Did Borla Just Confirm the Existence of a C7 Corvette ZR1?
Did Borla Inadvertently Confirm That a New Corvette ZR1 is Coming?
An eagle-eyed reader tipped us off on an interesting development from our friends at Borla. Renowned for their wide-ranging exhaust selection, among other things they offer, Borla is a huge name in the LSX community. The Borla name is so big, it’s not a stretch to think that they have connections with the OEM’s when it comes time to manufacture exhausts for the latest and greatest cars hitting the market. That makes this latest development in the Corvette news cycle especially juicy. The rumor mill has been awash lately with murmurs that a ZR1 and possibly a mid-engined Corvette are in the pipeline.
If you check the 2017 Borla parts catalog right now, you will see a variety of exhaust options for the C7 Corvette. Things take a turn for the interesting in that there appears to be a section labeled as “ZR1,” with a description different to all of it’s sibling entries.
OH. SNAP!
I took this screenshot directly from the Borla digital catalog and highlighted a few key points of interest. First off, the fact that they have a section labeled as “Corvette C7 Z06/ZR1” should raise alerts. Under the Z06/ZR1 tab we see that all of the entries are for the supercharged LT4-powered C7 Z06, except for the last item. The descriptor for the powertrain is noted as “C7 6.2L AT/MT incl Paddle Shift,” which is definitely not the LT4. Could this coincide with the recently leaked news that GM has developed a dual-overhead cam smallblack V8, that is slated to appear in the Corvette for 2018? Code named LT5, it fits the description of a 6.2L naturally-aspirated V8 engine in the catalog.
Questions arise over the part number being shared with the regular C7 Corvette. Note that the part # 60548 fits the description for two entries, emphasis mine. However, after some discussion in the office, this is no typo or double-copy. Note that although the parts numbers and description is the same, the model years are different. This is no copy-paste error. Why the model year ends at 2016 is a mystery, but then again, it says the same for all of the Z06 entries, and we all know that the Z06 is alive and kicking ass in 2017. Our best guess is that the Borla X-pipe design is compatible with both the regular C7 and the ZR1 as it’s after the headers. It’s entirely possible that the post-headers exhaust path is similar between the two cars. If this is the case, then the ZR1 will not be mid-engined, as different engine location would completely change the exhaust routing. Sounds like the mid-engine Corvette is being released as a C8. It makes sense, the changes that would be necessary to convert the C7 platform to accept a mid-engine layout would be astronomically expensive this late into the C7’s life cycle.
History repeats itself. There was another Corvette that had the same basic ingredient list: the C4. The C4 ZR1 used a DOHC V8 engine, dubbed LT5, and focused on being the best handling Corvette to ever wear the badge. That LT5 engine spun past 7,000RPM and made fantastic power figures for it’s day. The precedent and provenance is there. When the C7 Z06 was launched, Tadge Juechter, Chief Engineer of Corvette was quoted as saying that they wanted to have a high-RPM, high horsepower, naturally-aspirated powerplant, however, the they couldn’t meet emissions and efficiency targets with the pushrod small block V8. This naturally explains the transition to dual-overhead cams: they want spin the LT5 into the stratosphere. 8,000RPM is not out of the question at all. With the combination of the internal GM document that was leaked, confirming the upcoming dual-overhead cam 6.2L LT5 V8 engine, and Borla’s product catalog acknowledging that a ZR1 badge is coming back, we have a pretty solid handle on what the latest and greatest from GM will be. The new ZR1 is going to be a front-engine Corvette with a naturally-aspirated, high-revving, DOHC 6.2L LT5 V8 engine. It is going to pick up where the last ZR1 using an LT5 V8 left off, a take-all challengers track and handling weapon. You heard it here first.
[Tip of the hat to reader Quentin!]
Jake Stumph is the Content Editor behind LS1tech.com. He is an avid racer and car enthusiast. He considers himself very lucky to be able to write about cars. You can follow him on Facebook and YouTube.
