C8 Corvette Zora Will Be Part ZR1 And Part E-Ray

It’s barely been six weeks since Chevrolet shook up the industry by launching the new Corvette ZR1, a genuine hypercar slayer with 1,064 hp and a monstrous 828 lb-ft (1,122 Nm) of torque. Now, the even more extreme Corvette Zora has been spied up close during tests at the Nurburgring.

We’ve known about Chevrolet’s plan to launch a C8 sitting above the ZR1 for many years now. It will be the most powerful, the fastest, and the quickest of any ‘Vette around a circuit ever and serve as the halo car of the C8-generation model. If you thought the ZR1 was crazy, you haven’t seen anything yet.

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A quartet of Zora prototypes was recently snapped at the ring by our eagle-eyed photographers. Each of them had yellow stickers on the rear window, meaning the car has a hybrid powertrain. This setup is expected to combine the insane twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V8 of the Corvette ZR1 with the front-mounted electric motor and battery pack of the E-Ray.

What remains a mystery is just how much power the Zora will have. Chevrolet has indicated the ZR1’s engine has more to give so we expect some minor tweaks to be made to it. The electric motor of the E-Ray is currently good for 160 hp and 125 lb-ft (169 Nm). If Chevy boosts the LT7 to, say, 1,100 hp, then the Zora could produce around the 1,250 hp mark, if not a little more. Such a monumental figure, combined with all-wheel drive, should make the car an absolute animal off the line.

Visually, these prototypes don’t look much different than the ZR1. The front end looks largely the same, although the splitter may be slightly larger. Limited changes are visible on the sides and the rear wing also looks the same. Of course, this isn’t a guarantee that Zora will look identical to its less-powerful brother, as these are prototypes and the finished product could be even more aggressive, which would be fitting given its place in the Corvette’s lineup.

Baldauf