Great article about the 1st and only 9 second C7 ZR1
 

But then again, I'm a little biased LOL ;)

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August 19, 2018

FASTEST ‘VETTE IN THE WORLD – THE WEAPON-X 2019 ZR1 CORVETTE

When we heard that WEAPON-X Motorsports was taking their brand new 2019 ZR1 Corvette out to the drag strip we had to stop by. President Ben Herndon’s goal for the day? To become the first of this coming year’s ZR1s to break the 9-second quarter mile barrier.

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While that may not seem blazingly fast, no tuner shop has truly cracked the ECU on the ZR1, at least not at the time of this writing. In private talks with GM engineers, Ben says they claim that due to the 2019 ZR1 being a 4G LTE car, it could, in theory, be hacked over the air. To ensure this isn’t possible, they’ve locked everything down and Chevy claims that the new computer on the car will not be tunable and will not be cracked. Only time will tell….

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However, WEAPON-X Motorsports has devised a workaround to the issue with a number of tuning tricks. We can’t share the details of what they’re doing, but by using certain sensors and overriding a variety of values which are fed into the ECU, WEAPON-X has gotten the brand-spanking new LT5 motor to free up some ponies.

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At the end of the day, Ben pulled off the factory carbon fiber cover so we could get a real look at the motor. But more interesting than the naked LT5 is what actually happened at the drag strip.

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Due to our jam-packed schedule in Ohio we’d planned to head out to Kil-Kare Raceway outside of Dayton, Ohio, to catch the last passes of the day. But unfortunately, apparently because of a low number of cars showing for the test and tune, the strip was closing an hour early.

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Ben had only put in two runs by this point, with a best of 10.17 at 138 mph. This pass was, at press time, good for the title of fastest 2019 ZR1 in the world.

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Again, it doesn’t seem that crazy of a time for a Corvette but the trick with the latest iteration of this chassis is that there are a very limited number of aftermarket parts available, and no way to truly tune for them yet.

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But still Ben’s been able to shave near half a second off the best times out of the factory. But he hadn’t broken into the 9s the day of the test and you can bet he wanted to. After a quick chat with the staff after we showed up, they allowed us one more pass down the strip.

On the record-setting pass the car had a relatively slow 60-foot time so we were confident as Ben warmed up the tires and rolled up to the line as the sun dipped down on the horizon. It was all down to this run and the WEAPON-X Motorsports ZR1 was right on the cusp.

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The Christmas tree went green and Ben launched down the 1320. Not a super clean start this time around and as the ZR1 howled into the distance, we wondered if this would be the one.

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Sadly, it just wasn’t enough. 10.74 at 134mph. A bit of a disappointing final run, but a lot of valuable data was recorded at the strip.

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Looking over some of the data with Ben after the pass, he pointed out that some interesting and immediately unexplainable things were going on. The throttle was intermittently cutting out, for one, and power wasn’t peaking where it had on the earlier runs. Perhaps this was due to changing atmospheric conditions.

On a car like this where the margins are so slim, and where there’s no real aftermarket support as of yet, every little bit makes a difference. Noticing lightweight Forgeline wheels around the car, it’s clear that Ben is looking for anything to give the car an edge.

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On the way out we stopped by a gas station for a top off, and that’s the beauty of this car. You can drive to the track, fill it up at the pump, and lay down a ten second quarter mile.

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Development for this car will be rapid as more shops get their hands on them, and lots of people are going to be trying to crack the computer and tweaking things as they can. Next time Ben hits the track, we’re sure he’ll find his way into the 9s.

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UPDATE: Since Writing, Ben’s Done It With A 9.974 At 136.77mph, Becoming The First 2019 ZR1 In The 9s. Congrats To All Involved!

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Trevor Ryan

Trevor Ryan is a track day photographer from Northern California. He has experience in many different areas of photography but always comes back to automotive work in the end. To him, nothing is more rewarding than creating an amazing image of a car. Having purchased a ’66 Mustang almost six years ago, he had no choice but to end up immersed in car culture sooner or later. He also owns a ’99 Miata that he takes to the track. He has love for every part of car culture and besides track days often makes it to drift events, Cars and Coffee, tuner shows, and anything else he can find.

Very nice write up!!!

Congrats!

This the 1st that I have heard of this....PLEASE SAY MORE!

Very nice Ben. Interested in knowing what changes were made (if any) between the write up and you hitting the 9 sec goal. I plan on ordering your 900 kit in Oct. and having it installed locally.

Nice!

Gj!

Ben, any updates on the "workaround"?

I question your remark but here's the answer.​​​​​​

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...2-40-flat.html

Wait, it says you didn't run a 9 sec pass. Am I missing something or is this title misleading?

Nice job Ben, keep up the great work. :)

keep up the great work ben. Looking forward to adding another set of injectors to add fueling where the factory leaves off.

clearly the blower has lots of head room. that's pretty spectacular performance from a factory setup with limited bolt ons and tweaks!!!

So did it run a 9 or not?

Great article...I love that shot of the exposed Carbon Fiber on the underneath side of the engine hood.

not that day, I sat around waiting for the car to cool off after the hour drive while waiting on Trevor to get there, and the strip decided to close early on me so I only got two passes in. didn't leave hard enough on the first one and muffed the second one big time (my worst ever actually just for the photographer LOL) but if you read to the bottom ;)

the car has made a half dozen 9s passes on just two outings at this point, resetting both quickest and fastest a couple weeks ago :)

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I knew you would ;)

Very cool. Do you mind if I ask the launch technique used and the tire pressure to get your 1.44 60'? Thanks!

Sure thing ;) I welcome competition!

• Sport Mode
• TC off
• Stabilitrak off - ONLY If you're experienced, otherwise leave this on as it might be the only thing that saves your ace if the car goes sideways. :)
• Burnout length depends on track temp with heat gun
• Tire pressure depends on track temp with heat gun (keep in mind they'll heat up 2-3 PSI depending on previous use and burnout length) but this was about 17 PSI before the burnout on the Hoosier 335s
• Roll up, stage shallow
• Foot brake to ride converter up to about 2K RPMs
• Last yellow, less brake, more gas simultaneously and roll out
• When you feel it hook, you should be flat footed!
• Be SURE you cross the traps before braking but as soon as you cross, apply moderate pressure to slow the car down sooner which allows you to have more room at the end for safety. Once you're a little more seasoned, you can downshift as you're braking as well, but usually, Performance Shift mode will be helping somewhat too.
• I keep in manual mode on the return lane with the RPMs higher, in lower gears to keep more air moving through in an attempt to cool it down some before shutdown (logging the entire time)
• Lastly, don't forget to stop at the shack to collect your 9 second slip :)
• When parking, pop the hood and pull the 4 - 10mm bolts in the cowl and you can set it in the hatch as this WILL HOLD HEAT IN! If you haven't seen my temp thread, if you leave it sit with the cowl on, temps will climb 20* on the supercharger lid over the next 2 hours before they start to cool back down.

Temp Info:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...into-this.html

Great info. Thanks man!

sure thing, now show me how it works out! ;)