Article by:
Jack Fitzgerald
Combining the E-Ray’s hybrid power with the ZR1’s twin-turbocharged LT7 V-8 creates a monster on paper, but that’s just the start of the ZR1X’s superiority.
Remember 2019? Of course you do. It was the final year Chevy built a Corvette with an engine in the front. The mid-engined C8 generation that followed changed everything, though the small-block V-8 mounted behind the driver provided a familiar heart. The Corvette E-Ray arrived for the 2024 model year and marked another significant break from tradition, becoming both the first hybrid and first all-wheel-drive Corvette. The Z06, with an exotic flat-plane-crank 5.5-liter V-8, helped birth the twin-turbo ZR1, which shocked everyone with its 1064 horsepower. All that led to this: the 2026 Chevy Corvette ZR1X.
For those who didn't like the hybrid AWD E-Ray, the new X-rated Vette might be the ultimate act of blasphemy from a generation riddled with sacrilege. It's also the most extreme production car Chevrolet has ever built. Despite the new name, the ZR1X is actually the Corvette Zora that we’ve been expecting since the C8 Corvette debuted. As anticipated, the ZR1X combines the LT7 V-8 from the ZR1 with an improved version of the Corvette E-Ray’s electric motor. The result? A hybrid all-wheel-drive Corvette making an absurd 1250 horsepower.
Eye-Popping Power
The bulk of that power (1064 horses worth) comes from the twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V-8, which is routed to the rear axle through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The front axle gets the E-Ray’s e-motor, but as with so much else about the ZR1X, the electric propulsion has been dialed up. While the battery’s 1.9-kWh gross capacity is the same as the E-Ray, the usable energy increased by 29 percent, letting Chevy raise the peak operating voltage and, in turn, the output. Combined with an extra 1000 rpm over the E-Ray (17,000 versus 16,000), the ZR1X’s front-drive motor makes 186 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque. Power from the electric motor sticks around for longer too, and the front axle now disengages at 160 mph rather than 150 mph in the E-Ray.
Accelerating in the rear-drive ZR1 is already a violent affair—keep your foot in it and the car will maintain more than 1.0 g of acceleration until 85 mph. With AWD in the mix, the ZR1X’s acceleration figures promise to be downright brutal. Chevy claims a zero-to-60-mph time of under 2.0 seconds and a standing quarter-mile run in fewer than 9.0 seconds with a trap speed higher than 150 mph. Those figures are also claimed to be achievable on an unprepped surface—you’ll want to clean your tires first, though. Read more...
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