1,250 hp hybrid Corvette shatters the Pikes Peak production record

An electric advantage? His team’s 911 Turbo S mixes all-wheel drive with rear-wheel steering to add some extra agility, but the electric front axle on the Corvette gives it a particular advantage in a few areas, including traction control. “It makes it all easier to function with the hybrid, especially taking away power,” said Matt Foley, crew chief on the 000. Traditional traction control either cuts power to the engine, slowing all four wheels, or applies the brakes to the spinning wheels, which wears them out more quickly. “With the hybrid, you can literally just pull power out of the front,” he said. But in the Corvette, its primary purpose is to provide instant, quick response in every corner, from the bottom to the top, something that particularly impressed Hildebrand in the extremely low-speed hairpins. “Whatever car you’re in, no matter how much horsepower it has, you’re always waiting for it to get up in the power band and start building momentum off the corners,” Hildebrand told me. “This thing is just like ‘POP!’ It just pulls the car up into the second-gear RPM band, and it’s off to the races.” With all-wheel drive and hybrid power, the Corvette ZR1X had a bit of an advantage over the other cars in the production class. Credit: Tim Stevens With all-wheel drive and hybrid power, the Corvette ZR1X had a bit of an advantage over the other cars in the production class. …