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

The 12.4-mile, 156-corner climb to the 14,115-foot summit of Pikes Peak is a severe test of car and driver; JR Hildebrand covered that distance in just 9.5 minutes on Sunday in a 1,250 hp hybrid Corvette ZR1X. The near-stock car, which Chevrolet says you can buy for about $210,000, combined a rear 5.5 L twin-turbo V8 with an electric front motor and set a new production-class benchmark for a hybrid on a day when EVs, hybrids and combustion machines all contested the mountain.

This was the 104th running of the hillclimb, where thin air robs naturally aspirated engines of much of their power and recent efforts have focused on cars that don’t need to breathe. The overall winner of the day was Romain Dumas in an upgraded, three-motor Super Mustang Mach-E, which posted an 8:18.202 run; the outright course record remains the Volkswagen I.D.

R’s 7:57 from 2018. In the production field, long-time contender David Donner returned in the 2022 Porsche 911 Turbo S and ran a 9:53.740, while Jeff Zwart drove a 700 hp 911 GT2 RS Clubsport.

pikes peak, corvette zr1x, jr hildebrand, 1250 hp, hybrid, twin-turbo v8, mustang mach-e, romain dumas, i.d. r, porsche 911