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- Jan 19, 2003
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- 5,800 feet above sea level
- Corvette
- 2006 'Evil Stealth Black' Roadster
I think Clarkson really is impressed with the ZR1. Mind you, this is coming the unequalled master of the backhanded compliment, but these thoughts were posted to the TopGear.com website on Christmas Eve. Don't believe me? Here, have a look for yourself (but brace yourself to still be a little irritated with his plaudits):
LINK to source
Jezza + ZR1 = Love
By Jeremy Clarkson
Dec 24 '08
There have been more brilliant sports and performance cars launched this year than in any other 12-month period since Ben-Hur fitted his chariot with a turbocharged horse.
I was just sitting here compiling a list in my head, and only now, at the last minute, did I remember the Ferrari 430 Scuderia. That's how big this year has been. I didn't even remember driving one of the most impressive cars Ferrari has ever made.
It would not, however, be my choice for an award because it's too focused, too "on purpose." It does fast and nothing else. Whereas the little Fiat 500 Abarth does fast and four seats. It does fast and sweet. It does fast and a boot. The Ferrari serves well. The Fiat is Roger Federer. And that's why it's better.
The Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 is better, too, because it will kick the Ferrari's arse on almost any track of your choosing, while having a carpet. And an Audi navigation system. And the best-looking nose since Mr. and Mrs. Thurman's monk said, "I name this child Uma."
And then, of course, there's the Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 Black. This would have been my choice for Performance Car of the Year, had I not gone over to California in September and driven the new Corvette ZR1.
I've had a soft spot for Corvettes for a while now. Last year while making my DVD "Everything Explodes" (or whatever it was called), there were a million amazing cars on the set. But every night I drove back to the hotel in a Corvette C6 convertible. I just liked it.
Then I drove the 7.0-liter Z06. It was typically American. Rough-riding, uncouth, garish, brash and as tasteless as an onyx lavatory. And yet with its magnesium engine tray, and the fact that the big V8 had been moved back in the car to improve weight distribution, there was some evidence that, deep in the bowels of GM, someone understood that a truly great fast car is rather more than six tons of pig iron and a splash of orange paint. It was, if you will, a bit technical.
And that technicality is what makes the ZR1 not only the best 'Vette but also the best performance car I've driven all year. By some margin.
You still can't have one in Britain, obviously. With its chromed wheels and silly bonnet window, it'd be like walking around in a 10-gallon hat and chaps. We are a mature, sensible country. The people who designed this could only have come from a country that's eight years old.
However, since "Top Gear" is now a global brand we must leave aside cultural issues and concentrate on the car. And then we find ourselves not just impressed but completely bowled over.
It's hard to understand how the Americans have taken so long to make a car this good. They can make space shuttles and computers, so they must have had the ability to make a genuine world-beating car for years. Only now, though, have they decided to actually go ahead and do it.
The 638 hp from that supercharged 6.2-liter V8 is impressive. But it's the sheer surprise of the 638 hp that impresses most of all. In an Enzo, you know the grunt is there all the time because it shimmies and shakes. The Corvette does not. It's softer than a C6. It's as quiet as a Mondeo. It's as well air-conditioned as a Rolls-Royce. Stabbing the throttle, then, is like lying in a hammock on a warm tropical evening and then suddenly falling out. You're just not ready for the rush.
The bald figures tell some of the story. But 0 to 60 in 3.4 seconds and the top speed of 205 mph do not explain what it feels like when that onslaught comes out of nowhere, and you are watching the world go into hyperspace through a head-up display.
I use the word "onslaught" advisedly. Because after doing one run at the Bonneville Speed Week, I accidentally broke the all-time record for a production car — or so I was told by a man in an enormous hat. Zero to 167 mph in a mile. And remember this is on salt, which is slippery, at 4,000 feet where the air is thin. A Murciélago could not do that.
Of course, we've had fast 'Vettes in the past. We've even had 'Vettes that can generate a g or more in turns. But what we have never had is any American car that can generate a g in the bends while crossing the tarmac equivalent of a plowed field. This one can. It can corner and absorb bumps at...the...same...time.
And it can do — whisper this — Europe well.
And here's the kicker. A ZR1 is $100,000, which is dirt cheap for this much comfort, power and handling. Yes, the boot lock broke, the interior trim is shit — literally, I suspect, in some areas — and on the last day the car refused to accept the keys were in the car and wouldn't start. But nonetheless, it's a bloody good car. If I had a collection of automatic weapons, some attack dogs and a wife with tattoos, I'd have one like a shot.
LINK to source
Jezza + ZR1 = Love
By Jeremy Clarkson
Dec 24 '08
There have been more brilliant sports and performance cars launched this year than in any other 12-month period since Ben-Hur fitted his chariot with a turbocharged horse.
I was just sitting here compiling a list in my head, and only now, at the last minute, did I remember the Ferrari 430 Scuderia. That's how big this year has been. I didn't even remember driving one of the most impressive cars Ferrari has ever made.
It would not, however, be my choice for an award because it's too focused, too "on purpose." It does fast and nothing else. Whereas the little Fiat 500 Abarth does fast and four seats. It does fast and sweet. It does fast and a boot. The Ferrari serves well. The Fiat is Roger Federer. And that's why it's better.
The Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 is better, too, because it will kick the Ferrari's arse on almost any track of your choosing, while having a carpet. And an Audi navigation system. And the best-looking nose since Mr. and Mrs. Thurman's monk said, "I name this child Uma."
And then, of course, there's the Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 Black. This would have been my choice for Performance Car of the Year, had I not gone over to California in September and driven the new Corvette ZR1.
I've had a soft spot for Corvettes for a while now. Last year while making my DVD "Everything Explodes" (or whatever it was called), there were a million amazing cars on the set. But every night I drove back to the hotel in a Corvette C6 convertible. I just liked it.
Then I drove the 7.0-liter Z06. It was typically American. Rough-riding, uncouth, garish, brash and as tasteless as an onyx lavatory. And yet with its magnesium engine tray, and the fact that the big V8 had been moved back in the car to improve weight distribution, there was some evidence that, deep in the bowels of GM, someone understood that a truly great fast car is rather more than six tons of pig iron and a splash of orange paint. It was, if you will, a bit technical.
And that technicality is what makes the ZR1 not only the best 'Vette but also the best performance car I've driven all year. By some margin.
You still can't have one in Britain, obviously. With its chromed wheels and silly bonnet window, it'd be like walking around in a 10-gallon hat and chaps. We are a mature, sensible country. The people who designed this could only have come from a country that's eight years old.
However, since "Top Gear" is now a global brand we must leave aside cultural issues and concentrate on the car. And then we find ourselves not just impressed but completely bowled over.
It's hard to understand how the Americans have taken so long to make a car this good. They can make space shuttles and computers, so they must have had the ability to make a genuine world-beating car for years. Only now, though, have they decided to actually go ahead and do it.
The 638 hp from that supercharged 6.2-liter V8 is impressive. But it's the sheer surprise of the 638 hp that impresses most of all. In an Enzo, you know the grunt is there all the time because it shimmies and shakes. The Corvette does not. It's softer than a C6. It's as quiet as a Mondeo. It's as well air-conditioned as a Rolls-Royce. Stabbing the throttle, then, is like lying in a hammock on a warm tropical evening and then suddenly falling out. You're just not ready for the rush.
The bald figures tell some of the story. But 0 to 60 in 3.4 seconds and the top speed of 205 mph do not explain what it feels like when that onslaught comes out of nowhere, and you are watching the world go into hyperspace through a head-up display.
I use the word "onslaught" advisedly. Because after doing one run at the Bonneville Speed Week, I accidentally broke the all-time record for a production car — or so I was told by a man in an enormous hat. Zero to 167 mph in a mile. And remember this is on salt, which is slippery, at 4,000 feet where the air is thin. A Murciélago could not do that.
Of course, we've had fast 'Vettes in the past. We've even had 'Vettes that can generate a g or more in turns. But what we have never had is any American car that can generate a g in the bends while crossing the tarmac equivalent of a plowed field. This one can. It can corner and absorb bumps at...the...same...time.
And it can do — whisper this — Europe well.
And here's the kicker. A ZR1 is $100,000, which is dirt cheap for this much comfort, power and handling. Yes, the boot lock broke, the interior trim is shit — literally, I suspect, in some areas — and on the last day the car refused to accept the keys were in the car and wouldn't start. But nonetheless, it's a bloody good car. If I had a collection of automatic weapons, some attack dogs and a wife with tattoos, I'd have one like a shot.
