so the price and other factors could possibly weigh in on my decision .