i'll see your dodge challenger and raise you a chevy corvette ZR1 SS Blue Devil

"see if you can guess what this bad boy is". I dunno, that massive hood bulge got in the way.

That engine just sounded sooooo nice.

@vwminispeedster: You forgot Z07

Much like the 'ring (which I can never spell correctly), Laguna Seca should be a performance benchmark for all cars that wish to be taken seriously as performance cars.

Nice camera mount.

Today is Hoon-A-Rama on the J-nik!

Laguna Seca- the only track I've ever been on with braking markers going uphill!! And the video doesn't do justice to just how steep the drop at the Corkscrew really is....

Oh yeah - cool car, too.

Engine sounds awesome... can't wait for them to hit the streets.

I may be dusting off the Playstation tonight for a bit of Laguna Seca action. But what to drive? I mean, after the 'vette.

......Volvo 240 GLT.

Looks like it will be a great car.

It will be interesting to hear how the critics that hate Corvettes and domestics will find ways to criticize it. The interior looks cheap. It's only $100K less than a similar performing XYZ. Not enough snob appeal. It's a Corvette. It lacks "feel". (That's a pereneial one recently.) Blah blah blah.

@Vintage Racer: You haven't driven Sears Point?

Did you hear the driver lift on the exit of turn 5? Can we expect this car to be a little much in the corners? I hope Pratt & Miller had a strong input on the handling dynamics, and that I win the lottery soon...

that just sounds amazing.. just amazing

@Vintage Racer: Yeah I remember this one time I was racing my Corvette there. But I haven't played much Gran Tourismo after I sold my PlayStation.

@usa1: Watching Top Gear this week Jeremy Clarkson drooled over a Z06 for track fun before ripping it a new a-hole as undrivable on the street. Bit of a shocker, that.

@SMG3er:
We're taking the Datsun 510 to Sears Point and Thunderhill next year, and may get down to San Diego for the vintage race late in the year at NAS North Island. We may do Laguna Seca - we haven't decided yet. I'm too tall for the 510, so I did a ride along in a 65 Mustang. You can't see anything over the hood before you make the drop.

@rkwadd:
and what do you do with all your free time now??

@rkwadd:

yeah, watching this vid makes me appreciate the level of detail in GT4 that much more. right down to the rumble strips in the turns. although, in reality, i may have crashed in the corkscrew from coming in too hot. and yes, the exhaust sounds nice but could possibly be replicated in an electric car with a few outdoor subwoofers.

Lots of short-shifting and early braking, I'd love to see what this thing could do with a really hot lap when they aren't worried about breaking an expensive pre-production mule.

@MrWizard45: It looks like he was taking it pretty easy in general, for which he can't be blamed in a unique prototype. You can see he isn't going into the sweepers at full attack and brakes so early on the corkscrew he ends up accelerating up to it at the crest, making it hard to actually gauge its handling. It does look like he's maintaining some pretty serious speed without trying all that hard, though.

Two days before the ZR1 ran at Laguna a civilian drove a nearly stock (upgraded brakes and slicks) Z06 in a time trial type format between 1:29 and 1:31 .

@NoneMoreBlack: Yeah I don't blame him, short shifts and early braking are to be expected. I'm just saying that lifting on the exit of a turn usually denotes understeer, a plague on Corvettes in general.

@RKWadd: Yeah, that was such a load. Horrible for the street? Come on. Every review of it talks about how civilized it is for everyday driving in relation to the performance.

-Paul

@usa1: Well if the shoe fits....

Usually what i see with people with corvettes is its usually the first sports car they have ever owned.Go sit in an Aston or a Porsche and look me in the eye and tell me thats the interior of a $70,000 car.When i was a kid we had Chevy beretta coupe in the stable.The interiors are closer matched to each other than to a euro sports car.Call me uppity if you want,but if im dropping that much money on a car,i want it to look like that much on the inside.Im sorry,but nothing say hillbilly lottery winner like a vette or viper.Tuff titty.

@MagnificentBastard:

Don't beat around the bush - tell us how you really fell...

@Vintage Racer: Thats what i do...

@MagnificentBastard: And after that Aston gets blown off by some hillbilly lottery winner in a 'Vette, look us in the eye and tell us it performs like a $120K car. I'm not saying it's the right choice for everybody, but I'll be damned if we aren't lucky that we've got the choice to skimp on the interior for a little more performance.

Still, that engine sounds pants-ruining good, and like it was routed through a stick-shift, I hope at least (to counter the rumours that it was to be auto-only).

@Maymar: As an only-slightly-broke C.5 driver, I hereby award you +1 Internets

Veeerryy Nice!!

@Maymar: Lets not BS..if somebody gave you the choice of Porsche 911 of a Vanquish..or a vette free of charge you'd be a damn fool to take the vette.

@MagnificentBastard: Depends on what I want out of the car. I'll concede, the Porsche may have a dynamic or visceral advantage over the Corvette, and I'd have to spend a solid afternoon deciding which one I'd want. I'd love the Aston, but even in a hypothetical world where people are offering me free cars, I wouldn't take one unless I already had a largish collection (including the 'Vette and Porsche) built up. It's a gentleman's Lamborghini, a car whos primary function is to show the world you have money. My primary concern is a car I want to drive (although it helps that Vette is still easier and cheaper to live with).

@MagnificentBastard:

I dunno... which 'Vette? I don't really go for the whole 911 thing, and the Vanquish is a troubled car from a troubled company... I don't even really like 'Vettes that much, either! But if those are my options i'd think long and hard about it before, probably, taking the 911 and immediately selling it off to some Porsche-phile for profit.

@Shapeshifter:

Let me just say there are cars that i wouldn't have to think about before taking over a 'Vette. Like the modern V8 Vantage or Rapide (especially the Rapide, and double-especially the Rapide concepts we've been seeing) out of Aston or a Cayman from Porsche. But those aren't exactly in the same "market segment" as the 'Vette, so to speak.

nice exhaust.
Thank you Chevy for letting this be made.

I think a lot of the comments here are ignoring the performance aspect of the vette. I drive a laguna seca blue e46 m3, which is faster than a non turbo 911, and the performance of this vette is so much faster. Presumably when people say 911, they mean 911gt, because better interior or not, the non turbo 911 can't hold a candle to the vette in power. If you want to talk about what you'd take instead, the cayman is out, the 911 is out.. start talking about similar performance, gt3, tt, etc. The interior may be cheaper, but the vette is bar none the best bang for the buck, including ongoing maint. that you can get. Sure, I chose an m3 over a vette, but i have 2 other people to drive with every day. That's a very nice car, and consistently overlooked by couch enthusiasts. Finally, how many people here could even drive a boxster s to potential. Coming from 6 years of no driving, i know i personally have a long way to go to recovering driver skill - and no, gran turismo doesn't count, anymore than guitar hero teaches you guitar.

eh sorry for the type 911gt - meant 911 turbo

I prefer M3s, and 911s, but I have to say it's about time they brought back the ZR1. This is one badass car that will make a lot of people rethink their car buying decisions. Hoonage+1

Finally, a car that comes from the factory not only with exhaust louder than the engine noise, but louder than the damned SC whine!

That almost is as heartwarming a sound as a 427 tearin ass through sidepipes.