Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 2012: She returns to the Nurburgring

The new models outperform the best lap times of old models on the famous German circuit

The Corvette has returned to the test the most demanding track in the world - the famous German Nurburgring - and she took the opportunity to sign some of the fastest lap time ever recorded for a series of car.

The Corvette ZR1 has signed a lap time of 7:19.63, a gain of more than six seconds compared to the best Corvette in 2008.

"The tests on the Nurburgring is one of the most important procedures that we need to do to validate our car in one of the toughest tracks," says Tadge Juechter, chief engineer responsible for the Corvette range.

Measuring 20.8 km and comprising about 154 turns, the Nordschleife ("north loop") of the Nurburgring is widely recognized as the most demanding track in the world. As final testing Corvette in 2008, the car was driven by Corvette engineer Jim Mero's, and was a model of integral series without modification. This test was intended to validate the technical improvements achieved with 2,012 cars millesime entering into production this summer.

The performance improvement of the Corvette in 2012 begins with the optional mounting new tires, Michelin ® Pilot ® Sport Cup Zero Pressure, available on the two most powerful versions, the slight Z06 505 hp (377 kilowatts) and Sharper, the supercharged ZR1 638 hp (476 kilowatts). These envelopes are adapted to evolutions on the circuit, and need to be at their best to show temperature qualities and cornering grip.

Associated to the system Performance Traction Management (PTM) has the exclusive Corvette - which manages torque distribution for maximum performance - the new air rises has allowed the Corvette to establish new points of reference. The engineers have calculated that the gain should be of the order of 8% in lateral acceleration, which could reach over $ 1.1 billion, and that the braking distances were also improved.