Watch the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Shoot White Flames
This $130,000 Corvette spits hotter bars than Kendrick Lamar. Humble, the ZR1 is not.
For $130,000 the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 offers a lot more performance than your run-of-the-mill 'Vette. Besides a host of exclusive carbon fiber aero pieces, the new pinnacle of performance from General Motors features 755 horsepower, new LT5 V8, optional 8-speed automatic transmission, and a 210 miles per hour top speed. Oh yeah, and it now shoots white flames out of its exhaust.
Chevrolet released an unlisted video of a camouflaged ZR1 testing its new exhaust system last month on its Youtube channel, although the clip has only just gone viral this week. A byproduct of the lovely sound that LT5 makes at wide-open throttle is white-hot flames exploding out the back. Orange and blue fire-spitting cars are far from uncommon, but this car takes it to a new level. You don't need to have a degree in chemistry to know that white flames are the hottest, so the Corvette ZR1 is even more insane than we thought.
We reached out to Chevy asking what exactly causes the ZR1 to shoot such hot fire as well as how it will avoid the combustion risks some fire-spitting cars have, but received no comment; we'll update with a true explanation if we hear back but here's the gist of how it works. Backfires are caused by unburnt fuel leaking into the exhaust and igniting (usually due to a bad air/fuel ratio), resulting in a loud "pop" and a plume of fire erupting from the tailpipe. It's not really good for the exhaust, but lots of supercars do it.
The ZR1 has already shown its supercar price, supercar performance, and now it's given us a taste of its supercar exhaust features.
