Article Comments - 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 vs. 2009 Nissan GT-R

42 messages, Last post on Jul 15, 2009 at 5:21 PM

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2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 vs. 2009 Nissan GT-R - Although the few GM employees who see the GT-R barely pay it any attention, we suspect they know why it's here. Somewhere deep inside this test facility there's a 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 getting prepped for a comparison test, and now the competition has arrived. (more)

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#1 of 42 Article Comments - 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 vs. 2009 Nissan GT-R by KarenS HOST Oct 28, 2008 (9:32 am)
It's already hot at 11 a.m. as we pull our 2009 Nissan GT-R into the visitor's parking lot at GM's proving grounds in Arizona. The Japanese supercar looks like a spaceship next to the aging, 1960s-era brick buildings that front the massive desert test facility on the outskirts of Phoenix. 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 vs. 2009 Nissan GT-R Replies to this message: mikeebear (Oct 28, 2008 12:59 pm)
#2 of 42 by proe Oct 28, 2008 (10:56 am)
I still think GT-R is superior car of the two. 1. Auto against Manual, 2, V6 vs V8. GT-R is 153 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque down. However, GT-R's max Torque, lb-ft rpm is 4305 4,200 I know it is a typo. The result (ZR1 vs GT-R): 0-60 mph acceleration, sec. 3.8 3.8 Quarter-mile acceleration, sec. 11.5 11.8 Quarter-mile speed, mph 128.3 118.6 GT-R is the ultimate supercar that fulfill its promise of "Anyone, Anytime and Anywhere." Period. Of course, until Spec-V comes out. Replies to this message: desmolicious (Oct 28, 2008 11:35 am) fedlawman (Oct 28, 2008 1:22 pm)
#3 of 42 Re: [proe] by desmolicious Oct 28, 2008 (11:35 am)
Replying to: proe (Oct 28, 2008 10:56 am) Yes the Nissan is definitely the superior car ignoring that the Vette beats it in all but one performance category (tied for 0-60), is faster around the race track, and is quieter and smoother running on public roads. I do think that the Vette's motor is rated too high. They claim 638hp, but 505 at the tyres is almost a 20% loss. For the 638 rating to be real, it should be putting out about 550 at the tyres. Replies to this message: fedlawman (Oct 28, 2008 1:22 pm)
#4 of 42 by mikeebear Oct 28, 2008 (12:59 pm)
Replying to: KarenS (Oct 28, 2008 9:32 am) Good article, but I think the final statement of "there's nothing you can buy that will touch [the ZR-1]" is a bit bold. If he wrote "nothing under $X", that would be very accurate, but there are plenty of cars available that can at least "touch" it and probably crush it. Sure, those cars cost astronomical amounts of money, but the writer did not include a dollar amount in his statement. Sorry, but that statement is FALSE.
#5 of 42 Re: [desmolicious] by fedlawman Oct 28, 2008 (1:22 pm)
Replying to: desmolicious (Oct 28, 2008 11:35 am) " For the 638 rating to be real, it should be putting out about 550 at the tyres." I think 550 whp (13.8% driveline loss) is a bit optimistic. Considering the output at the shaft (and the required beefiness of the driveline components), I think 505 whp is more realistic.
#6 of 42 It's a bargain super car by spike9011 Oct 28, 2008 (2:54 pm)
Yes, the GT-R looks like a robot, but what do you expect from a bargain super car? It may be quick, but it's really ugly. The ZR-1 may have a six-figure price tag, but the it can justified by it's performance and looks. The ZR-1 is for hardcore drivers and the GT-R is for boy racers. It may have the technology, but it doesn't have the soul of the R34. 7 years of engineering and they built a robot instead of a car. Replies to this message: bigmclargehuge (Oct 29, 2008 6:16 am) nickdago (Nov 11, 2008 7:13 pm) bigmclargehuge (Nov 14, 2008 12:32 pm) ace47 (Nov 15, 2008 1:07 am) jsh3fan (Jul 11, 2009 9:43 am) bigmclargehuge (Jul 15, 2009 5:21 pm)
#7 of 42 Re: It's a bargain super car [spike9011] by bigmclargehuge Oct 29, 2008 (6:16 am)
Replying to: spike9011 (Oct 28, 2008 2:54 pm) The ZR-1 is for hardcore drivers and the GT-R is for boy racers. There's fancy electronics in the ZR1's chassis. The stability controls do a silky smooth job of containing your goof-ups, and if you drive properly they'll let you use pretty much the car's full scope. http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/2008/09/stories/03/1.html I don't think its as clear-cut as you pretend it is. I'm not knocking the ZR1's speed, just saying that its one of many new supercars that 'help' the driver. Most are 'robotic' on some level. Perhaps the ZR1 lacks the AWD and the DCG, but it is not devoid of driver aids the way the Viper ACR is. And before someone says 'well you can turn them all off in the ZR1'... you can turn off the same things on the GT-R. I don't think any 'boy racers' will be able to afford either of these cars. More than likely a person that can afford one can afford both, and just has a taste for multiple styles of car. Its amazing how fast the ZR1 does compared to cars that are meant to be fast that cost 2, 4, 6 times as much. That is very true. Its a great value. Its just as amazing how well the GT-R does being priced like a Z06. Also consider this: the grip from the Bridgestone Potenza RE070s is considerable. Apparently, the Dunlop SP Sport 600 DSSTs that come as an option on the GT-R are the faster tire. So you could be using OEM equipment and have slightly better braking, acceleration, slalom, and track speeds. Making this race yet closer. Is it an easy victory for either car? Nope. Just driver preference, IMO.
#8 of 42 Unfair Match Up by lt1boy Oct 30, 2008 (5:08 pm)
First, I want to say that I don't favor the ZR1 or the GT-R. I love both cars equally. But after reading this article, I couldn't help but feel how much of an unfair match up this really was. I mean, the GT-R costs about $80k, while the ZR1 costs about $120k. That's a $40k price difference between the two. Comparing these two cars to each other would be just as fair as comparing the $80k GT-R to a $40k base Corvette, and if you did that, the winner would be clearly obvious. A better comparison would have been between the GT-R and the Z06 (a match up that I'm still waiting for Inside Line to do) since they both have similar price tags and similar horsepower ratings. Or better yet, a showdown between the ZR1 and the Dodge Viper ACR would have been just as well, seeing as how the price tags/horsepower ratings are similar again. Before I even started reading this article, I already knew that the ZR-1 would have been the obvious winner. Sure, it's the faster car out of these two, but it's also the more expensive one, and it has about 160 more rated horsepower than the GT-R (and did anyone else notice that it only had about 100 actual whp more?), so it SHOULD be the faster one. But seeing as how it's only slightly faster on the racetrack (1 second difference) it makes you wonder which car is actually the better engineered one. Inside Line should compare the $120k ZR-1 to the $1.5 million Bugatti Veyron next, since price doesn't seem to be an issue with them. Replies to this message: bigmclargehuge (Oct 31, 2008 5:38 am) langjie (Oct 31, 2008 6:19 am) ace47 (Nov 01, 2008 3:23 am) iamddn (Nov 04, 2008 2:33 pm) bigmclargehuge (Nov 04, 2008 3:00 pm)
#9 of 42 Re: Unfair Match Up [lt1boy] by bigmclargehuge Oct 31, 2008 (5:38 am)
Replying to: lt1boy (Oct 30, 2008 5:08 pm) Where is the ZR1 vs. ACR matchup anyway? That really is the only one that matters, IMO. The GT-R gets to go up against ACR and ZR1 separately, which lt1boy already pointed out were foregone conclusions due to the price and HP differences. Barely interesting reading. But the one comparison that is NOT a foregone conclusion, nowhere in sight.
#10 of 42 Re: Unfair Match Up [lt1boy] by langjie Oct 31, 2008 (6:19 am)
Replying to: lt1boy (Oct 30, 2008 5:08 pm) I agree that a price that's 1.5 times that of the other is a bit of a stretch. considering the gt-r in the current form is not going to be it's most potent (v-spec is coming), it doesn't make too much sense to match it up against the cream of the crop zr-1. when the v-spec comes out, it'll be a much better matchup, price wise, equipment wise, power wise