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The 1,064-HP 2026 Chevy Corvette ZR1: A 335-Mile, 10-Hour Odyssey Through Los Angeles Can America’s most powerful production car conquer the City of Angels? We drove the 2026 Corvette ZR1 around L.A. County to find out. Christian Seabaugh, Senior Editor Ryan Lugo, Illustrator Brandon Lim, Photographer February 13, 2026 As a teenager, I was obsessed with unofficial records. Maybe it started with a late-night rerun of Jackass’ Gumball 3000 Rally from London to St. Petersburg, or maybe it was learning about the legendary Cannonball Run. Created by automotive journalist Brock Yates in the 1970s as a protest against the 55 mph national speed limit, the New York City to Los Angeles Cannonball run captured my imagination. Back in 2006, a new record had just been set: 31 hours and 4 minutes in a BMW M5. Even closer to my Brooklyn home, that same driver had once lapped Manhattan in just 27 minutes—a seemingly impossible feat. We used to joke about breaking those records, but as we got older, self-preservation instincts thankfully kicked in. Still, I never lost that curiosity about unofficial lap times. What’s the fastest lap around D.C.’s Beltway? Berlin’s Stadtring? Moscow’s ring road? And what about my adopted hometown, Los Angeles? L.A. is a complicated beast. “Los Angeles” is a catch-all term that swallows the 87 other cities in L.A. County. It’s a sprawling, Connecticut-sized mass bordered by the Pacific Ocean, bisected by mountains and forests, and capped by high deserts to the north. For locals, the “real” L.A. is subjective—a mix of beachside bungalows, Hollywood glamour, and traffic-choked freeways. But it’s also winding canyon roads, straight desert stretches, and iconic boulevards. Piecing together a lap of its best driving roads in one go seemed like an enticing—and daunting—challenge. Unlike a city lap, this would be an endurance test. Enter the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. Building on the MotorTrend-award-winning Corvette Z06, the new ZR1 is the pinnacle of gasoline-powered American performance. The star of the show is the engine: a beefed-up version of the Z06’s flat-plane-crank 5.5-liter V-8, now twin-turbocharged to produce a staggering 1,064 horsepower and 828 lb-ft of torque. Power is routed through an eight-speed automatic transaxle to massive Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. Opting for the ZTK pack adds stiffer springs, refined MagneRide dampers, carbon-ceramic brakes, and aggressive aerodynamic elements that can generate up to 1,200 pounds of downforce at speed. This is race car technology for the street, and it makes the ZR1 the perfect candidate for our epic L.A. lap. The Route We mapped out a route that follows L.A. County’s borders. It starts at the Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro, the southernmost point of mainland L.A. From there, we head east through Long Beach, snake north over the San Gabriel Mountains via the glorious Angeles Crest Highway, dip into Antelope Valley, and cross the northern desert border. The return leg takes us southwest through canyon roads before an unavoidable stretch on freeways and surface streets to reach the legendary Mulholland Highway in Malibu. The final stretch follows the coast south, looping around the Palos Verdes Peninsula back to our starting point. To amp up the challenge—and make it easier for our photographer—we opted for a daylight run. Starting at sunrise in late winter, the goal was to finish before sunset. After all, what’s an L.A. drive without a little traffic? Or fog, as it turned out. The Corvette rumbled to the start well before dawn. Point Fermin Lighthouse, designed to be easily visible, was swallowed by a thick marine layer. I could see the ZR1’s aero working as it cut through the dense air, but forward visibility was severely limited, making the winding streets of San Pedro treacherous. Judging the light filtering in from the harbor was nearly impossible. We’re Off and Running By 6:24 am, the sun had finally peeked over the horizon, and I figured that was good enough. I pointed the ZR1 north, aiming for the Vincent Thomas Bridge and into Long Beach, then cutting through the city to avoid the Orange County border and head for the 605 freeway. Things went wrong immediately. An early morning accident had closed the bridge, forcing the Corvette and the port’s early-morning tractor-trailer convoy onto the 110 freeway. Adding insult to injury, my navigation app crashed, leaving me to navigate by memory. Knowing I needed to get back to Terminal Island to resume the route, I ducked off the freeway into Wilmington’s morning rush and tried to find Pacific Coast Highway. PCH here, along with streets like Firestone, Nash, and Studebaker, are relics of L.A.’s automotive manufacturing past. These roads once hummed with the production of Model A’s, and a bridge nearby still bears the Ford family name. I eventually found my way back to Terminal Island, only to make another mistake. The fog was even thicker near the water, and instead of bearing right, I turned left, sending the ZR1 down a narrow two-lane road choked with truck traffic. Unable to turn around safely, I pulled off into a paved railroad siding, reset my sputtering navigation app, and hit the throttle, hoping to make up time. But it wasn’t long before I found myself stuck in the very freeway traffic I’d tried to avoid. The slow going and soft morning light provided a chance to really take in the cabin. Modern Corvette interiors have often been underwhelming, but the 2026 redesign, combined with our test car’s full carbon fiber build, gives the ZR1 a genuinely exotic feel. The traffic also served as a reminder of how far cars have come. A mid-engine car with half the ZR1’s power would have been miserable in this situation. Thankfully, the Corvette isn’t. In its default Tour mode, the throttle response is smooth and linear, the automatic transmission shifts imperceptibly, and the ride is remarkably comfortable. Outward visibility is even decent, thanks to oversized side mirrors and a digital rearview mirror. Two hours after setting off from San Pedro, I made my first pit stop. What was supposed to be a quick splash and dash before tackling the glorious ribbon of Angeles Crest Highway was delayed by gawking enthusiasts at the gas station. But with a full tank and 300-plus turns awaiting on the 60-mile mountain pass, I knew I could make up time. As I climbed into the San Gabriels, the traffic thinned, leaving only other sports cars that happily yielded to the Corvette’s menacing presence. This was what the ZR1 was built for. Our figure-eight testing had shown it to be the most agile Corvette ever—nimble, responsive, and eager to devour corners. The nose turns in instantly, the brakes are incredibly strong, and the chassis remains composed through transitions. Driving fast here is a mental game: Can you carry that much speed through the corner? Do you trust the brakes enough? Can you manage the front-end grip with your hands and the rear grip with your seat? The Corvette responds so quickly that it defies conventional wisdom. Sensory Symphony Beyond the telepathic handling, the sound in the tunnels is sensational. While it lacks the raw, naturally aspirated roar of the Z06, the ZR1’s soundtrack is something else entirely. Behind your head, you hear the high-pitched whine of the twin turbos spooling up, the whoosh of the anti-lag system kicking in, the rapid-fire clicks of the direct injection system, and the symphony of the exhaust echoing off the canyon walls. It’s an intoxicating audio experience. By 10:30 am, I was well clear of Angeles Crest, topped off with more fuel, and approaching the county line north of Lancaster. The route called for Avenue A, a straight shot west that slices through the desert. Dotted with the occasional stop sign, it was the perfect proving ground for the ZR1’s LT7 V-8 and its revamped performance traction modes. Combined with the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires, the new launch control system makes this the most consistent-launching Corvette in history. The power delivery is telekinetic—it builds progressively, seeming to generate more power the faster you go. It’s so fast that we clocked it hitting 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds, with the quarter mile disappearing in 9.9 seconds at 144.2 mph. These are hypercar numbers for a rear-drive car powered by an internal combustion engine. I soon angled back over another mountain range into the L.A. basin. San Francisquito Canyon Road, infamous as the site of the 1928 St. Francis Dam disaster, is today a beautiful mountain route that lulls you with long, sweeping corners before surprising you with tight, technical switchbacks. As I emerged from the canyon, despite the day’s rocky start, I was past the halfway point and, judging by the sun’s position, had time to spare. I was tired, hungry