Corvette Report: Breaking Corvette News Stories 1-13-26
Will the 2026 ZR1X be the all-time Ultimate Performance Corvette?
1979 was an interesting year for Corvette. Despite performance being way down, Chevrolet sold 53,807 Corvettes that year, a record that still stands. 2023 came within 22 units of breaking that record. In the December issue of Car and Driver road test, a 1979 L82 4-speed Corvette ran 0-60 mph in 6.6 seconds and the quarter-mile in 15.3 seconds. The as-tested price of the car was $11,951 ($58,237 in 2025 dollars)
Fast forward 47 years, and here’s where we are. A 2026 ZR1X was tested at US 131 Motorsports Park’s quarter-mile drag strip. The quarter-mile test is the gold standard for establishing a car’s horsepower and traction. The ZR1X’s performance is mind-blowing! It is hard to imagine future Corvettes being much more powerful.
This truly is nuts! Perhaps we are seeing the pinnacle of horsepower and performance for Corvette.
For the full story and the astonishing numbers, CLICK HERE. – Scott
Is Chevrolet Telling the Truth About the C8 ZR1’s LT7 Engine Output?
This is a follow-up to the astonishing performance of the ZR1X story mentioned above. Quarter-mile elapsed time numbers are an indication of how well a car can hook up in the first 60 feet. Drag racers are equally concerned about their 60-foot numbers as they are ET numbers. A car’s top speed in the quarter mile is an indication of how much horsepower the engine is producing.
The 2026 ZR1X tested in the above story stopped the trap lights at 159 mph. Here are a few quarter-mile numbers to chew on from old road tests. A 225-horsepower 1979 L82 Corvette’s quarter-mile top speed was 95 mph. The 2002 Z06’s quarter-mile top speed was 116 mph. The 755-horsepower 2019 ZR1’s quarter-mile top speed was 130 mph. The C8 Z06, with 670 horsepower, clocked 131 mph in the quarter mile. The 2026 ZR1X has almost double the horsepower as the C8 Z06 and is almost 30 mph faster through the traps.
Now, here’s this kicker. In 1983, Bill Jenkins‘ 1981 “Grumpy’s Toy” XVI Camaro, a full-bore, purpose-built race car, was running elapsed times and top speeds as the 2026 ZR1X. Grumpy’s Pro Stock Camaro has zero creature comforts. The ZR1X has every imaginable creature comfort. Modern Corvettes are amazing.
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For the full story, CLICK HERE. – Scott
E-Ray Review: Very Close to Being a Full-On Exotic
Ever since the arrival of the 2018 Tesla Model 3, with its “Oh WOW!” feature, piston engine performance cars have been playing catch-up. The magic of the electric performance cars is that the electric motor delivers its full torque rating at 1 rpm. Think of the pulling power of big, diesel-electric trains.
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The topic of an EV Corvette has been a constant since the Tesla Model 3. Traditionalists generally give the EV Vette the thumbs down. Hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius, didn’t enter our thoughts until Chevrolet released the E-Ray in 2023. It turned out that a hybrid C8 Corvette was in the works from the beginning of the design and development of the C8.
From a performance perspective, the hybrid is the best of both worlds and allows the Corvette to be an all wheel drive performance car, without the transfer cases. This story looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the E-Ray. The weaknesses, in my opinion, are ridiculous.
For the full story, CLICK HERE. – Scott
Corvette Had A Bad Year Despite Breaking Records… Really?
The headline of this story has a fishy, clickbait smell to it. While the sales numbers look bad, there’s a sound reason for this. Simply, the Corvette finally reached market saturation. While a few gremlins have popped up in the C8, that’s to be expected in any vehicle with around 20,000 to 30,000 individual parts.
That aside, there is nothing inherently “wrong” with the C8 Corvette, enough to cause the sales to drop from 52,775 in 2023 to 24,533 in 2025. What’s happened are two things. First, nearly everyone who wanted a C8 Corvette already has one. And second, now there are 10s of thousands of perfectly fine previously owned C8 Corvettes waiting for new homes at lower prices than new C8 Corvettes.
If the 2027 Grand Sport’s price is right, this sales decline might improve or level out. Traditionally, every generation Corvette’s sales drop towards the end of the production run, as customers anticipate the new and improved next-generation Corvette. We’ll see. The story isn’t over yet.
For the full story, CLICK HERE. – Scott
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