2025 Corvette ZR1 Review Roundup: A 1,064-HP Missile That's Still (Somehow) Street Legal

I've always been an admirer of the classic Chevy Corvette with its unique styling and muscle car street cred.

The latest iteration of this iconic auto, the 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, looks like an incredible entry into the canon of Corvette models, and the reviewers are loving it.

This vehicle is amazing fast, with a 5.5 liter twin-turbo V8 (called the LT7), churning out 1,064 HP. It's so fast that Car and Driver's Ezra Dyer cautions drivers to be careful with it.

It would be disingenuous to claim that the ZR1's performance is easily accessible. When you first climb in, it's best to treat the accelerator pedal the way a bomb-squad crew treats a wired-up bundle of explosives—careful, careful, lest you trigger the boom.

Top Gear's Ollie Marriage concurs, saying,

The turbos spin at up to 137,000rpm (that's 2,283 rotations per second) and at that speed the turbo tips are travelling at 1.7 times the speed of sound. The impellers get to two-thirds of the belly temperature of the Space Shuttle on re-entry and so close are the turbos mounted to the exhaust manifold that the air going into them is still on fire.

Echoing the above sentiment, Ars Technica's Michael Teo Van Runkle says that the ZR1 is "engineered for insane speed" but that its interior might feel a bit prosaic compared to its "more exotic mid-engined rivals."

It's not just the engine that makes this car sing, either. The insides are full of tech and more traditional controls, making for a unique driving experience, says Chevrolet

"There's an intentional balance of physical and virtual controls," said Dusty Smith, performance driving product manager, in a post. "For example, the head-up display controls are now virtualized, which opens space for Performance Traction Management controls to be intuitive physical buttons. The technology in the new Corvette is as strong and capable as the engine behind you."

Introduced in 2024, this new Corvette works with Chevy's E-Ray Performance app to show you live horsepower, torque flow, and other data from your machine, including:

• Acceleration timers: Relocated to the Performance App, drivers can now set their own speed ranges for timed acceleration
• G-force gauge: Reimagined to show the limits of force the vehicle has achieved over time, providing more context than live G-force readings alone
• Tire pressure and temperature gauge: Shows live tire pressures and indicates tire temperature to help drivers anticipate available grip
• Propulsion system vitals gauge: Live feed of temperatures for engine oil temperature and pressure, engine coolant temperature, and transmission fluid temperature
• eAWD gauge: Highlights front axle power output and battery state-of-charge for E-Ray

Ultimately, if you're looking for a speedy, well-engineered auto that makes more sense on an F1 track than on the interstate during rush hour, the ZR1 might be worth a look.

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