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Jay Leno's ZR1 drive

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I saw a ZR1 in person a few weeks ago at a private car collection in Cypress, CA. Sounded nice, interior still sucks though.

I took a bunch of pictures of it.
 
The ZR-1 is a truly amazing car.

The problem is that GM does not need a top-notch sports car right now. They need a top-notch econobox or minivan or midsize sedan.

It's sort of like AMD spending billions of dollars on vacuum tube research - they don't need triodes, they need a competitive budget CPU.
 
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
The ZR-1 is a truly amazing car.

The problem is that GM does not need a top-notch sports car right now. They need a top-notch econobox or minivan or midsize sedan.

It's sort of like AMD spending billions of dollars on vacuum tube research - they don't need triodes, they need a competitive budget CPU.

Thing is the car(Corvette) is already made, making a ZR-1 does not cost that much more. Also the engine will be used in other cars and the profit margin on 1 ZR1 is much higher then several econoboxs.
 
Originally posted by: Tiamat
Has Jay Leno ever appeared on Top gear for the "reasonably priced car" segment?

I don't believe so... but I think he'd actually be a pretty interesting guest on there. You should write to them asking to bring Jay Leno on and argue to see who has more cars 😛.
 
Originally posted by: Aikouka
Originally posted by: Tiamat
Has Jay Leno ever appeared on Top gear for the "reasonably priced car" segment?

I don't believe so... but I think he'd actually be a pretty interesting guest on there. You should write to them asking to bring Jay Leno on and argue to see who has more cars 😛.

the only mention of jay leno by top gear is about how he and carol shelby were on the board of some auto enviro/traffic/something organization. i agree, he'd be a great guest on the show.
 
Jay had a thing about why he wasn't going to be on the US Top Gear, which will be an NBC show I believe. They called him and asked him if he wanted to be on that car show or something silly, so he refused.
 
He should be on the Top Gear UK, maybe he doesn't want to drive the shitbox they make you drive. 😛
 
Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
I saw a ZR1 in person a few weeks ago at a private car collection in Cypress, CA. Sounded nice, interior still sucks though.

I took a bunch of pictures of it.

Maybe, you could fill us in on the number of cup-holders it has and how many grocery bags it can hold too.

 
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
The ZR-1 is a truly amazing car.

The problem is that GM does not need a top-notch sports car right now. They need a top-notch econobox or minivan or midsize sedan.

It's sort of like AMD spending billions of dollars on vacuum tube research - they don't need triodes, they need a competitive budget CPU.

They already paid for the development. If it turns a profit they should sell it. As long as the cash flow is positive its great for Chevy, if one of those is in the show room people will come in to check it out. More foot traffic in the showroom = more sales.
 
Originally posted by: Bignate603
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
The ZR-1 is a truly amazing car.

The problem is that GM does not need a top-notch sports car right now. They need a top-notch econobox or minivan or midsize sedan.

It's sort of like AMD spending billions of dollars on vacuum tube research - they don't need triodes, they need a competitive budget CPU.

They already paid for the development. If it turns a profit they should sell it. As long as the cash flow is positive its great for Chevy, if one of those is in the show room people will come in to check it out. More foot traffic in the showroom = more sales.

The thing with "Halo Cars" is that they are not meant to turn a profit for MOST companies. They are meant to get people into the showrooms so they buy the cars that they do turn a profit on.
 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Originally posted by: Bignate603
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
The ZR-1 is a truly amazing car.

The problem is that GM does not need a top-notch sports car right now. They need a top-notch econobox or minivan or midsize sedan.

It's sort of like AMD spending billions of dollars on vacuum tube research - they don't need triodes, they need a competitive budget CPU.

They already paid for the development. If it turns a profit they should sell it. As long as the cash flow is positive its great for Chevy, if one of those is in the show room people will come in to check it out. More foot traffic in the showroom = more sales.

The thing with "Halo Cars" is that they are not meant to turn a profit for MOST companies. They are meant to get people into the showrooms so they buy the cars that they do turn a profit on.

They may not pay back the development but I'm sure they can recoup the production costs. As long as it costs less to produce than they are selling it for I think they should keep on selling it.
 
Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Thing is the car(Corvette) is already made, making a ZR-1 does not cost that much more. Also the engine will be used in other cars and the profit margin on 1 ZR1 is much higher then several econoboxs.

Just out of curiosity what car do you think that motor with super charger is gonna go in..and profit margin on a car that will maybe sell XXX units but not in this economy? please dont say Camaro. cuz that is not gonna happen
 
Originally posted by: Scottae
Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Thing is the car(Corvette) is already made, making a ZR-1 does not cost that much more. Also the engine will be used in other cars and the profit margin on 1 ZR1 is much higher then several econoboxs.

Just out of curiosity what car do you think that motor with super charger is gonna go in..and profit margin on a car that will maybe sell XXX units but not in this economy? please dont say Camaro. cuz that is not gonna happen

The technology of the motor will go into other cars. They may use the 427 elsewhere, just not in supercharged skin.
 
Originally posted by: Scottae
Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Thing is the car(Corvette) is already made, making a ZR-1 does not cost that much more. Also the engine will be used in other cars and the profit margin on 1 ZR1 is much higher then several econoboxs.

Just out of curiosity what car do you think that motor with super charger is gonna go in..and profit margin on a car that will maybe sell XXX units but not in this economy? please dont say Camaro. cuz that is not gonna happen
The CTS-V uses a version of that motor - slightly smaller supercharger and lower compression ratio, 550hp.
 
Originally posted by: Scottae
Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Thing is the car(Corvette) is already made, making a ZR-1 does not cost that much more. Also the engine will be used in other cars and the profit margin on 1 ZR1 is much higher then several econoboxs.

Just out of curiosity what car do you think that motor with super charger is gonna go in..and profit margin on a car that will maybe sell XXX units but not in this economy? please dont say Camaro. cuz that is not gonna happen

CTS-V.

LS9 is basically modified LS3 with the new Eaton TVS 4-lobe supercharger. LS3 is used in base Corvettes, G8 GXP, new Camaro, and Holden vehicles. Base Corvettes subsidizes the cost of Z06 and ZR1. If you notice, all three models look similar and all three share pretty much the same interior even down to the Chevy Cobalt steering wheel. Corvettes are one of the highest profit margin cars for GM. ZR1 as a halo car pays for itself in brand awareness and marketing.

Eaton TVS supercharger should be available in kit forms for all C6 cars by next month or so. Given Eaton is mass producing these TVS units, prices should be fairly cheap.
 
Originally posted by: Gillbot
Originally posted by: Scottae
Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Thing is the car(Corvette) is already made, making a ZR-1 does not cost that much more. Also the engine will be used in other cars and the profit margin on 1 ZR1 is much higher then several econoboxs.

Just out of curiosity what car do you think that motor with super charger is gonna go in..and profit margin on a car that will maybe sell XXX units but not in this economy? please dont say Camaro. cuz that is not gonna happen

The technology of the motor will go into other cars. They may use the 427 elsewhere, just not in supercharged skin.


Just FYI -- they dont make a supercharged 427.
 
Originally posted by: Gillbot

The technology of the motor will go into other cars. They may use the 427 elsewhere, just not in supercharged skin.

The LS series V8 (which is actually only 6.2 liters - the 7 liter version is only found in the Z06) is not a very modern engine design - 2 valves per cylinder, cam-in-block, pushrods, et cetera. It's just a refinement of the old-school muscle car engines of old using stronger and lighter alloys, a smaller engine block, and fuel injection. While this works very well for a $20,000 supercar engine, it's not quite so practical for a $2,000 econobox powerplant. (It's also worth noting that superchargers kill fuel economy even more than turbochargers).

The original ZR-1, weirdly, was quite different. To produce the 375hp LT5 engine under its hood, Lotus took the old-fashioned LT1 V8 and switched the 16-valve pushrod system to a 32-valve setup with four overhead cams. A version of this engine with a smaller displacement for general purpose use was dubbed the Northstar, and is used both in normally aspirated and supercharged form in various GM vehicles to this day.


Originally posted by: TehMac
Originally posted by: Gillbot
Originally posted by: TehMac
If they put the 6.2L in the Camaro, my opinion of that car would go way up.

a non-supercharged 427 may be an option on the SS

That would definitely get my attention.

American Speed is working on a supercharged LS7 (427 cu. in.) for the Ultima GTR. 800 horsepower and well over 600 pound-feet of torque.

All for just $38,000.
 
Originally posted by: Cheesehead
The LS series V8 (which is actually only 6.2 liters - the 7 liter version is only found in the Z06) is not a very modern engine design

you sir, have just lost whatever bits of credibility you once had.

the LS series V8's are some of the smallest, lightest, most efficiently designed V8 engines ever built.

The LS7 is something like 100 pounds lighter than the V10 in the BMW M5, while producing equal horsepower and almost 100 ft-lb MORE torque.

OHC is great for revs, but GM continually shows that OHV is far from an "antiquated" and "inefficient" technology.
 
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