Hennessey announces Corvette ZR1 with 1,200 horsepower

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The 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is the ultimate Corvette, and now that Chevy is traveling the mid-engine route, it will forever be the best traditional front-mounted Vette you can buy. If you thought that 755 horsepower and 715 pound-foot torque would be enough to prevent Hennessey from wanting more, then you are mistaken.

These guys tend to be on the extreme side of power, and have managed to get 1,200 (!) Horsepower and 1,066 pound-foot torque from the Vette's 6.2-liter supercharged V8. This is called the HPE1200 and it is one of the three versions of the ZR1 that you can upgrade to. The other two are called the HPE850 and HPE1000, with 850 and 1,000 hp respectively.

If you decide to go with the 1,200-horsepower Corvette monster, you need to know that it requires racing fuel to get all 1,200 ponies. However, you still get 1,100 horsepower at 93 octane. Hennessey makes a large number of adjustments to get the ZR1 to this capacity. They use a ported factory blower, lower and upper pulley upgrades, a modified camshaft, ported cylinder heads, improved inlet and outlet valves, better valve springs and holders, and a billet high-flow throttle body. All exhaust gases are pushed out by stainless steel headers and high-flow catalysts. Hennessey upgrades the optional automatic transmission to handle the power, but says the 7-pass speed of the warehouse requires no changes. There are no suspension or inhibition changes, but the ZR1 is not missing in these areas. Finally, your stupid fast ZR1 gets a 3-year warranty on 36,000 miles directly from Hennessey.

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Hennessey does not quote acceleration figures for the 1200 horsepower car, but the HPE1000 has an autonomy of 0-60 mph in 2.3 seconds with the optional drag radians. It does the quarter mile in 9.4 seconds at 147 mph with the same tires. Top speed is a ridiculous 230 mph. The ZR1 with 1,000 hp has almost all the same upgrades as the HPE1200, but does not compromise the gated supercharger, the high-speed accelerator pedal and the ability to race. The HPE850 is usually just a bolt, and there are no internal engine adjustments to speak of.

Prices and timing are available on request from Hennessey.