1990 Chevy Corvette ZR1 "King of the Hill" / Review series and test drive [4K]

[@topjimmy2929]

Finally got one after 34 years it's not like today's cars but it is a ZR1

[@doca8792]

I remember when I first saw one, 1990. In a gas station. I froze. First production car with that much power and a 6-speed manual. And that rear end!

[@topjimmy2929]

same here

[@CaseTheCorvetteMan]

No heads up display on any C4, that visible cutout is for a radar detector. The reason that coating was used on the ZR-1 is due to the smaller A/C compressor used on the LT5 engine

[@byrnc927]

Some love finally on these legendary cars.

[@greghollinger9370]

Dad just game one to my son for graduation! Over the top gift from an over the top grandpa!

[@rafaeloreirorodriguez5278]

Your son surely have a great grandpha 👏🏻, reminds mine albeit my surprise was a LR defender110, 300 tdi black series. Most probably will be a keeper for decades as I keep mine due to memories.

[@danswartwood4580]

Thank you for sharing and your APPRECIATION

[@brycobosco]

Love this freaking ZR1........!!!!

[@ArcticViperFIN]

Now that is a cool car!

[@TheJMan1K]

I’m blessed to build cars for a living. Never will I have to say “I paid $$$$ for this job”. Either I can do it, or my friends offer to help :).

[@kenqv3481]

“You’re badging is proper”.. no its not. Front fenders should Not have a ZR1 badge

[@topjimmy2929]

Right not until 93

[@Spyke-lz2hl]

It’s funny, I saw that and thought I had it wrong. I’m glad I actually know a little about what I’m seeing!

[@24theMoney]

Nice car, but 1996 ZR-1 is the holy grail C4. Last year is always the best.

[@dcartellone2659]

95 was the last year for ZR1. 96 final year for the C4. 97 C5 production began

[@sidefx996]

Certainly is a holy grail. It doesn't exist lol.

[@royc7683]

ZR1 was built purposely to beat the Buick GN/GNX.

[@janfswedane]

Not so sure about that... GM owned Lotus back in those days and they wanted to selv more Vettes worldwide, hence the development of the 32valve heads. The ZR1 are probably the best Vette ever and is very under appreciated

[@c83j57]

It was designed to compete with Ferrari and Lamborghini and it did just that then some

[@c83j57]

You know what you speak of

[@stereolababy]

uhhh no

[@howabouthetruth2157]

No it wasn't. The last year of the Buick Grand National "GNX" was 1987. The ZR1 with LT5 engine was engineered & produced to beat Ferrari, Lambo's, and the Porsche 911 twin turbo...........and it succeeded in doing so.

[@howabouthetruth2157]

It's also important to know that this LT5 engine uses 2 different cams for the normal and full power modes. In full power mode, the high-lift cams are engaged, so it's not just "additional injectors" being used. It's sort of an early version of "variable valve timing" that must be manually engaged using the 2nd key. The 2nd key can only be removed in normal mode, so if ya lose that key, you're stuck with a low-powered LT5 Vette. Needless to say: don't lose that 2nd key, lol.

[@sukhisingh986]

This car was ahead of its time with all the technology, and the LT5 is a beast 405hp bone stock

[@howabouthetruth2157]

@@sukhisingh986 Absolutely! It still stands up to modern normally aspirated engines, out-performs many of them......and if I'm not mistaken, the LT5 equipped C4 ZR1 still holds the 24 hr speed endurance record with an average of 175.8 mph, as well as the 5,000 mile speed endurance record ( that took something like 29 hrs to complete ) with an average of just over 173 mph. Pit stops for tires, gas, and driver changes had to be included, and the team said they were running the LT5 right at 190 mph some of the time, and over 180 mph throughout most of these record breaking runs. Can you imagine the 5,000 mile record? That's like TEN Daytona 500's.......back to back to back etc........nonstop. But according to the engineers who designed & tested the LT5 originally, they said they already knew this gem was up for the task, because they put this engine through much more endurance testing on the dyno's. They ran one of them from peak torque to peak HP, then to redline, over & over again non-stop, for 200 HOURS.

[@gregs_garage]

I don't think it's camshaft related. The power key turns on the 8 additional injectors and opens the additional intake runners. Nothing to do with valve timing.

[@howabouthetruth2157]

@@gregs_garage You're totally wrong. The LT5 engine has 2 entirely different cam profiles: the low lift for when the valet key is off, where the car only has about 250 hp ( + or - ) and when the key is on, it activates the high cam profile and gives instant 375 hp or 405 hp on the later models. Look it up. I promise, you, what I'm saying is 100% correct. Yes, it has additional injectors, but there's no way in hell you're gonna get such huge power gains from "additional injectors" alone. Ya have to open those valves much further to allow all of that extra air-fuel mixture to enter the combustion chambers. The mild cam profile when the key is in valet mode won't allow that.

[@gregs_garage]

@@howabouthetruth2157 you are totally right. totally. 2 cam profiles. The valet key opens the extra intake runners and turns on the 8 injectors which allow the high lift cam to make a difference.