C8 ZORA caught testing at the Nurburgring

[DenisC8]

[SPIED] C8 Corvette ZORA Prototypes Take the Nurburgring as Sticker Shows Electrification Warning - Corvette: Sales, News & Lifestyle

Our spy photographer at the Nurburgring has alerted us that the Corvette engineering team is at the track and with them is the upcoming C8 Corvette ZORA which is expected to be a performance hybrid like that E-Ray.

www.corvetteblogger.com

 

[Dgds88t]

Crazy....I'd say the front drive unit of this thing will more powerful than the one in the E-ray. Expect at least 1300HP.

 

[DenisC8]

Crazy....I'd say the front drive unit of this thing will more powerful than the one in the E-ray. Expect at least 1300HP.

my guess is the front drive unit will be exactly the same as the one in the E-Ray

 

[tyho]

This car better have some serious power because it will weigh 4000 lbs.

 

[HappyCamper]

This car better have some serious power because it will weigh 4000 lbs.

WITHOUT the electric motor the ZR1 already has 1064HP and 828ft/lbs torque. If that is not serious for a ICE vehicle I don't know what is.

If the electric motor system is the same as the E-Ray then add 160HP and another 125ft/lbs of torque to the recipe.

I don't know if you have had the chance to actually really drive a C8 of any flavour, I hear people complaining about how heavy they are but the reality of this is unless you are competitive pro racing this vehicle, which you would then be looking at carbon fibre everything anyway or just making your purchase from Pratt & Miller anyway.
I know my previous car was a Viper which was a about 500lbs. lighter on the scales than my current C8, "felt" heavier to drive than the C8. I know that is not a direct comparison, but it must be a mid engine thing.

I was at the Ron Fellows Corvette driving school a few weeks ago and a guy in my class did not own a C8 of his own and was there to pay the $3700USD to try one out.
He already owns both a C7 Zr1 and C6 Z06 which he tracks regularly. At the end of the two days of tracking the C8 Z51 he stated that he will be picking up a C8 (did not say what type) when he gets home as he said that this car once he became familiar with it will eat either of his current cars on track without a question in bone stock setup. Extra weight and all.

 

[meyerweb]

Note that these cars don't have the "split window" venting that the ZR-1 has. That venting seems to be important to deal with the extra heat from the turbos, so what does the absence mean?

 

[HappyCamper]

Note that these cars don't have the "split window" venting that the ZR-1 has. That venting seems to be important to deal with the extra heat from the turbos, so what does the absence mean?

I noticed that this is definitely as test mule car. This car is may be a Z06 with electric motors for testing purposes. GM test/mule cars may not even have the correct parts on the car as has been documented throughout the C8 testing.
My belief is that this may be a Z06 versus a ZR1 is the absence of the turbo inter-cooling port through the front hood/frunk area, but that my no mean that they are not using the same intercooler but venting it under the car for testing purposes.

 

[Afterimage]

I was at the Ron Fellows Corvette driving school a few weeks ago and a guy in my class did not own a C8 of his own and was there to pay the $3700USD to try one out.
He already owns both a C7 Zr1 and C6 Z06 which he tracks regularly. At the end of the two days of tracking the C8 Z51 he stated that he will be picking up a C8 (did not say what type) when he gets home as he said that this car once he became familiar with it will eat either of his current cars on track without a question in bone stock setup. Extra weight and all.

Which car does that person track regularly the C6Z, C7 ZR or both?? A C8 Z51 is not beating a C7 ZR1 on any track so that guy must be too amazed at the traction of that C8 Z51 at RF to make such a claim.

Throttle house home track lap times listed below (C7ZR is currently 6th place and a C8 Z51 is 17th place just under 3 sec. slower):

Leaderboard and Track Times

Every car on the Throttle House Leaderboard has been tested on our home track in Ontario and has used the same set of rules. Thomas is always the driver, and efforts are made to ensure the best possible time can be achieved. However, conditions vary throughout the seasons and temperatures

www.thethrottlehouse.com

Even on a super tiny tight track the ZR will be a handful to drive and the margin would be tighter but if you know what you are doing it will still be faster than a C8 Z51 car.

 

[DW Ruby]

Note that these cars don't have the "split window" venting that the ZR-1 has. That venting seems to be important to deal with the extra heat from the turbos, so what does the absence mean?

Neither does the convertible (obviously), so I'm not sure just how critical it actually is.

 

[Jack Raccoon!]

What about the noise factor? Asking for a member...

 

[Afterimage]

Some C8 ZR1 coupes are still testing !camo without a split window.

 

[HappyCamper]

Which car does that person track regularly the C6Z, C7 ZR or both?? A C8 Z51 is not beating a C7 ZR1 on any track so that guy must be too amazed at the traction of that C8 Z51 at RF to make such a claim.

I believe he mentioned that he tracks the C7 and his wife tracks is older C6. I know he also mentioned that he has rebuilt the C7 3 times since he has owned it. Not sure if it was transmission or engine issue as he never elaborated.

All I am saying, this is his exact words on the last day when we spoke with him as we were leaving. I have personally have not driven a C6 or C7, let alone on track to so I have nothing to disprove his comments.
He had apparently been to the Ron Fellows school twice in the past, driving the the other previous versions. Maybe he was referring to the Pahrump track, I don't know?

Throttle house home track lap times listed below (C7ZR is currently 6th place and a C8 Z51 is 17th place just under 3 sec. slower):

I am sure you know as well as anyone, track times mean little when you have to consider weather/track conditions. The only way that you can seriously take track times in to consideration is testing cars back to back on the same day and relative time of day. The instructors mentioned that times at Pahrump can vary by about 7-8 seconds depending on the time of the year there. They drive the track everyday, six days a week. Track record by the instructors is around 1:15 in the C8 Z51 and they were running 1:20 on the day one.

I was 1.5 seconds slower in the same car on the second day at Ron Fellows as temperatures were 5-6ºF warmer and they mentioned that there was more dust on track from the higher winds the previous evening as well. The instructors flat out told me you will not hit yesterdays times today even though they said I was driving better on day two.

 

[Afterimage]

I know you are going with just what he is telling you so I'm not getting on your case about it...............just a general debate here about this, but think about it a bit. There is no way in hell I would take anyone telling me that a C8 Z51 is going to eat a C7 ZR1 on track driven both by competent drivers as truth it's not even close.

Yes I agree track times between cars are comparable if they are done same day, same time back to back if possible to really say "on this day on this track car A is faster than car B". These lap times done by TH or even C&D lightning lap are just a gauge to see the performance potential of vehicles tested. Similar performing cars on these tracks should lap with similar times +/- a small percentage in similar conditions. A dust storm blowing on track or a fresh repave of the track will change the lap time potential of a vehicle tested. A slight difference in temps or humidity won't change times too much.

With regards to TH lap times, the C8 Z51 video was uploaded mid July of 2020, C7 ZR1 vid uploaded early Oct. 2021. So lets say they did the actual testing 3 weeks/month before. Weather conditions could be similar in mid June to early Sept (perhaps a bit warmer in June) so close performing cars should have close lap times. 3 sec difference in lap times is not close.

If we go with Lightning lap, VIR is a power track and you'll see a C7 ZR1 is 7th on that list and a C8 Z51 is 41st 9.5 sec slower. You can give the Z51 PERFECT track and weather conditions and the C7 ZR crappy conditions and it will still lap VIR faster.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a23319884/lightning-lap-times-historical-data/

I did the RFSM thing in Pahrump back in early 2020 just b4 covid shutdown with the C7 ZR1 (my free 2 day school thing when I bought mine). It was pretty cool on day 2 for me and we were running Cup 2's that day. We were just told to do an extra warm up lap before hitting it to get heat into the tires once that was done the cars did fine.

 

[Afterimage]

Here's some video of the ring testing, can't say I hear any kind of e ray whining noises.

 

[Dgds88t]

Here's some video of the ring testing, can't say I hear any kind of e ray whining noises.

E-ray does not have whining noise outside of the car. The noise is generated by the speakers in the cabin.

 

[Afterimage]

Sure.................pay big $$$$ for a car to have fake noises piped in. *I lower my head*