Engineer breaks down what makes engine of new Corvette ZR1 so powerful

An engineer has helped break down just how Chevrolet managed to pack so much power into the upcoming Corvette ZR1. 

The new car will be the ‘most powerful’ Corvette ever, producing a staggering 1,064 horsepower. 

Unveiling the high-powered ‘Vette back in July, Chevrolet said it has the ‘most powerful V8 ever produced in America from an auto manufacturer’.

“Corvette ZR1 is about pushing the envelope with raw power and cutting-edge innovation,” said Scott Bell, vice president, of Chevrolet.

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The Corvette ZR1 comes with a super-powered engine

The Corvette ZR1‘s power comes from its 5.5L, twin-turbocharged DOHC flat-plane crank V8 engine that Chevy has dubbed the LT7.

The LT7 produces 1,064 horsepower at 7,000rpm and 828lb-ft of torque at 6,000rpm – all in all, Chevy says the engine offers the ‘most power ever from a factory Corvette’.

Impressive stuff right?

The LT7 is based on the Z06’s LT – the most powerful naturally aspirated production V8 engine ever – and then beefed up with twin turbochargers.

Expert engineer Greg Banish, who didn’t work on the LT7, has explained how Chevy was able to pack so much power into the ZR1 while keeping the car road-legal. 

“The LT6 engine in the C8 Z06 already makes 670HP in naturally aspirated trim; the LT7 is a derivative of that engine, with boost added,” he wrote in a piece for Motor Trend. 

Banish goes on to explain that aftermarket superchargers and turbos are used fairly commonly to boost engine performance. 

He used the example of an engine he worked on that he was able to increase by 200HP, from its base of 390HP, after adding 7psi from a pair of turbos. So it was ‘no surprise at all’ to him that Chevy was able to push the LT7 to 1,064HP. 

Despite so much power, the car still passed emission tests

All that power translates to speed and during development, the Corvette ZR1 hit speeds in excess of 346km/h (215mph), and will be able to run the quarter mile with a GM-estimated sub-10-second time.

Again – impressive stuff. 

But Banish thinks the really impressive part is that Chevy got the high-octane car to pass emissions. 

To pass, cars ‘must at least be under 0.070 grams of combined NMOG and NOx emissions on the familiar FTP75 urban drive cycle’ – something the engineer says is ‘no small feat’. 

“Getting the tailpipe emissions that clean requires a fundamentally clean-burning engine that can stay very close to the stoichiometric air-fuel balance, and a catalyst capable of reacting off any leftovers before they exit,” he explained. 

For this to work, the catalyst needs to hit 300C very quickly to minimize cold start emissions. 

This is usually done by creating ‘lots of exhaust gas heat immediately upon startup and directing it toward the catalyst’.

So not only is the Corvette ZR1 super powerful, it’s also super smart.