The latest iteration of the Corvette is by far the best that Chevrolet has ever produced. It is light, fast, agile and incredibly powerful. The latest version ZR1 just moved that yardstick further with a stonking 755hp and 930Nm of torque driving through the rear wheels. It is obviously an attempt to keep up with Ferrari and other Europeans hypercars that push out over 650hp. The horsepower game is definitely moving on to newer pastures and it is exciting for new buyers. The age old problems still remain and that is 90% of buyers will likely struggle to drive it since they already struggle to control a 600hp car let alone one that is 750hp!
The ZR1 has proven to be highly capable and is a bargain compared to exotics like Ferrari and Lamborghini. It is little wonder why it is so popular in America. For such little money you can scare the living hell out of exotics that cost 3 times more. The Corvette is also a good looking car and is able to turn heads. I won't be surprised if Chevrolet will aim for a more extreme version is more power soon seeing that the Dodge Hellcats are easily pushing well over 700hp! The motto will be something like this "since we are at it might as well go for more power!".
It appears that the American car makers are on a rampage to build cars with ridiculous power. their design philosophy is different from the Germans that look at refinement over power. The Americans aim for huge power figures as a marketing tool to attract hot blooded young buyers and those middle age guys with mid life crisis. This recipe seems to work and these tuned models have been selling well.
Value for money, bang for your buck sports sedans, sports SUVs and sports car are all the rage now in America. Screw the hybrids...!
I do hope that these car makers will spend a bit of marketing dollar toward driver training for every Hellcat, Corvette or any other high horsepower car they sell. It won't look good in the news when many are crashed due to driver's inability to control the car.
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