Corvette ZR1X Smokes More Powerful Bugatti Chiron in Drag Race

For roughly 1/15th the cost, the less powerful Corvette ZR1X makes absolute mincemeat of the Bugatti Chiron in a straight line.

From the very second the Corvette ZR1X was announced, we all knew that it was going to change the game for American sports cars, in general. The most potent Corvette ever takes the regular (and quite bonkers) ZR1 and adds a bit of electrification, resulting in an all-wheel-drive, 1,250 horsepower monster, after all. Aside from being a literal track weapon, the Corvette ZR1 is also born to blow minds with its straight-line acceleration, too.

That has been on clear display with the few drag races we’ve seen thus far, and now, we can add an impressive one to that list – in this case, the mighty Bugatti Chiron. The Drag Times YouTube channel managed to wrangle up that quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter V16-powered machine – one that churns out 1,500 horsepower – as well as a Corvette ZR1X for a seriously potent showdown on the tarmac recently.

While the Chiron has a cool 250 horsepower advantage here, it’s also quite hefty – tipping the scales at around 4,300 pounds, compared to the ZR1X and its slightly less than 4,000 pounds. Thus, the two met up at Apex Motor Club in Arizona on a warm spring day and an unprepared surface to see how these two AWD machines stack up.

In the first race, the Corvette rockets off the line to an early lead and just continues to pull ahead, leaving the Bugatti staring at tiny taillights. The ZR1X managed a 9.42-second quarter-mile at 150 mph on that run, though we didn’t get any numbers for its rather slow opponent.

On the second run, the Bugatti gets a bit of mercy with a free jump start, but this time, both cars spun. Ultimately, the Corvette ZR1X won again by a fair margin, though it was a bit closer than the first time around. For the third and final run, the cars adjust their launch rpms to compensate for tough track conditions, but that didn’t matter, as the ZR1X won yet another convincing race.

In the first follow-up roll race from 30 mph, some shifting errors in the ZR1X resulted in a Chiron win, but it was called off for a redo as a result of that mistake. On the second try, the Corvette ZR1X won in a much closer matchup, but it’s clearly the quicker car, and by a long shot. Considering the fact that the Chiron also costs a cool $3 million – compared to the ZR1X’s MSRP of $200k starting price tag – it’s an even more shocking result, indeed.

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.