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You want us to tell you how brutally fast Chevrolet’s new ZR1 is, don’t you? You want to hear about its take-no-prisoners approach to performance. You want to know—Know! Without a shadow of a doubt that it’s the ultimate American response to the world’s greatest performance cars. That it cuts glass, sprinkles the shards on a hunk of lion carcass for breakfast, then spits out nails that—when seen from above—perfectly outline a cartoon Calvin pissing on the words “every other supercar, ever.”

Sorry. Not gonna do it.

Wasn’t the ZR1 supposed to be a Z06 with a solid rocket booster strapped to its tail? It was supposed to be lightweight, high performance at all costs, and offered with the kind of option packages that really speak to its track-day nature. Right?

If that’s what you’ve been expecting, you’d be wrong. And you wouldn’t be alone—we were just as surprised as you are.

When we arrive at General Motors’ Milford, Michigan Proving Grounds, Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter gives us a brief walking tour of the car and describes the brief for the most powerful production car in GM’s history.

“People have speculated that the ZR1 would extend the thinking of the Z06,” says Juechter. “That’s not the philosophy of this car. We built a car that’s awesomely easy to live with, but is also awesomely fast.”

It leaves us a little stunned. Why build it then? What’s the point? There’s no way the people at Corvette know more about what’s good for Corvette than us. Goddamnit, they made a mistake! Surely the drive would bear this out, right?

Standing next to the front straight of the Milford Road Course at GM’s Proving Grounds, the sun starts to break through a hot Michigan morning. From up here, you can see for miles in every direction. It’s a fitting place to launch the car that will naturally inherit the title of “King of the Hill,” given its connection to the C4 ZR1. But this is an entirely different car. You know the specs on the new ZR1: 638 horsepower, 604 pound-feet, supercharger, carbon fiber everywhere. But if Juechter says it’s not a super Z06, what is it?

Corvette development engineer Jim Mero—the guy from the now famous internet video of a ZR1 lapping the Nürburgring in seven minutes and twenty-six seconds—starts to explain a little bit more as he gives me an orientation lap of GM’s private race track.

As it turns out, the key to the philosophical distance from the Z06 centers around the ZR1’s use of Magnetic Selective Ride Control—the valveless dampers designed by Delphi that are filled with a magical magnetic fluid that responds to suspension events in a nanosecond. Using this MagneRide system allowed the Corvette engineers to put softer springs in the ZR1. Yes, you heard that right—the ZR1 has softer springs than the Z06.

In the ZR1 there’s a selector in front of the gear shifter that allows either Tour or Sport mode. “I think I put more work into getting the Tour setting right than anything else on the entire car,” says Mero, pointing out the braking distances and shift points around GM’s track. The Z06, on the other hand, doesn’t run the MagneRide suspension at all—it has fixed valve dampers, like most standard cars—and its ride is much less forgiving on normal roads. Although nobody will confirm it publicly, it’s commonly believed that the Z06 will upgrade to this MR setup in the not-too-distant future.

Mero drops me off on pit lane and there’s a yellow ZR1 waiting. It has the “3ZR” package—the only option package offered on the car other than wheel choice. It’s $10,000 all in and includes things like heavier power-adjustable seats, Bose audio, navigation, Bluetooth, etc. Buyers who want the lightest ZR1 they can find can opt for the standard “1ZR” trim, which saves twenty-six pounds.

Alright, here we are. I’m all alone now, sitting in the most expensive Corvette GM ever sold. Other than the boost gauge, you wouldn’t really know you’re in anything other than a standard C6 Corvette. Sure, there’s likely a different hue to the leather and the embroidery on the seats, but there’s not much else that’s unique. Surprisingly, the hood bulge for the supercharger doesn’t impact the driver’s view at all—only about an inch, according to the engineers. That’s not why we’re here, though.

Pushing the keyless start button, the ZR1 unleashes a wave of sound. With its exhaust valves open during startup, you get a brief moment of untamed engine roar. It settles down immediately and at idle barely makes a sound. This makes me even more nervous now. I can hear my hands wrap around the steering wheel and feel the blood move through my temples against the helmet. Whatever Juechter and Mero said about the ZR1 being easy to drive has escaped me now—I’m sitting in a $105,000 rear-wheel-drive car with 638 horsepower. Will I die on this lap? Worse—will I completely embarrass myself and then die on this lap? Looking out over the hood and down a long front straight, it seems at least a possibility. I look over and the bystanders along pit lane are smiling and eating sugar cookies. Good thing I put my mom on the emergency contact form—she always loved me.

Pulling away from pit lane, the clutch depresses easily—there’s no supercar-heavy feel that would intimidate first timers—it’s just like a Z06 or even the base car. I lay my foot down, charge up first gear, and away we go. Somewhere just south of 3000 rpm, the ZR1 opens up its lungs and lays waste to the morning silence—that’s roughly 700 rpm sooner than the Z06 opens its valves. I’m picking up speed and entering the front straight, looking toward a right hander at the bottom of the hill. As I get into second gear the sounds become massive and various—completely different from the dirty, large-displacement rumble of the Z06’s 7.0-liter naturally aspirated engine. In the ZR1, it’s a combination of engine roar and the fast-moving white noise of the supercharger, with just the slightest hit of whine. “Yeah, we wanted to keep that little bit so you can hear the supercharger,” Ron Meegan, assistant chief engineer for the program, tells me later. “You figure the guy’s going to pay for it and he knows it’s got a supercharger, so we didn’t want to hide it.”

I’m only a few seconds into my experience in the ZR1 and I’m already muttering sweet nothings to myself inside my helmet. I’m up over 100 miles per hour and the right hander is approaching. I remember during my orientation lap Mero told me it’s a decreasing radius turn, so I prepare to get it slowed down in a hurry. I stab the brakes and the car comes to almost a complete stop. Of course, I’ve stopped way too short, so much so that I’ve got to get back on the gas to even enter the corner. It’s the same the next corner. I just. Stop. Too. Short. Every. Time. What the hell is wrong with me?

I should be asking what’s so right with these brakes. They’re carbon ceramic disks from Brembo and they fill almost the entire diameter of the nineteen-inch front and twenty-inch rear wheels. Stomping over and over again through my first lap of the 2.9-mile private track, the braking response is supernatural. Everything that 638 horsepower can unleash, the Brembos can reel in.

Flying through the track’s series of elevation changes and off-camber corners, the feedback in smooth lateral changes is not too far removed from the Z06—they do share nearly the same suspension, including the same aluminum upper and lower control arms. It’s in those up and down motions and in response to pavement imperfections where the ZR1 and its MagneRide setup breaks apart from the Z06 pack. Couple the ZR1’s ability to slough off the rough stuff with a much more powerful engine and you end up with a vehicle that feels faster than the Z06 in nearly every way—in a straight line, on the track, and on the road. It’s heavier, though, which is why GM still intends on keeping the Z06 positioned for those who favor track performance over creature comforts.

While the ZR1 won cover stories and headlines because of its engine, it’s likely to win more fans due to its brakes, tires, and MagneRide suspension. In a way, it’s odd to praise Chevy for bits and pieces that they didn’t even build, but when you think about it GM is as deserving of praise as Brembo or Michelin or Delphi. Today’s cars—and especially today’s performance cars—aren’t just engine jobs. Pulling off a complete vehicle is more like conducting an orchestra, general contracting on a home remodel, or art directing a magazine. It’s the brilliance of knowing which pieces create a great whole, then pulling them together in a way that creates an entirely new experience. In that sense, chief engineer Tadge Juechter is likely the greatest creative director of all. And, well, his name is sounds like a creative director’s, too. Somebody get this guy a black turtleneck, quick.

On the final, sweeping right hander before I have to exit for pit lane—GM isn’t letting us do back-to-back hot laps with the full track, so we have to exit and reenter each lap—I get it over 130 mph but realize I’ve barely scratched the surface. Top speed is said to be limited at 205 mph, although GM engineers suggest that the car will hit 210 or 215 on downhill runs.

It’s the ultimate Corvette for people who love Corvettes, not some other thing that the Corvette “should be.” The collective wish of the internet-enabled public to make the ZR1 “more of a Z06” is perhaps aligned with an inability to see the true spirit of the Corvette—it was never meant to be a supercar. It was always meant to go fast, but never at the expense of its inhabitants. It’s the sports car for people who aren’t race car drivers. As GM has proven for over fifty years, a lot of people tend to agree.

They didn’t build the ultimate supercar. They just built the ultimate Corvette. Live with it.

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Magazine Issue: Winding Road Issue 37