What does it take to beat the world’s toughest supercars—including the Dodge Viper ACR, Maserati MC12, Ferrari Enzo, Pagani Zonda F Clubsport, and Nissan GT-R—at the world’s toughest track?
To find out, Team Corvette returned to Germany’s famed Nürburgring in May with a ’12 ZR1 fitted with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Zero Pressure tires and Performance Traction Management (PTM) technology. (Both features are new this year.) Piloting a production car with absolutely no performance modifications, Corvette Vehicle Dynamics manager Jim Mero—the same man who laid down a 7:26.24-second lap time at the ’Ring three years ago in an ’09 ZR1—set out to topple all unofficial production-car lap-time records on the 20.8km course.
And that he did. On the second of only two full passes the Corvette was allowed to make during its two weeks at Nürburgring, he recorded a 7:19:63, establishing a new best for the breed and demoting many of the world’s more exotic supercars to second string. Chevrolet was quick to publish a video of the ZR1’s lap on its YouTube channel, and the seven-minute, driver’s-POV action thriller has been a topic of conversation on Corvette (and other automobile) forums and blog sites ever since.
VETTE recently sat down with Mero, Corvette Vehicle Line Director and Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter, and Corvette Communications Manager David Caldwell. In the conversation that followed, the trio shared the history of the Corvette-Nürburgring relationship, and revealed some of the secrets of clicking off clock-busting lap times on the world’s most demanding race course.
VETTE Magazine: Unlike Sebring, Daytona, Watkins Glen, and other domestic racetracks that share a fantastic history with Corvette, the Nürburgring is relatively new to America’s Favorite Sports Car’s story. Why do you go there?
When Chevrolet introduced...
When Chevrolet introduced the ZR1 in 2008, engineers took a production version to the Nürburgring to evaluate the car’s performance on the world’s most demanding course.
We validate [Corvette] track performance all over the place. We have our own Milford road course on property here in Michigan; we have Spring Mountain out in Nevada. We really try to make sure the Corvettes are robust at a variety of venues. The Nürburgring is the granddaddy of them all. It’s a very long and challenging track, where elite competition goes to prove their metal. We like to make sure the Corvette will perform as designed in that environment.
VM: How often do you go to the ’Ring?
Jim Mero: We went in 2005 when we brought out the Z06, and again in 2008 when we brought out the ZR1.
VM: Why isn’t Nürburgring a long-term proving ground for Corvette testing?
David Caldwell: There are a million reasons why it’s a really good proving ground from an engineering standpoint: the severity of the track; the length of it; it’s such a test of durability, heat, and airflow, but…
Juechter: …It’s extraordinarily challenging logistically, and it’s very expensive. It is not part of our Corvette-program mission to be at the Nürburgring continuously trying to improve our times. We only go when we have some big incremental performance improvement that we want to validate.
VM: What was that reason in 2011?
Mero: This year we have new tires and new chassis tuning, so we brought the ZR1 and Z06 to do that final validation.
VM: Is it true that each manufacturer, including General Motors, records and validates its own lap times at the Nürburgring, and that there is not a track lap-timing system governed by the track’s officials?
Juechter: Yes. This is not a policed activity. There is no governing body that controls the establishment of Nürburgring times.
VM: So how do you prove your lap times are legitimate?
Juechter: We’ve tried to be really open and honest about what we’ve done. We show video evidence of how we run the lap, where we start, where we finish, and how we time, but there really isn’t a standard.
The testing tradition continued...
The testing tradition continued earlier this year with a pre-production (but stock-specification) ’12 ZR1, which was used to validate the new Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Zero Pressure Tires and Performance Traction Management (PTM) technology.
Juechter: You’ll hear different claims from different manufacturers, and they get compared on an equal-weight basis. You have to take them all with a grain of salt because you’re not sure how they’re being run.
Mero: …And there’s no tech barn at the end of the lap where [officials] tear down your motor, tear down your car, and make sure everything’s legal.
VM: As of press time, Corvette holds the second-fastest claimed lap time for a production vehicle at Nürburgring, and the fastest claimed lap time with video proof. Did you bring a “ringer” to the ’Ring—that is, a Corvette that has hidden performance enhancements, as compared to a production model?
Mero: We run a legit car. You have my word that ZR1 was bone stock except for safety equipment—Sparco racing seats, a harness bar (not a full ’cage), and a fire bottle—and data equipment.
VM: Why do you put an in-house engineer in the driver seat instead of one of your highly qualified Corvette Racing drivers?
Mero: The fastest guys in the ’Ring are not the guys who are the fastest drivers in general; it’s the guys who have the most laps on the ’Ring. We’ve had [Corvette Racing’s] Jan Magnussen at Nürburgring for us in the past, but he doesn’t have the time in his schedule to commit to two to three weeks of continuous running on that track to learn the sweet spot of every corner and the sweet spot of whatever car he’s driving in that corner. It takes 100 laps, maybe more, to find the perfect setting, the perfect point to accelerate, and where you want the car rotated in each corner. Those guys just don’t have the time to commit to doing it.
Juechter: Corvette Racing’s drivers are accustomed to cars with massive downforce. Taking a production car that’s realistically tuned primarily for street driving and taking it at its limit around the ’Ring is a specialized skill. Like Jim says, it takes a lot of laps to learn not just that track, but also that car on the track.
Here’s a look at the safety...
Here’s a look at the safety gear added to the ZR1’s cabin, including Sparco racing seats, a harness bar, data equipment, and a fire bottle (not shown).
Another reason we use Jim is that he’s the guy who has to balance all the performance attributes of the chassis—both track and street. You get a professional race car driver there who’s used to dictating how he wants the car set up and that’s fine for the track, but the Nürburgring [is one of Corvette’s testbeds] for tuning that eventually goes out on the street and lives in the real world.
Mero: Give a guy a couple thousand pounds of downforce and slicks, and then stick him in a car with no downforce and full-treaded tires, and he struggles for an awful long time, like Jan Magnussen did in 2008. We have an issue with a lot of guys—prior Corvette Chief Engineer Tom Wallace being another one. It took us a lot of trips to get him comfortable in a ZR1 because he’s used to massive downforce and slicks. Take that all away, and it’s a whole new learning curve for him.
Juechter: And it’s nothing against the professional race car drivers. Jan Magnussen—even when we’re hanging around other professional race drivers—they talk about him with reverence. So we’re not in any way trying to diminish those guys’ capabilities. It’s just a matter of getting used to that kind of vehicle on that track.