There are a lot of dotting “i”s and crossing “T”s when bringing a new production automobile to market. But when you’re involved in bringing a new Corvette to market, there are a few perks. This video just released by Chevrolet shows what may be one of the key perks within the company.
Two fire-suited individuals get the rare opportunity to find out exactly how fast the new 2019 ZR1 really is on a closed-course, large oval track. Chevrolet shipped the car to Automotive Testing Papenburg (ATP), located in Papenburg, Germany for use on their 7.6 miles (12.3 km) oval track. This is only one of the courses that are available for testing to various manufacturers.
The identities of the two individuals are not disclosed, but the fact that the one with the wheel in his hands is also wearing a Corvette Racing suit leads us to believe this is just another day in the office for him. The dude in the passenger’s seat doesn’t seem fazed by the large stretch of road that is curling behind them either.
We get a glimpse of the car’s performance when the driver gets the “go ahead” and mashes the tall, skinny pedal. The eight-speed transmission drops down into fourth gear, the exhaust gets angry and the world becomes a blur. The rate of acceleration is of key note, especially when you keep in mind that the run starts at 108 mph! The auto-shifted trans works its way back up through to seventh gear and the engine tops out at around 5,400 rpm, struggling to get the car to a top speed of 214.88 mph going with the wind.
Official speeds are run in two directions, with the wind and against the wind. The second run is notably slower, as it was headed into the wind. The affect on the car was a reduced top speed of “only” 210.20 mph, making the average, two-way speed at 212 mph. Not a bad average we’d say.
When you keep in mind that this is an American factory-built car and consider the effort that Chevrolet has put into testing the car at its limits, it becomes easier to say that this is truly the golden age of performance. While most folks will never realize the top-speed of this asphalt missile, the fact that it does it so well and still performs tasks as a daily driver goes to show how technology has not only raised the bar of performance but has also broadened it as well.
Check out the video, and to get the most out of it, you’ll likely want to watch it a few times. I mean, it’s the least we could do seeing how these two men wore hot fire-suits during the entire episode and soldiered through the effort two times to make it official. And, remember, they likely didn’t even let them run the air-conditioning!