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" MILFORD, Mich. -- Chevrolet&amp;#039;s iconic Corvette has always defined the American sports car. Enter the 2009 Corvette ZR1, a blisteringly fast, stunningly capable reaffirmation of exactly that. Say what you will about such classics as the Viper, Mustang, Camaro and Charger. The ZR1 is a supercar and represents a benchmark for American muscle. You&amp;#039;ve seen this legend in the making on the proving grounds and on the stand, but now watch this street beast&amp;#039;s moves as a civilized track machine on PopMech TV, with exclusive under-the-skin specs. (In-depth review continues below ...) The Specs Let&amp;#039;s start out with the biggest numbers. And you&amp;#039;ve heard them before, but I still can&amp;#039;t get over it: 638 hp. 605 lb.-ft. 205 mph. There, I feel better now.  All this is achieved by an LS9 aluminum-block, supercharged 6.2-Liter OHV pushrod, 2-valve per engine cylinder based on the 7-liter V8 from the current Vette. A 4-lobe Eaton supercharger, in a special, ultra-low profile housing with a pair of intercoolers, boosts intake manifold pressure to a 10.5 psi max. The displacement is reduced to only 6.2 liters, because the extra torque required thicker metal in the cylinder walls and block. Connecting rods are titanium, as are the intake valves. Exhaust valves are sodium-filled for better cooling. Tired of scaring the neighbor&amp;#039;s baby? The dual exhaust mufflers have a pair of internal valves that don&amp;#039;t open up until wide-open throttle to free up some back pressure and deliver a much more authoritative note. Power is delivered to the rear wheels through a small-diameter twin-disc clutch, a 6-speed Tremec manual transmission and a reinforced rear end. No automatic is available. The frame is all aluminum, with a sprinkling of magnesium castings at critical points to add strength without weight. Brakes are massive, carbon-ceramic Brembos, which should last the life of the vehicle. The carbon-fiber front splitter mounted below the radiator inlet generates enough downforce that the front fascia had to be reinforced to prevent it from sagging and letting the splitter graze the pavement. The Drive Milford Road Course is General Motors&amp;#039; private racetrack, carefully secluded inside the rolling countryside of its Michigan Proving Ground. It was painstakingly crafted to link together copies of some of the best (or is it worst?) corners from assorted racetracks around the world. And now it&amp;#039;s mine for the afternoon, with only a single chicane of orange pylons in an area where less experienced drivers might buy a peck of trouble in a vehicle as prodigiously fast as the ZR1. After a mercifully brief PowerPoint presentation, the track is open. I start out with a couple of demo laps in a Suburban to regain familiarity with the track. Soon enough, the safety officer flags me out of the pit lane onto an open track. Oh. My. God. Now, listen: I&amp;#039;ve driven plenty of really fast cars over the years, but the ZR1 left me breathless. The acceleration is blistering, thanks to a combination of low- and mid-range torque and a slightly higher first-gear ratio. (Cleverly, first gear is adequately tall to obviate shifting until after 60 mph, allowing a wicked 0-60 mph time estimated at 3.4 seconds.) For the first few laps, I just savor the enormous power, and investigate the outer limits of grip from the fat run-flat Michelins and the might of the carbon-ceramic brakes clamped by Brembo 6-piston calipers. Those carbon brakes have been carefully tweaked to ensure that they don&amp;#039;t bite too aggressively at parking lot speeds--a common issue with similar systems. Well, they work as advertised and feel exactly like old-school rotors. After a few more laps, I&amp;#039;m drifting the ZR1 through the sweepers, but I still haven&amp;#039;t even gotten into the ABS or the stability system. I take a few minutes to chat up the engineering staff, but it&amp;#039;s not long before I&amp;#039;m strapping my helmet back on for another stint. How could you ever get enough seat time in the most powerful road-going Corvette built to date? Now we&amp;#039;re getting serious. The tires are scuffed in, the track holds few surprises for me, and I push the envelope a little. The ZR1&amp;#039;s limits are monumentally high, but easily approachable if you&amp;#039;re a little brave--or very foolish. Aside from eyeball-watering acceleration up the straights, I get two major impressions this session. The first is the feel of the brakes, which I still can&amp;#039;t hammer hard enough to activate the ABS. There seems to be no limit to how far I can get into the corners while still on the gas. The other takeaway is the willingness of this chassis to turn, grip and decelerate at the same time. Trail braking, right down to the apex, is very rewarding.  Pressing down hard on the accelerator coming out of slower corners is beginning to make the traction control kick in. Right when you&amp;#039;d prefer to feel the seat press hard against your spine, the electronic nanny is like running into a giant wall of Jell-O. The solution is to dial back the traction control from the default setting. Now it&amp;#039;s faster off corners, but a little care is necessary to keep the back end where it belongs\u00AD--in the back. Wheelspin induced overseer is lurking right around every corner.  The next track session gets delayed in favor of an opportunity to drive off-premises to assess the ZR1&amp;#039;s capabilities and comfort on the street. I take a lap around the perimeter of the proving ground and past Dunne&amp;#039;s Grove--a stand of trees planted by GM to foil PM&amp;#039;s legendary spy photographer and former Detroit Editor Jim Dunne, who caught the ZR1. Then it&amp;#039;s briefly out onto the expressway. The huge tires track blissfully true along the pavement, rather than oscillating back and forth along the grooves like a bloodhound on the scent. Modest amounts of throttle keep the exhaust cutouts closed and quiet.  Though some might find the seats a bit too common for a $100,000 car, I found them comfortable. The front suspension spring rates are relatively low, making for a much plusher ride over frost-heaved pavement than the Corvette Z06. Roll control is achieved by using a super-stiff, 33.3-mm hollow front anti-roll, coupled with computer-controlled magnetorheological (say that three times fast) shock absorbers. These shocks have the ability to change their damping rates smoothly and almost instantaneously. We return to the track with all our fillings intact, and our bodies cool off for some more track time. Now I have the course memorized. The ZR1 is ready, and it&amp;#039;s no more Mr. Nice Guy. I toggle the stability/traction control system back to the minimum level, and it&amp;#039;s off to the races. It&amp;#039;s only after a couple of increasingly sideways laps that I realize the awesomeness of the Vette&amp;#039;s capabilities. Few drivers will ever be able to take full advantage of this high level of performance, and anyone who attempts to do so on the street rather than a racetrack is foolish. I turn the stability system back on to its intermediate setting and start going faster. The quickest way around the track seems to be to drive just hard enough to keep the system from kicking in. And if you think about it, that&amp;#039;s the way it should be. The Bottom Line At just about the price of a used pickup above $100,000, the ZR1 ain&amp;#039;t for everybody. But, unlike a Viper ACR or a few tuner cars I could mention but won&amp;#039;t, it&amp;#039;s perfectly happy to be driven back and forth to work or the golf course. Chevrolet uses the Corvette platform to pioneer new technologies (disc brakes, ABS and stability control are some that come to mind over the years), and uses that halo to enhance the brand&amp;#039;s image. This car goes a long way toward perpetuating that image. Sure, we&amp;#039;re fond of certain German and Japanese companies--but GM has extraordinary engineering capabilities. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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