To showcase just how much a few small changes can mean, Chevrolet took the updated 2012 Corvette ZR1 to the Nurburgring, knocking 6 seconds off the car’s previous best time set back in 2008. The new 7:19.63 lap time was set by Corvette engineer Jim Mero and is a solid three seconds off the Viper ACR’s best, but its just shy of the production car record set by the Porsche GT2 RS at 7:18. (Faster lap times do exist by a Radical and the Gumpert Apollo, but it’s not hard to argue that those cars aren’t true production models).

Corvette credits much of the car’s added performance to its new Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Zero Pressure tires, which provided an 8 percent gain in lateral acceleration, as well as improved braking. The new tires are available on the flagship 638-hp ZR1 as well as on the 505-hp Z06.

Watch the video after the jump:

The GT2 RS clocked a record-breaking time of 7 minutes and 18 seconds around the Nürburgring-Nordschleife track (claimed by Porsche), one of the fastest times in modern production car history.[6] However, this was performed on the shorter Nurburgring course, which is 232 meters shorter. Given an average speed of 100MPH (160 km/h), this yields an addition 5.7 seconds, with a more typical allowance of 7 seconds. This would result in a range of 7:23-7:25, which is comparable to the 7:24 turned in by Horst von Saurma.