We’ve known for years that GM is very capable of hiding their development of new cars in plain sight, and we remember a few years ago seeing pics of an “export” Z06 when in truth it was the E-Ray hiding underneath. This week, we had another example of that as Chevrolet was spied testing what appears to be both the ZR1 and the ZORA model together.
We have always wondered if perhaps GM was testing more than just the “next” Corvette in these drives. Thanks to the reveal of the Corvette E-Ray last year, we now have a specific piece of “electrification tech” to look for, and we found it on two of the three supposed ZR1s that were spied testing outside of the Milford Proving Ground earlier this week.
In the Jay Leno’s Garage video with Tadge Juechter and the E-Ray, Tadge talks about how there is as much cooling happening on the E-Ray as compared to the Z06, despite the fact that the Z06 is the brand’s designated track weapon. The E-Ray actually has more radiators than the Z06 “because there is more to cool,” says Tadge. “That drive unit has to be cooled, the power electronics in the battery need to be cooled, the battery cells themselves need to be cooled.” There are three cooling loops in the E-Ray, and the telltale sign is the addition of a vertically mounted radiator that sits on top of the horizontal radiator on the E-Ray’s front driver’s side. This exact set up with the E-Ray style radiators were on two of the three of camo’d prototypes spied this week.
The recent photos taken by Glenn Paulina of KGP Photography also gives us a glimpse into the Corvette team’s testing protocols. The ZR1/ZORA engineering group had three camo’d Corvettes, plus a Stingray, and the Ferrari SF90 Stradale. Each of the test cars were numbered 1 to 5, and numbers 1 and 3 appear to be ZORA prototypes while the number 2 test car was the Ferrari in the middle. Following them was the ZR1 prototype with the Z06-style high wing wearing number 4, and bringing up the rear was the Stingray wearing number 5.
What will be interesting is how Chevrolet will rollout these two higher level C8s. The Z06 and E-Ray reveals happened within 15 months of each other. The Z06 was introduced on October 26, 2021, while the E-Ray followed on January 17, 2023. The Corvette ZR1 reveal is July 25th and we’re thinking it will be a 2026 model. After that, it’s up in the air. Will the ZORA be the next one up after that, or will the ZR1 and ZORA be separated by the rumored Grand Sport? Time will tell!
With the discovery that two of theses prototypes have the electrification cooling radiators, Glenn sent out some additional photos of these ZR1/ZORA prototypes and offers several illustrated photos to help back up this claim. So now we have some great new looks of these widebody Corvettes. One thing we see in one of the photos is a screen covering the air-flow exit in the frunk.
But there are still a lot of unknowns with these cars as well. We’ve seen in previous test drives and the Nürburgring tests that these widebodies have two additional air flow vents on top of the rear quarter panels, and we’ve only seen these on the Coupes. We have never seen any of the convertibles wearing wings, and where are the visible carbon fiber wheels because we know that Chevrolet would never miss an opportunity to sell you a set of $15K carbon fiber wheels. As for the engine, we’re pretty certain that it’s a 5.5-liter FPC, but with the turbos included will the redline remain as high as the Z06’s 8600 RPM or will it be less?
As for the reveal of the C8 ZR1 next month, we are seeing that there may once again be some interior camouflaging which may be hiding a redesigned interior. That is why some C8 watchers like our friend Rick Conti believes that we will get some info about the ZR1 on July 25th, but not the whole car because of the interior redesign. Again, time will tell and we’re only 29 days away!
Thanks again to Glenn Paulina for sending these new shots of the ZR1 and ZORAs our way. Do you see something else that we have missed? Let us know in the comments below!