GTP Cool Wall: 1990-1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (C4)

  • Thread starter Wiegert
  • 37 comments
  • 3,011 views

1990-1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (C4)


  • Total voters
    114
  • Poll closed .

Wiegert

Premium
13,376
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
1990-1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (C4) nominated by @All Your Base

SC0514-183438_1.jpg


Body Style:
2-door coupe
Engine: 5.7L LT5 small-block V8
Power: 375 hp
Torque: 370 lb-ft
Weight: 1572 kg
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Drivetrain: Front-engined, rear wheel drive
Additional Information: After GM bought Lotus in 1986, the Corvette division approached Lotus to produce the world's fastest production sports car, based on the C4 Corvette. With GM, Lotus designed a new engine to fit in place of the L98 V8 already used in the C4, and the result of that was the LT5, an aluminum-block V-8 with the same bore centers as the L98, but with four overhead camshafts and 32 valves. In addition to the engine, Lotus helped design the ZR-1's upgraded braking and steering systems, and it helped the ZR-1 become more than just a modern-day muscle car with a big engine and no real capability on the track. It went on sale in 1990, and it was only available as a coupe. The ZR-1 went through some minor updates until production ceased in 1995. A total of 6,939 ZR-1s were manufactured over the six-year period. Although the ZR-1 was extremely quick for its time (0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds, and onto 180+ mph), the huge performance of the LT5 engine was matched by its robustness. As evidence of this, a stock ZR-1 set seven international world records at a test track in Fort Stockton, Texas on March 1, 1990, which was verified by the FIA. These records have since been broken by the Volkswagen W12.​

1990-chevrolet-corvette-zr1-coupe-c4-3.jpg
90-Chevy-Corvette-ZR-1-DV-09_GC_i03.jpg
 
Not a bad looking car, but I think the performance would be a little disappointing.

Meh.
 
Little bias here since I owned a C4, but these cars are really special. You sit really low, and kind of fall into the car as it has a large sill you have to climb over. The seats are excellent and it's a great car to drive every day. They look great driving in traffic and are usually well taken care of in comparison to earlier 84-89 cars. 93-95 cars had 405hp.

SZ for the ZR-1.

Fun trivia: They had a full power key that activated all 405hp using all 16 fuel injectors.
zfbsh45umsqf2mlsmwmq.jpg
 
I like all generations of the Corvette, but the C4 appeals to me the least. I think the design was a little too conservative, and should be more edgy like the '60s-old C2. Even the ZR1 looks too tame on the outside for my taste. Sure, ZR1's it had respectable horsepower numbers for the time and had an immensely high top speed. But it didn't have the most responsive handling compared to other sports case of the time, therefore the original ZR1 is one of those cars that you'd be better off driving in a straight line rather than a racetrack, and cars like that aren't usually cool.

Meh (change my vote, I had accidentally voted Cool).
 
The only thing is other than the wheels and small badging it is almost indistinguishable from a normal 91-96 C4. Seen many LT1 C4 cars rocking ZR-1 badges. I went with meh, I like the ZR-1. It was unique for one year outside appearance wise.
 
This generation has grown on me lately, specifically the C4. As they've gotten older, the MLC guys have migrated to C5 convertibles.

Cool.
 
The Corvette's fox body. Not that it really has a bodystyle similar to the fox body, the era would make it similar to the fox body, and I find the fox bodies uncool, well, because foxes.

Uncool it is.
 
You ever hear one of these full tilt. They just pull and pull and pull all the way up to redline. omg. How Roger Smith-era GM was allowed the go ahead to make it I dunno.





It's an engine in desperate need of a better car than the one it was in, but come on:

lt5f2.jpg


That's SHO level. Now compare that to the next ZR-1:

chevy-corvette-zr1-engine.jpg


Huh durrrr.
 
I think the performance would be a little disappointing.
How is the performance disappointing? From 1990-1991, this was the most powerful American car on the market.

Anyway, this is a very cool car. Ultra-mega high performance for its time. It looks stylish too.

Cool.
 
How is the performance disappointing? From 1990-1991, this was the most powerful American car on the market.
It's only disappointing in the fact that I think with the weight it would be hard to control at high speeds. At least it had competition ↓

280px-Viper7723.JPG
 
It's only disappointing in the fact that I think with the weight it would be hard to control at high speeds. At least it had competition ↓

1990-91, (before Viper was in production) it by far dominated any American car on the market. After the Viper came out, it was the second highest performance car. but I do get what you are saying about it's uncontrollability at high speeds.
 
1990-91, (before Viper was in production) it by far dominated any American car on the market. After the Viper came out, it was the second highest performance car. but I do get what you are saying about it's uncontrollability at high speeds.
Yea, I forgot the Viper didn't come until 1992, however there were some pre-production models in 1991 since it was the official pace car of the Indy 500 that year.
 
The ZR-1 was actually rock steady at high speeds from reading reviews. The C4 chassis always generated tons of mechanical grip, at one time it had the skidpad record. By 1990 the handling was catching up to the raw grip.
 
Passed one of these the other day and had to flash my lights in appreciation. Never really liked 80s-00s Vettes at the time, but they've somehow grown on me since. Solid. quick, honest cars, solid Cool.
 
I'm trying to remember when any film or TV hero drove a Corvette of any kind, and I can only think of Templeton Peck's C3 and the rebooted Trek's C2. And to be fair, both of those cars were driven by knobhead personas of those heroes - Face was a lothario and Kirk was an arrogant young offender. The only genuine good guy driving a Corvette on screen that I can think of is Phil Coulson, and his flies.

Every other instance I can think of is the car of a total flangepantry.
 
There was a television show called Route 66 from the early 60s. The show centered around 2 guys and a Corvette.
 
It's a Corvette tuned by Lotus. I repeat. IT'S A CORVETTE TUNED BY LOTUS. Not only that, it looks great, set records on the track, and was the fastest American car in it's day.

Ice Box please.
 
It's a Corvette tuned by Lotus. I repeat. IT'S A CORVETTE TUNED BY LOTUS.

Ice Box please.
I fail to see why that makes it so cool. It's handling, looks, and the way it drives isn't anything close to a Lotus, so you can't even tell Lotus tuned it.
 
image.jpeg
I'm trying to remember when any film or TV hero drove a Corvette of any kind, and I can only think of Templeton Peck's C3 and the rebooted Trek's C2. And to be fair, both of those cars were driven by knobhead personas of those heroes - Face was a lothario and Kirk was an arrogant young offender. The only genuine good guy driving a Corvette on screen that I can think of is Phil Coulson, and his flies.

Every other instance I can think of is the car of a total flangepantry.

Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights. He was a hero, but the Vette...meh
 
I fail to see why that makes it so cool. It's handling, looks, and the way it drives isn't anything close to a Lotus, so you can't even tell Lotus tuned it.

I think you're missing the point, see @Cowboy post above. They worked on the engine as they were part of GM at the time. Nobody claimed it would end up looking or handling like a lightweight mid-engined Brit sports car. See also Vauxhall Carlton, Isuzu Piazza, Talbot Sunbeam, Ford Cortina etc etc.
 
Back