The gentleman is wrong about one thing: the 24 hr high speed endurance record was NOT set at "the Le Mans". It was set at the Firestone tire testing facility, a giant 7.7 mile oval track located in the desert of west Texas. He also failed to mention that not only did the C4 ZR1 shatter the 24 hr record, it continued running to shatter the 5,000 mile ( that's right: 5 THOUSAND ) record as well, which took about 28 hrs to complete. Folks, that's like running the Daytona 500 TEN TIMES IN A ROW, NON-STOP. Many other auto makers have tried to break these records, including Ford, Audi, Porsche, even Mercedes, and all have failed. Actual lap time averages for the C4 ZR1 were clocked anywhere between 181 and 190 mph, throughout the entire record breaking attempt, which was successful of course. It was the necessary pit stops for tire changes, fuel, and driver changes that must be included, that brought the recorded speed average down to 175.7 mph.
I never knew about that. Now I want to get a ZR-1. I grew up in the 80's and 90's and I remember the C4 Corvette's being these awesome American cars. I was from a small town in Michigan so seeing a Corvette in person or driving on the road was like seeing a Ferrari.
I'm surprised there was no mention that the ZR1 had a 3" wider rear. The widening is actually very gradual and starts with the door sections and rocker panels and by the time you get to the rear it's 3 inches wider. This was to accommodate those massive 315s.
You are correct. But I think the ZR1 is closer to 4" wider vs the regular C4. ( I could be wrong about that. ) The space between each reverse light on either side of the license plate is also wider on the ZR1 vs the regular C4.
Robert is correct. C4's are the last fully analog corvette. Hydraulic rack & pinion steering, a throttle cable, no brake by wire, and if you had a 90 thru 92 ZR-1 no EGR and no electronic nannies.
I have a 95 with Haibeck chip tune , Billy Boat exhaust and high flow intake . About 455 hp . Very quick long legs and good for just under 190 . Beautiful and very rare . Bought it as a 1 owner car. One of the rarely seen and appreciated Corvettes. Exceptionally capable car.
Back then the ZR1 was considered such a huge breakthrough in the auto industry . I will never forget the hype behind it , and waiting to see it go into production .
I absolutely love the C4 ZR-1, in my opinion it’s the most special corvette in history. My corvette lineup consists of my 1990 ZR-1 and my 2023 Stingray Z51. I love having the best of both worlds! Two really special cars
They have a great community online and in person if you're in the US and serious about buying and owning one. I recently bit the bullet and am sooo excited.
GM learned what not to do, don't make a bespoke motor for a trim line. All the trims since are more or less the same engine platform. Although the C8 Z06 is breaking from that.
I have a '93 base with 160k and a '91 ZR1 with 110k. The '93 looks like it's got every bit of 160k but still runs and drives great. The ZR1 looks and drives like it has 10k miles. The former owner loved that car and took excellent care of it. AC finally just lost enough freon that it quit coming on and the bolsters don't work, but everything else does. It's one of my favorite cars to drive because it's kind of a sleeper.
I am the original owner of a 1991 ZR1 and I can honestly tell you that I love driving this car. It was the car of its time and I had allot of fun then and still do now. I had the Lingenfelter 500 HP package installed on it in 1993 and ran a 11.63 @ 124 with it .This package was what they were talking about offering as an option but the powers to be in GM squished it because the C5 was right around the corner. The Zr1 Registry was around and those guys were great as well. Just so you know I know the difference from that technology and today's cars as I own a c6 ZR1 as well as a C7 ZR1. I personally did not road track my car but there were guys in the Registry that did and they were driving a factory Porsche team crazy that were running an experimental car at the time and the ZR1 was winning more that loosing . The bottom line here all of us here love performance cars and that's what brings us all together . My problem is I love so many different cars . ZZZZYA
71k on an lt5, it is just broken in. Those cars were WAY Ahead of their time for US manufacturers. Take a look at the 24 and 30 hour endurance record this car set, at average speeds over 170-175mph!!!
The C4 ZR1 was a Super Car and had a price to match at double the price of your base Vette. It's hard to believe that the ZR1 got the that power out of small block. I always liked the Squarecle 😉taillights. They were definitely different. I have a friend who has a '91 with 3k miles and he changed the rear gearing to 4:11's. You wouldn't believe the 0 to 60 and the 0 to 80 accelerations compared to when it was stock. He also installed a Billy Boat dual-mode exhaust. OMG, the sound is unbelievable. I didn't realize they had skip shift back then. The was a great video on a great Super Car. Save the Wave 🙋♂
Sure enough Peter, I can only imagine what it would have felt like as a brand new car. That’s cool that your friend has one with such low mileage! Yeah, gearing has a lot to do with acceleration for sure. I can imagine that exhaust probably sounds incredible. Skip shift has to be one of the dumbest GM inventions of all time.🤦♂️ Thank you, Peter. 🙌😊
I totally agree with you Mike as to the skip shift. But I guess that was done to increase the mpg rating and related taxes. But it was just a gimmick that we really didn't need or want. Now, one way or the other most of us by-passed the skip shift anyway.
I love this 'Vette so much. It's so underrated but its' BEAST. Rumors tell that's first Corvette what broke 300km/h speed (187,5 mph), slightly more than official data
Having both ZR1’s and Callaway Twin Turbos in my collection, I can talk first hand about the differences. The Callaway twin turbos had unbelievable torque, they will suck you into the seat like a fighter jet taking off, the down side is that the stock TPI, petered out around 4900 rpms. The ZR1 didn’t have that torque feel, but around 3000 rpms, the car came alive, and would keep you glued into the seat till 6th gear. The LT5 could take a real beating and keep going. Both cars can still hold their own still today. With a couple of simple mods on the Callaway Twin turbo, the performance got really enhanced. It has to be noted, that not all LT5’s were created equal. On dyno day, stock ZR1’s would lay down between 320- 370 wheel Hp, and that’s a huge difference. My 93 ZR1 with a cat back, k&n and Doug Rippie chip put down 411 at the wheels and could gps just over 190 mph.
You’re absolutely correct about the C4’s being able to still hold it down compared to today’s newer cars. My brother has a 96 C4 grand sport. 330hp and 330 torque from the factory. We were riding home from San Jose one night and ran into this guy in a 2018 mustang. He was riding with his girlfriend and pulled up beside us and wanted to have a fun run. My brother downshifted into 4th gear and then we heard the mustang downshift also. The mustang honked it off, and off we went. The mustang got out on us but couldn’t get further then a car length away from us. We lined them up again and this time my brother went into 3rd gear and oh boy lol. The mustang honked it off again and we jumped out by a half car length and was able to hold him off to 140. We were so pumped lol. We kept lining the cars up and running them all the way back until about Hayward. (Mustang had to exit) 3rd gear is the bread and butter for C4 corvettes. We couldn’t believe how well the Grand Sport performed against a newer mustang. It was a great time out 😂
@@petercarey6883 Ok, UPDATE. I was going by the Corvette black book and eyeballing the car next to mine, and it turns out surprisingly the black book didn't list the ZR1 dimensions at all. The height and length are the same, but the rear with instead of 70.7" like the base car, the ZR-1 is 73.2" wide. So, it is very subtle, gradual increases from the door area to the back. Makes sense, since they didn't do that with the 96 GS which is why it had those fender well cover pieces. All this time I thought it was wider internally. Those sneaky engineers. Goes to show you learn new stuff with these cars all the time.
Robert might need to check his facts... i'd love to see him get one from zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds, they won't quite do that stock. Redline was 7,000rpm. Suspension and transmission were identical to the base car, with the exception of the transmission input shaft. The 13" J55 brakes on the ZR-1 were available on base C4s and were standard on all 95/96 cars. Wasn't the 24hrs of lemans that it set records either. The whole back end of the body was different, not just the wheels and the high mount stoplight, which was standard on all coupes from 86 to 90... Not like he didn't have the correct info at hand either. It's all easy enough to find, no need to embelish it.
My thoughts exactly, I’ve been a diehard c4-c5 and f body fan basically my whole life and I knew everything that he misquoted immediately and that’s because over time you acquire knowledge and facts about the things you’re passionate about they aren’t necessarily in some book or website if you know then you know but to misquote quite a bit of info, you basically spelled it out in your comment it’s unbecoming and cringy to me it comes off as a “try hard” and then he gets in the driver seat and says “who’s the better shifter??” So juvenile as if you just learned to drive a standard transmission yesterday. I wouldn’t want this in my video
@@vcall6121 unfortunately RUclips has quite a few of these "C4 experts" that clearly have no idea or want to make up false shit for whatever reason, whether to make it sound to the common person that they're true experts in the field or whatever, it is clear to us that know that they obviously don't know. It's a shame really, they can say whatever they see fit and it's incredible how many people i have come into my workshop and say "i saw this on youtube can you do it that way for me?" No... not because i can't, but because i do it right and expect the car to be reliable when i'm finished.
C4's ZR-1's are starting to get their recognition. They were maligned for many years by people who just like to parrot others. Now that they're reaching classic car status people are starting to take a second look. As far as I'm concerned the ZR-1 is on par with the NSX and once its popularity grows every Tom, Dick, and Harry is gonna want one. For now only enthusiasts like us are buying and enjoying them. I'll never sell my 93!
The other exterior difference was the black spacers between the reverse/ back up lights and the license plate. 1.5 inch approximately due to the ZR1 being 3 inches wider than standard in the rear.
The ZR-1 is a Super Car. When we introduced the ZR-1 to the European press one of the German testers told us of their attempt to repeat Porsche’s 4 wheel drive 959 claim of 3.8 second 0-60 mph. They finally made it on their 4th try. The first 3 ended in a failed transmission. The ZR-1 is far more robust though not quite so fast at 4.2 seconds. The ZR-1 has an electronic rev limit of 7,200 rpms which is still quite conservative and can be used for shifting. The ’90 ZR-1 that captured the FIA World Endurance Record covering 4,221.24 miles in 24 hours averaging 175.885 mph says a lot about the endurance of the production motor which started the endurance run right off the production line at Mercury Marine. My ’95 is serviced by Marc Haibeck and is now at over 500 hp and with an aluminum flywheel and 4.10 axle it is dramatically faster that stock.
Well I'd say it's pretty awesome to have the C4 Chief Engineer leaving a comment and sharing some history of the original ZR-1. I read about these cars as a child and felt some pride that an American car could more than hold its own against the best from overseas. Now 30 years later I finally own one and it more than lives up to what I had imagined. Well done!
It's all in what you want. VS a base C4, the C5 is more refined, faster, has a better aftermarket, etc. The C4 feels more like a race car though. A ZR-1 is vastly different from both though.
I like the 9&3 positions on the steering wheel too Robert. But I generally drive left hand @12. These later C4s I like,in fact I like you're saw made wheels better. Thanks to Corvette World for the test. I never consider a Corvette a true super car & idk why. Its an American sports car & they're aren't many in that class.
Corvette basically created the “sports car” and every sports car after 1953 were created to either compete with or was inspired by corvette. It’s literally one of those things that’s synonymous with America just like hot dogs and Coca Cola.
It lives up to its name forever. Lingenfelter squeezed out 640 NA horsepower out of the ZR-1 in 1994. The only car to come close in NA horsepower was the McLaren F1 with 618 hp. Lastly, in the late 2000s, numerous modified NA ZR-1s were doing high 10s in the 1/4 mile.
UPDATE. I was going by the Corvette black book and eyeballing the car next to mine, and it turns out surprisingly the black book didn't list the ZR1 dimensions at all. The height and length are the same as the base, but the rear with instead of 70.7" like the base car, the ZR-1 is 73.2" wide. So, it is very subtle, gradual increases from the door area to the back. Makes sense, since they didn't do that with the 96 GS which is why it had those fender well cover pieces. All this time I thought it was wider internally in the wells only. Goes to show you learn new stuff with these cars all the time.
Cosmetic difference also included the 3rd brake light located at the top of the rear window, which differed from the base Corvette which had the 3rd brake light embedded into the rear fascia.
I knew a mechanic that owned his own garage and he bought one new back in the day and stroked it out to a 383 and upgraded almost everything u could on it 😂 let me tell u it was a pure beast
Another thing about this car is the way the radiator was set in it. It was almost invisible to radar detectors. You were literally right up on the radar when it caught you catch you from a long way off.
Actually that ZR-1 was a test mule using a motor that failed it's initial balance test. That was the only way that the guys that did the FIA record attempts could get a car and a motor. It was a stock car since all the test mules were yanked off the assembly line and the dealers that lost the spot were given another spot. 22 test mules were yanked off the line in 1990.
You buggah! You inspired me to look after the vid you did in Carlisle showin the custom red one! Well I Bought it in Indiana and shipping to Maine next week! 1991 ZR1 with 9k original miles on it! Can’t wait, never owned one. Gonna be sweet next to my ‘19 ZR1. Thanks for kickin me in ass!
That speed record had NOTHING to do with Le Mans.. it was driven alone on a track. The only early Zr1 to try to run at Le Mans unfortunately failed miserably because of no factory support.
She’s also 3 inches wider and you could tail looking from the back plus, you could tell by looking at the license plate when it was on it because the gap was different. And of course the third brake light.
You can mod the LT1/L98 till the cows come home, using any shop/tech ya want, including Callaway..........but absolutely nothing is going to top THE DEPENDABILITY & DURABILITY of the legendary LT5 DOHC engine..........and that's a really big deal.
The seats in a 94 are the worst made by lear,and were changed later in design. I sat in the first 94 at Carisle and made reference to GM engineering about the seats.
3k a year is a good number👍🏽 you want to enjoy these cars but also enjoy them slowly. I save my drives on my C7 GS for the weekends mostly… more motivation to get through the week knowing I’m gonna spend some one on one time with my baby Saturday morning😌
That was fun! Takes me back! I wonder if a "similarly optioned" C8 ZR1 will be comparable in inflationary price between years? That will definitely make a good episode. How much were they asking for it?
He's also wrong about how to tell the difference between a regular C4 and the C4 ZR1: only the ZR1 had the 3rd brake light above the rear glass, while the regular C4 has the 3rd brake light located just below the rear deck lid. Also: the reverse lights on either side of the license plate are spaced farther apart on the ZR1, with nearly 2" of space between each reverse light and the license plate. This is because the entire rear of the ZR1 body is over 4" wider vs the regular C4. The extra body width of the ZR1 is needed to allow for the much wider rear tires. At the rear of each door/rocker panel, the body begins to flare out wider on the ZR1 vs the regular C4.
This is my dream car! I'd love to get the last year 1995; however, maintenance and replacement parts are very hard to come by. So I'm thinking of the C5 Z06.
Let me tell ya'll something about those Tesla's: although they have insane acceleration, you can only do 4 full-throttle accelerations and the battery gets SO run down, it's a dog after that. HA!!! So the next time some tree hugging Tesla owner tries to flaunt his "acceleration superiority" over your performance car with internal combustion engine, you just demand that you both race 10 times, and just watch how you beat that Tesla 6 out of 10 times. Believe it. Also: ask any EV owner where they think the energy is coming from each & every time they have to plug their car in to recharge the batteries. Because that energy needed to recharge those batteries is coming from PETROLEUM FUEL AND COAL. Solar and wind cannot produce anywhere near enough energy needed to recharge those huge lithium batteries packs in EV's........especially if an entire nation is expected to make the switch over to EV's. It's all an evil, agenda-driven scam to wreak havoc on the people's RIGHT to travel freely as they chose.
71,000 miles on a 30 year old car is nothing😂 why are corvette owners so delusional with mileage? That’s a little under 2500 miles a year… these cars need to be enjoyed. Yes this is a ZR1 but it’s not like it’s a Ferrari which is guaranteed to blow up at 80k miles
There was no mention of the most obvious visual difference between the ZR-1 and the base Corvette (at least with the hood closed). The body of the ZR-1 is wider, starting at the doors and going all the way back where it is 3" wider at the rear. The reason for this is the extra-wide tires on the ZR-1. Put these two cars side-by-side and the difference is very noticeable -- it looks like it's more than just a 3" difference. I'm sorry, but because of this shortcoming, I'm going to have to confiscate the ZR-1. I'll be there tomorrow to pick it up.
Here is a link showing how much different they look: cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.corvetteforum.com-vbulletin/2000x1124/dsc02265_b9ace103110617a6ec665084fd07a69119bf6f16.jpg
Another informative video. Nobody knows Corvette like Robert. He does a great job of explaining anything Corvette. What's great is you're not sitting at a desk in your bedroom with two magpies with not much to say other than taking a one hour roll call, No thumbs up for any magpie videos. But back to your roots videos get a big thumbs up. Keep up the great work. Lose that phony studio format and get back to your roots.
@cn3dagain819 yeah, except he doesn’t.. nobody knows corvettes like him? Yeah not one person knows the corvette like him because the one he’s speaking of doesn’t exist. He literally got everything the differentiates the base c4 from the zr1 wrong. Every fact was incorrect. It’s actually weird that he works for CORVETTEWORLD but knows zero correct information about the most iconic corvette of the 80s and 90s
This is what happens when you invite a disrespectful clown to experience your car. "Oh a Tesla will beat you" yeah obviously. Show some respect when people give you an amazing opportunity
a c4 with the lt4 engine option is the c4 to look for. i find any c4 shift strong but has to long a throw. the earlier c3's i have drove had shifts that were more responsive
Whats this crap about Le Mans? It was more or less privateers that decided to go for a world record by setting new times in the car. Done at Fort Stockton in Texas, not Le Mans in France.
Who loves the classic C4 Corvette ZR1?
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Brink of Speed huge Giveaway!
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The gentleman is wrong about one thing: the 24 hr high speed endurance record was NOT set at "the Le Mans". It was set at the Firestone tire testing facility, a giant 7.7 mile oval track located in the desert of west Texas. He also failed to mention that not only did the C4 ZR1 shatter the 24 hr record, it continued running to shatter the 5,000 mile ( that's right: 5 THOUSAND ) record as well, which took about 28 hrs to complete. Folks, that's like running the Daytona 500 TEN TIMES IN A ROW, NON-STOP. Many other auto makers have tried to break these records, including Ford, Audi, Porsche, even Mercedes, and all have failed. Actual lap time averages for the C4 ZR1 were clocked anywhere between 181 and 190 mph, throughout the entire record breaking attempt, which was successful of course. It was the necessary pit stops for tire changes, fuel, and driver changes that must be included, that brought the recorded speed average down to 175.7 mph.
I never knew about that. Now I want to get a ZR-1. I grew up in the 80's and 90's and I remember the C4 Corvette's being these awesome American cars. I was from a small town in Michigan so seeing a Corvette in person or driving on the road was like seeing a Ferrari.
I'm surprised there was no mention that the ZR1 had a 3" wider rear. The widening is actually very gradual and starts with the door sections and rocker panels and by the time you get to the rear it's 3 inches wider. This was to accommodate those massive 315s.
You are correct. But I think the ZR1 is closer to 4" wider vs the regular C4. ( I could be wrong about that. ) The space between each reverse light on either side of the license plate is also wider on the ZR1 vs the regular C4.
Yeah really and the 2 license plate filler panels on each side of the plate are a dead give away 😊
And third tail light location
And the massive offset in the rear 11 inch wheels
You’re absolutely correct and the doors are different because of that
Robert is correct. C4's are the last fully analog corvette. Hydraulic rack & pinion steering, a throttle cable, no brake by wire, and if you had a 90 thru 92 ZR-1 no EGR and no electronic nannies.
I have a 95 with Haibeck chip tune , Billy Boat exhaust and high flow intake . About 455 hp . Very quick long legs and good for just under 190 . Beautiful and very rare . Bought it as a 1 owner car. One of the rarely seen and appreciated Corvettes. Exceptionally capable car.
The C4 ZR-1 is amazing! you forgot to mention that the body is wider than the stock c4's and that gives it a much better stance.
There should be no hesitation on these cars. I have seen LT-5s with almost 200,000 miles that still pull like a FreightTrain.
Back then the ZR1 was considered such a huge breakthrough in the auto industry . I will never forget the hype behind it , and waiting to see it go into production .
I absolutely love the C4 ZR-1, in my opinion it’s the most special corvette in history. My corvette lineup consists of my 1990 ZR-1 and my 2023 Stingray Z51. I love having the best of both worlds! Two really special cars
The C4 ZR1 is the car that made me fall in love with corvette's. It's always been a dream to own one.
They have a great community online and in person if you're in the US and serious about buying and owning one. I recently bit the bullet and am sooo excited.
Great review....Although C4 ZR1 sales were weak, mainly because of price, its hugely significate in Corvette history.
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it. 👍😊
GM learned what not to do, don't make a bespoke motor for a trim line. All the trims since are more or less the same engine platform. Although the C8 Z06 is breaking from that.
Yep.......because the C8 Z06 also has a bespoke motor. @@CPAJayhawk
My dream car. May not be the fastest, or the most aggressive looking, but it is certainly the most special ZR1 ever made.
I have a '93 base with 160k and a '91 ZR1 with 110k. The '93 looks like it's got every bit of 160k but still runs and drives great. The ZR1 looks and drives like it has 10k miles. The former owner loved that car and took excellent care of it. AC finally just lost enough freon that it quit coming on and the bolsters don't work, but everything else does. It's one of my favorite cars to drive because it's kind of a sleeper.
I am the original owner of a 1991 ZR1 and I can honestly tell you that I love driving this car. It was the car of its time and I had allot of fun then and still do now. I had the Lingenfelter 500 HP package installed on it in 1993 and ran a 11.63 @ 124 with it .This package was what they were talking about offering as an option but the powers to be in GM squished it because the C5 was right around the corner. The Zr1 Registry was around and those guys were great as well. Just so you know I know the difference from that technology and today's cars as I own a c6 ZR1 as well as a C7 ZR1. I personally did not road track my car but there were guys in the Registry that did and they were driving a factory Porsche team crazy that were running an experimental car at the time and the ZR1 was winning more that loosing . The bottom line here all of us here love performance cars and that's what brings us all together . My problem is I love so many different cars . ZZZZYA
The "lowest" horespower C4 ZR1 still holds a 24 hour endurance speed record averaging 175.885 mph over 24 hours!.
Of course it stands up to supercar standards of the 90s!!! I'd say the ZR1 was the benchmark that everything was built to beat if it could!
71k on an lt5, it is just broken in. Those cars were WAY Ahead of their time for US manufacturers.
Take a look at the 24 and 30 hour endurance record this car set, at average speeds over 170-175mph!!!
The C4 ZR1 was a Super Car and had a price to match at double the price of your base Vette. It's hard to believe that the ZR1 got the that power out of small block. I always liked the Squarecle 😉taillights. They were definitely different. I have a friend who has a '91 with 3k miles and he changed the rear gearing to 4:11's. You wouldn't believe the 0 to 60 and the 0 to 80 accelerations compared to when it was stock. He also installed a Billy Boat dual-mode exhaust. OMG, the sound is unbelievable. I didn't realize they had skip shift back then.
The was a great video on a great Super Car. Save the Wave 🙋♂
Sure enough Peter, I can only imagine what it would have felt like as a brand new car. That’s cool that your friend has one with such low mileage! Yeah, gearing has a lot to do with acceleration for sure. I can imagine that exhaust probably sounds incredible. Skip shift has to be one of the dumbest GM inventions of all time.🤦♂️
Thank you, Peter. 🙌😊
I totally agree with you Mike as to the skip shift. But I guess that was done to increase the mpg rating and related taxes. But it was just a gimmick that we really didn't need or want. Now, one way or the other most of us by-passed the skip shift anyway.
I love this 'Vette so much. It's so underrated but its' BEAST. Rumors tell that's first Corvette what broke 300km/h speed (187,5 mph), slightly more than official data
Having both ZR1’s and Callaway Twin Turbos in my collection, I can talk first hand about the differences. The Callaway twin turbos had unbelievable torque, they will suck you into the seat like a fighter jet taking off, the down side is that the stock TPI, petered out around 4900 rpms. The ZR1 didn’t have that torque feel, but around 3000 rpms, the car came alive, and would keep you glued into the seat till 6th gear. The LT5 could take a real beating and keep going. Both cars can still hold their own still today. With a couple of simple mods on the Callaway Twin turbo, the performance got really enhanced.
It has to be noted, that not all LT5’s were created equal. On dyno day, stock ZR1’s would lay down between 320- 370 wheel Hp, and that’s a huge difference. My 93 ZR1 with a cat back, k&n and Doug Rippie chip put down 411 at the wheels and could gps just over 190 mph.
You’re absolutely correct about the C4’s being able to still hold it down compared to today’s newer cars. My brother has a 96 C4 grand sport. 330hp and 330 torque from the factory. We were riding home from San Jose one night and ran into this guy in a 2018 mustang. He was riding with his girlfriend and pulled up beside us and wanted to have a fun run. My brother downshifted into 4th gear and then we heard the mustang downshift also. The mustang honked it off, and off we went. The mustang got out on us but couldn’t get further then a car length away from us. We lined them up again and this time my brother went into 3rd gear and oh boy lol. The mustang honked it off again and we jumped out by a half car length and was able to hold him off to 140. We were so pumped lol. We kept lining the cars up and running them all the way back until about Hayward. (Mustang had to exit) 3rd gear is the bread and butter for C4 corvettes. We couldn’t believe how well the Grand Sport performed against a newer mustang. It was a great time out 😂
Robert said there was no difference between the two C4’s but I always thought the ZR1’s had a fatter rear end to accommodate those massive rear tires.
They do internally to make room for the wheels. Outside dimensions are all the same.
@@corvetteworldrob8586 Now that's interesting in that I had thought the exterior itself was wider. Thanks Robert.
@Peter Carey the ZR-1 exterior is 4 inches wider in the rear than the base model.
@@petercarey6883 Ok, UPDATE. I was going by the Corvette black book and eyeballing the car next to mine, and it turns out surprisingly the black book didn't list the ZR1 dimensions at all. The height and length are the same, but the rear with instead of 70.7" like the base car, the ZR-1 is 73.2" wide. So, it is very subtle, gradual increases from the door area to the back. Makes sense, since they didn't do that with the 96 GS which is why it had those fender well cover pieces. All this time I thought it was wider internally. Those sneaky engineers. Goes to show you learn new stuff with these cars all the time.
@@davidsita5897 Thanks for the heads up, the black book had led me astray.
If you pulled a tape measure across the back end of a ZR1, you will discover it is wider than a stock C4
I have a 91 ZR1. Yes, unbelievable..The third brake light on the ZR1 is the other cosmetic difference
Robert might need to check his facts... i'd love to see him get one from zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds, they won't quite do that stock.
Redline was 7,000rpm. Suspension and transmission were identical to the base car, with the exception of the transmission input shaft. The 13" J55 brakes on the ZR-1 were available on base C4s and were standard on all 95/96 cars.
Wasn't the 24hrs of lemans that it set records either.
The whole back end of the body was different, not just the wheels and the high mount stoplight, which was standard on all coupes from 86 to 90...
Not like he didn't have the correct info at hand either. It's all easy enough to find, no need to embelish it.
My thoughts exactly, I’ve been a diehard c4-c5 and f body fan basically my whole life and I knew everything that he misquoted immediately and that’s because over time you acquire knowledge and facts about the things you’re passionate about they aren’t necessarily in some book or website if you know then you know but to misquote quite a bit of info, you basically spelled it out in your comment it’s unbecoming and cringy to me it comes off as a “try hard” and then he gets in the driver seat and says “who’s the better shifter??” So juvenile as if you just learned to drive a standard transmission yesterday. I wouldn’t want this in my video
@@vcall6121 unfortunately RUclips has quite a few of these "C4 experts" that clearly have no idea or want to make up false shit for whatever reason, whether to make it sound to the common person that they're true experts in the field or whatever, it is clear to us that know that they obviously don't know.
It's a shame really, they can say whatever they see fit and it's incredible how many people i have come into my workshop and say "i saw this on youtube can you do it that way for me?" No... not because i can't, but because i do it right and expect the car to be reliable when i'm finished.
I miss Vettes that growl. The newest Corvettes, Mustangs and so on sound like they have sinus problems.
C4's ZR-1's are starting to get their recognition. They were maligned for many years by people who just like to parrot others. Now that they're reaching classic car status people are starting to take a second look. As far as I'm concerned the ZR-1 is on par with the NSX and once its popularity grows every Tom, Dick, and Harry is gonna want one. For now only enthusiasts like us are buying and enjoying them. I'll never sell my 93!
you could instantly tell the wider body by the extra 2 inch space on either side of the license plate. i had one...it was awesome
The other exterior difference was the black spacers between the reverse/ back up lights and the license plate. 1.5 inch approximately due to the ZR1 being 3 inches wider than standard in the rear.
KING OF THE HILL!!!!!!
Yeppers!
bobbyyyyyyyyyyyy
It's about time you did something other than C8!
The ZR-1 is a Super Car. When we introduced the ZR-1 to the European press one of the German testers told us of their attempt to repeat Porsche’s 4 wheel drive 959 claim of 3.8 second 0-60 mph. They finally made it on their 4th try. The first 3 ended in a failed transmission. The ZR-1 is far more robust though not quite so fast at 4.2 seconds. The ZR-1 has an electronic rev limit of 7,200 rpms which is still quite conservative and can be used for shifting.
The ’90 ZR-1 that captured the FIA World Endurance Record covering 4,221.24 miles in 24 hours averaging 175.885 mph says a lot about the endurance of the production motor which started the endurance run right off the production line at Mercury Marine.
My ’95 is serviced by Marc Haibeck and is now at over 500 hp and with an aluminum flywheel and 4.10 axle it is dramatically faster that stock.
Well I'd say it's pretty awesome to have the C4 Chief Engineer leaving a comment and sharing some history of the original ZR-1. I read about these cars as a child and felt some pride that an American car could more than hold its own against the best from overseas. Now 30 years later I finally own one and it more than lives up to what I had imagined. Well done!
Excuse my ignorance, but would your modified ZR1 be able to reach top speed of 180mph with the 4.10 gear ratio axel?
@@Toyaddict81yup. That sixth gear is TALL!
Wow that ZR1 is awesome! I love my C8 but I would love to own that one!
I was going to buy a C5 when I move out of NYC but I am now considering a late model C4. Thank you for the insightfulness.
It's all in what you want. VS a base C4, the C5 is more refined, faster, has a better aftermarket, etc. The C4 feels more like a race car though. A ZR-1 is vastly different from both though.
Old school classic awesome car Thank you for the video take care
My blue 91 ZR-1 approves of your video!
I like the 9&3 positions on the steering wheel too Robert. But I generally drive left hand @12. These later C4s I like,in fact I like you're saw made wheels better. Thanks to Corvette World for the test. I never consider a Corvette a true super car & idk why. Its an American sports car & they're aren't many in that class.
Corvette basically created the “sports car” and every sports car after 1953 were created to either compete with or was inspired by corvette. It’s literally one of those things that’s synonymous with America just like hot dogs and Coca Cola.
It lives up to its name forever. Lingenfelter squeezed out 640 NA horsepower out of the ZR-1 in 1994. The only car to come close in NA horsepower was the McLaren F1 with 618 hp. Lastly, in the late 2000s, numerous modified NA ZR-1s were doing high 10s in the 1/4 mile.
As a Testarossa owner, I recognize this car as a member of the Supercar Club. No doubt about it.
UPDATE. I was going by the Corvette black book and eyeballing the car next to mine, and it turns out surprisingly the black book didn't list the ZR1 dimensions at all. The height and length are the same as the base, but the rear with instead of 70.7" like the base car, the ZR-1 is 73.2" wide. So, it is very subtle, gradual increases from the door area to the back. Makes sense, since they didn't do that with the 96 GS which is why it had those fender well cover pieces. All this time I thought it was wider internally in the wells only. Goes to show you learn new stuff with these cars all the time.
Mike is so used to driving a manual ‘23 1LE SS that he doesn’t totally understand how impressive that old manual is for the time.
When I bought my C4, I was thinking "Half of the doghouse opens up, there will be PLENTY of room to work on that car". heh
Cosmetic difference also included the 3rd brake light located at the top of the rear window, which differed from the base Corvette which had the 3rd brake light embedded into the rear fascia.
If you could go from 6th gear to 3rd gear @ 60 mph and lay down 20ft pos marks, I would say Yes!
If this guy was any less enthusiastic, he'd be dead.
Sell your C4 and grab this beauty...........
I knew a mechanic that owned his own garage and he bought one new back in the day and stroked it out to a 383 and upgraded almost everything u could on it 😂 let me tell u it was a pure beast
I love Corvettes!! The only things I'm die hard for it's 49ers, Corvettes, and my family
Another thing about this car is the way the radiator was set in it. It was almost invisible to radar detectors. You were literally right up on the radar when it caught you catch you from a long way off.
Best performance car of the era… endurance king even today.
Actually that ZR-1 was a test mule using a motor that failed it's initial balance test. That was the only way that the guys that did the FIA record attempts could get a car and a motor. It was a stock car since all the test mules were yanked off the assembly line and the dealers that lost the spot were given another spot. 22 test mules were yanked off the line in 1990.
You buggah! You inspired me to look after the vid you did in Carlisle showin the custom red one! Well I Bought it in Indiana and shipping to Maine next week! 1991 ZR1 with 9k original miles on it! Can’t wait, never owned one. Gonna be sweet next to my ‘19 ZR1. Thanks for kickin me in ass!
I own a 93 40th edition and just love it!! I am looking for a ZR-1 to compliment it!
This is the first Corvette that I fell in love with.
Heck yeah, me too!
That speed record had NOTHING to do with Le Mans.. it was driven alone on a track. The only early Zr1 to try to run at Le Mans unfortunately failed miserably because of no factory support.
When you test drive a C4 ZR1, rev to 3500 rpm In 3rd gear then turn the valret key on, you will feel/hear the secondary injectors kick in.
She’s also 3 inches wider and you could tail looking from the back plus, you could tell by looking at the license plate when it was on it because the gap was different. And of course the third brake light.
You can mod the LT1/L98 till the cows come home, using any shop/tech ya want, including Callaway..........but absolutely nothing is going to top THE DEPENDABILITY & DURABILITY of the legendary LT5 DOHC engine..........and that's a really big deal.
Great video! Love the C4 ZR1 Hi Rob and Mike
Thanks Andrew! 👍😊
Why was the interior light on the whole time? 😂
Because he’s nervous while driving it lol
Same thought
The interior timer is not functioning or the door is ajar.
The seats in a 94 are the worst made by lear,and were changed later in design. I sat in the first 94 at Carisle and made reference to GM engineering about the seats.
I love my 91Z...2nd owner with 55k miles... only added 3k miles in the past 12 months of ownership.
3k a year is a good number👍🏽 you want to enjoy these cars but also enjoy them slowly. I save my drives on my C7 GS for the weekends mostly… more motivation to get through the week knowing I’m gonna spend some one on one time with my baby Saturday morning😌
That was fun! Takes me back! I wonder if a "similarly optioned" C8 ZR1 will be comparable in inflationary price between years? That will definitely make a good episode. How much were they asking for it?
He's also wrong about how to tell the difference between a regular C4 and the C4 ZR1: only the ZR1 had the 3rd brake light above the rear glass, while the regular C4 has the 3rd brake light located just below the rear deck lid. Also: the reverse lights on either side of the license plate are spaced farther apart on the ZR1, with nearly 2" of space between each reverse light and the license plate. This is because the entire rear of the ZR1 body is over 4" wider vs the regular C4. The extra body width of the ZR1 is needed to allow for the much wider rear tires. At the rear of each door/rocker panel, the body begins to flare out wider on the ZR1 vs the regular C4.
This is my dream car! I'd love to get the last year 1995; however, maintenance and replacement parts are very hard to come by. So I'm thinking of the C5 Z06.
Parts are not hard to come by. Just bs internet rumours.
ZR1 very hard to find parts and people knowledgeable to repair!
Smashed !!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you 😊
1 thing the guy missed the difference’s ( cosmetically ) ZR-1 is 4 inches wider in rear than reg vette
great video!
You can also tell by looking at the license plate and backup lights.
Cool video, I have a 94 ZR1 red on red
Let me tell ya'll something about those Tesla's: although they have insane acceleration, you can only do 4 full-throttle accelerations and the battery gets SO run down, it's a dog after that. HA!!! So the next time some tree hugging Tesla owner tries to flaunt his "acceleration superiority" over your performance car with internal combustion engine, you just demand that you both race 10 times, and just watch how you beat that Tesla 6 out of 10 times. Believe it. Also: ask any EV owner where they think the energy is coming from each & every time they have to plug their car in to recharge the batteries. Because that energy needed to recharge those batteries is coming from PETROLEUM FUEL AND COAL. Solar and wind cannot produce anywhere near enough energy needed to recharge those huge lithium batteries packs in EV's........especially if an entire nation is expected to make the switch over to EV's. It's all an evil, agenda-driven scam to wreak havoc on the people's RIGHT to travel freely as they chose.
How much did it sell for?
The elevated tall light
71,000 miles on a 30 year old car is nothing😂 why are corvette owners so delusional with mileage? That’s a little under 2500 miles a year… these cars need to be enjoyed. Yes this is a ZR1 but it’s not like it’s a Ferrari which is guaranteed to blow up at 80k miles
My sleep disorder doctor has a Maroon 94 ZR-1.
Mike, 71,000 miles is very LOW mileage for a 29 year old car.
GREAT CAR, GREAT SHOW
interesting car great info thanks for the details
Nicely done ...
You all should of rev to 3500 then turm the key on you wiill feel & hear the extra horsepower.
I Love the C4’s
There was no mention of the most obvious visual difference between the ZR-1 and the base Corvette (at least with the hood closed). The body of the ZR-1 is wider, starting at the doors and going all the way back where it is 3" wider at the rear. The reason for this is the extra-wide tires on the ZR-1. Put these two cars side-by-side and the difference is very noticeable -- it looks like it's more than just a 3" difference. I'm sorry, but because of this shortcoming, I'm going to have to confiscate the ZR-1. I'll be there tomorrow to pick it up.
Here is a link showing how much different they look: cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.corvetteforum.com-vbulletin/2000x1124/dsc02265_b9ace103110617a6ec665084fd07a69119bf6f16.jpg
P.S. There are more differences, but only ZR-1 aficionados will notice them. :)
Did Robert do any driving while in the US Army? What type of vehicles? Manuals or automatics?
Nice, what are the seven it for?
You forgot the most important part, the GOAT Michael Jordan drove one of these.👍
My C4 Corvette ZR1 got sick 26 years ago, because those children cause sick feelings in her abdomen!!!
12:40
Typical salesman/Conman
Conman - how's the brakes feel?
Driver - they feel fine.
Conman - yeah they feel phenomenal!!!!!!!!!!
🤣
I had a 1995, I think #385 maroon with tan interior. I liked my 96 Grand Sport better.
do most 91 Zr1 engine bay smoke oil oil ? ( low mil/km 15km )
Another informative video. Nobody knows Corvette like Robert. He does a great job of explaining anything Corvette. What's great is you're not sitting at a desk in your bedroom with two magpies with not much to say other than taking a one hour roll call, No thumbs up for any magpie videos. But back to your roots videos get a big thumbs up. Keep up the great work. Lose that phony studio format and get back to your roots.
@cn3dagain819 yeah, except he doesn’t.. nobody knows corvettes like him? Yeah not one person knows the corvette like him because the one he’s speaking of doesn’t exist. He literally got everything the differentiates the base c4 from the zr1 wrong. Every fact was incorrect. It’s actually weird that he works for CORVETTEWORLD but knows zero correct information about the most iconic corvette of the 80s and 90s
3RD 120 4TTH 160
Did these vettes have the terrible stiff turn signal levers from the GM parts bin?
Yes
No.
What is it with this 1th to 4th gear? Someone explain this to me?
Nice ZR1 how much $..
Wow there are so many wrongs with what this “expert” is saying….. He’s more of a know-it-all than an actual enthusiast who really knows.
This is what happens when you invite a disrespectful clown to experience your car. "Oh a Tesla will beat you" yeah obviously. Show some respect when people give you an amazing opportunity
Got one sitting in the garage .its not fast compared to todays cars but its fun to drive
Kinda chubby that funny lol!!
a c4 with the lt4 engine option is the c4 to look for. i find any c4 shift strong but has to long a throw. the earlier c3's i have drove had shifts that were more responsive
Sorry spell check going for??
To bad he can't park between the lines
Whats this crap about Le Mans? It was more or less privateers that decided to go for a world record by setting new times in the car. Done at Fort Stockton in Texas, not Le Mans in France.