GM gives us three hours at the test track. Dodge Vipers everywhere are trembling.

To test the performance of Chevrolet’s brand-new Corvette ZR1, videographer Jay McNally and I returned to GM’s Milford Proving Grounds where earlier we’d been allocated three hours with an early pre-production car. At our disposal: a Victory Red ZR1 with optional chrome wheels and fully loaded with the 3ZR package. Service techs at GM set the tire pressures and let us at it.

We tested acceleration on what is called the Military Straight. It’s a two-way road that’s over a mile in length with turn-around loops at each end. It took about 10 runs but I managed to click off a 0–60 mph blast of 3.4 seconds. Acceleration testing isn’t typically a terribly difficult thing; however with the chilly weather there wasn’t an easy way to get heat in the tires. Thus, there wasn’t as much traction as we wanted, and the cold air compounded the situation by making more power. As it was, I had difficulty finding grip in 1st gear both at the initial clutch drop on launch and again near redline. Full throttle at near the top of 1st would break the rear tires loose. For a fast run it was necessary to roll into the throttle all the way through 1st gear. I suspect with warmer weather there could be another 0.2 sec. shaved off the acceleration times as full throttle could be applied.

Swapping gears is easy with the Tremec TR6060 transmission and twin-disc clutch. I didn’t think twice about what gear the ZR1 was in; it just went naturally from gear to gear. With the car having 638 bhp, I’d have expected the gear lever to feel heavier. No speed shifting was used for our testing, but I did it a few times and found the gearbox sturdy enough to handle it. However, a 1–2 speed shift will always break the rear tires loose big time. This may be part of the reason that a no-lift shift feature hasn’t been integrated into the ZR1. Nor is there a launch control feature; however, this could arrive on a later model. It would surely help, as a slight lapse in concentration can result in lots of tire smoke.

Source: RoadandTrack.com — New Car Search – Tested: Chevrolet’s Mighty Corvette ZR1 (10/2008)