What can you do in 7:13.9?

You may have heard about the new 2018 Camaro ZL1 1LE being able to lap Germany’s Nurburgring Nordschleife in 7:16:04 a few weeks back, making it the 14th fastest production car on the 12.9 mile-long circuit. It was big news, as it beat the 2011 Corvette Z06’s time of 7:22.68, the 2015 Ferrari 488 GTB (unofficial time, as Ferrari does not release times at the benchmark track) of 7:21.63, the 2012 ZR1’s time of 7:19.63 and the 2010 Porsche 911 GT2 RS’s time of 7:18.00.

The C7 Chevrolet Corvettes have never set an official time at the track. Chevrolet did try in the Z06 back in 2014, but rain stopped the effort and they never tried again.

Well German publication Sport Auto has decided that the time is right to let the Z06 have its time in the spot light. Sport Auto isn’t full of amateur drivers, as they frequently take cars to the Nurburgring and set times that are as quick, if not quicker, than the manufacturers set in their cars.

Armed with a Z06 with the Z07 performance package, full Aero Package, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s, and a manual gearbox, Sport Auto set off to Nurburgring.

Thundering Thursday!
You may have heard about the new 2018 Camaro ZL1 1LE being able to lap Germany’s Nurburgring Nordschleife in 7:16:04 a few weeks back, making it the 14th fastest production car on the 12.9 mile-long circuit. It was big news, as it beat the 2011 Corvette Z06’s time of 7:22.68, the 2015 Ferrari 488 GTB (unofficial time, as Ferrari does not release times at the benchmark track) of 7:21.63, the 2012 ZR1’s time of 7:19.63 and the 2010 Porsche 911 GT2 RS’s time of 7:18.00.

The C7 Chevrolet Corvettes have never set an official time at the track. Chevrolet did try in the Z06 back in 2014, but rain stopped the effort and they never tried again.

Well German publication Sport Auto has decided that the time is right to let the Z06 have its time in the spot light. Sport Auto isn’t full of amateur drivers, as they frequently take cars to the Nurburgring and set times that are as quick, if not quicker, than the manufacturers set in their cars.

Armed with a Z06 with the Z07 performance package, full Aero Package, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s, and a manual gearbox, Sport Auto set off to Nurburgring.

In Sport Autos’ hands, the Z06 did a 7:13.9, which is the 12th fastest production car time and 2.14 seconds off the ZL1’s time! If they had had the 8-Speed Automatic instead of the 7-Speed Manual, the times should have been a tick lower. A few more seconds could have been taken off if GM’s “Ring Wizard” (official title) Jim Mero was behind the wheel. If both were to have happened, the Z06 could be somewhere around a 7:10 (#8 quickest time).

As a side note, the unannounced C7 ZR1, that has been running around the ring recently, has a rumored time of 6:59! If this time is real, it would make the new ZR1 the 6th quickest production car of all time!