The Chevrolet Corvette enjoys legendary status in South Africa

connecting rod bolt The Chevrolet Corvette enjoys legendary status in South Africa although it hasn't been officially sold here for some time, and thename is synonymous with American muscle cars. But the latest Corvette ZR1 is set to make the True Blue supercaran international superstar, if the GM hype is to be believed. The 6.2-litre supercharged V8 engine lets loose 470kW of power andover 800Nm of torque harnessed through a dynamic six speed manualgearbox. The gearbox uses a double plate clutch to cope with thispower. Several other drivetrain components were also toughened tocope with the kilowatts, such as the connecting rods which are nowtitanium and the heavy duty steel crankshaft which is fitted with anine bolt flange instead of the regular six bolt arrangement onother corvettes. GM Powertrain Chief Engineer, Sam Winegarden, reckons the ZR1'sperformance is impressive by any standards: "The relentless surgeof power throughout the powerband from the supercharged 6.2-litreis simply amazing." Although the ZR1 is more powerful than the 7.0-litre ZO6 which iscapable of a 0-100km/h sprint in less than four seconds, noperformance figures are yet available for the new monster. What is known though is that standard magnetic ride control,slightly softer suspension and wider tyre tracks increase stabilityat high speeds.