The new LT5 V8 only loses about 11% of its power on the way to the unique ZR1 wheels.
YouTuber Street Speed 717 recently took his 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 to a dyno shop. The goal? To see how much power it sends to the wheels in stock form, of course. As you might imagine, the results were pretty solid, with the LT5 sending more than 660 horsepower to the rear wheels via the 7-speed manual gearbox.
Street Speed 717’s ZR1
The video begins with the host of the Street Speed 717 YouTube channel, Mike, talking about his 2019 Corvette ZR1. He explains that weather has prevented him from enjoying the car since taking delivery of it, so he only has around 100 miles on it when the video begins. Though, after the 150-mile drive to Race Proven Motorsports (RPM), the C7 ZR1’s odometer reads around 250 miles. That is well below the 500-mile break-in period and he expects that the numbers will be a bit lower than expected due to the fact that the LT5 engine is still so fresh.
After letting us hear the C7 ZR1 cold start, the host heads off to the dyno shop. Along the way, talking about the car as he drives in the first nice weather that he had experienced since getting the new Corvette. When he arrives to RPM, he takes a moment to wash the car before rolling it onto the shop dyno. Gotta have it new and shiny for the cameras.
Once the new ZR1 is loaded onto the dyno, the guys in the shop all take guesses as to how much wheel horsepower the newest supercharged Corvette will make. The video host guessed 670 early on in the clip and later on, he clarified that to 668. Guesses in the shop ranged from 669 up to 685, with a humorous guess of 900 thrown in as well.
Once the guesses were recorded, it was time for the new Corvette ZR1 to stretch its legs on the dyno.
The Dyno Runs
Street Speed 717’s new Corvette ZR1 makes three runs on the dyno and on the first, it laid down 664 horsepower and 637 lb-ft of torque. On the second run, things improve a bit to 668 horsepower and on the third run, it made 664 once again.
We are bound to see higher numbers as C7 ZR1 owners break them in a bit and hit dynos in their area, but for the time being, we have the first baseline numbers for a new ZR1 with the manual transmission. With more than 660 wheel horsepower in stock form the LT5 might be a bit underrated. Good news indeed for GM fans around the globe.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
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