July 26th Throttle 🏎️

What’s up Throttle Heads 😎 In the last couple of days there has been a lot of exciting news and happenings surrounding the car industry so let’s get into it.

Chevy Unveils The New Corvette ZR1

Someone must have hurt Chevy because last night they unveiled the new generation of the Corvette ZR1 and that thing eats all other supercars for breakfast. Let’s start with this beast making four digits worth of horsepower with 1064 horses sitting underneath its hood. This is all thanks to the 5.5 liter twin-turbocharged V8 powering it. The car's exterior has been tweaked for better airflow and downforce to increase performance. The front trunk has been replaced with a hood air duct with the optional ZTK package adding a behemoth of a rear wing, and a large front splinter among other upgrades.

All of these features result in the car destroying every track it comes across. The very early prototypes of the car were already doing sub ten-second quarter mile times according to Chevy. Additionally, it made it around the Nurburgring in just 7 minutes and 41 seconds outdoing many of its rivals from the likes of Porsche and McLaren. The ZR1 has a max speed of 215 miles an hour which is absolutely mind-blowing and frightening.

Something unique about the design of the car is it features a spilt window above the engine bay harkening back to the days of the C2 Corvette in the 60s. The ZR1 is sure to turn heads and has the performance to back it up. It is safe to say Chevy has created a real winner and gem of a performance car with the launch of the ZR1 last night.

Esteban Ocon Signs With Haas For the 2025 F1 Season

In one of the silliest Formula One silly seasons, where drivers and teams figure out who will be racing for who next year, the Haas F1 team has recently announced Esteban Ocon will be their second driver for the 2025 season. This is after having recently announced Kevin Magnussen would not be returning for the next season and Oliver Bearman would be replacing Audi/Sauber-bound Niko Hulkenberg.

Ocon has certainly had a tough stint in F1, particularly this year with his current team, Alpine, not only being one of the worst performing teams on the grid this year but also making their dissatisfaction for him clear after a racing incident with his teammate. In Haas, Ocon is certainly looking for a more supportive environment as unlike other teams, they are only focused on racing and have less of the politics. This may provide him with the perfect environment to thrive as a driver.

Haas are certainly eager for an experienced race-winning driver like Ocon as they attempt to build their team into competing for podiums. With Oliver Bearman, a promising rookie, coming in next year, Haas needs an experienced driver to pair with Bearman. Ocon offers the perfect solution and this team switch will allow him to set into a mentorship position.

Haas getting Ocon so early in the season is a big win for the American team as they have typically been left to feed off the crumbs of the driver market. With a promising lineup for next year, Ayo Komatsu is hoping to make a splash in the 2025 season.

Mazda Trademarks A New Flatter and Angular Logo

Japanese car manufacturer Mazda appears to be preparing for a rebrand as they have recently filed a new logo with the Japan Patent Office (shown above). This new logo is not a radical departure from the traditional winged logo but rather an evolution as it appears much more flatter and angular. This new logo also ditches the traditional 3D appearance while still retaining the iconic “M” the brand is known for.

This change comes as Mazda is looking to rebrand itself as a luxury and upscale automaker in a departure from its traditional image of a youthful and more accessible brand. Over the past few years, Mazba has already begun to change its offerings to make them upscale such as through the CX-90 SUV.

Nevera Not Selling As Hypercar Buyers Want Combustion Engines According to Rimac CEO

The Rimac Nevera is a pinnacle of engineering as not only does it make a mind-blowing 1914 horsepower 🤯 but it can also do 0-60 in 1.74 seconds. I mean 1.74 seconds is faster than one can blink their eye. The Nevera is very limited in production with only 150 cars going to be produced. However, only 50 of these cars have been sold with 100 production slots being still available.

Mate Rimac, the founder of Rimac, explained that when Rimac was founded in 2017, electrification was a novel concept and was not as mainstream. Fast forward to 2024 and EVs are becoming much more mainstream. Therefore, hypercar buyers with seven figures don’t want to spend millions of dollars on something that can be bought at their local Ford dealership. They want something which is unique. Something analog. Something that can be bought no were else.

Rimac has partnerships with more mainstream manufacturers like BMW and Hyundai to help them in developing EVs. If a replacement for the Nevera is to be released, it is likely to use a different powertrain and will not be a fully electric supercar.

Porsche Cayenne To Keep V8 Alive Past 2030

Yes, you read that correctly ‼️The V8s are saved or at least for the time being. Porsche has confirmed they will keep offering a V8 in the Cayenne until the 2030s. Porsche will also keep developing V8 engines to increase their efficiency and ensure they are capable of meeting future environmental regulations.

Porsche aims to have 80% of their new deliveries be electric vehicles by 2030. However, they do claim this will be based on the demand of their customers and the level of access to electric vehicle infrastructure like chargers in different parts of the globe. Essentially, what Porsche is saying with this statement is they are committed to electrifying, but if their customers demand gasoline engines, then they will continue to make gasoline engines.