1,250-HP Hybrid Corvette Shatters Pikes Peak Production Record
▼ Summary
– JR Hildebrand set a new production car hybrid record at Pikes Peak in 9.5 minutes driving a 1,250 hp hybrid Corvette ZR1X.
– The 104th running of the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb took place in 2026, featuring competition between EVs and combustion cars.
– At the 14,115-foot summit, thin air causes combustion engines to lose up to half their power, mitigated by forced induction.
– The current overall Pikes Peak record of 7:57 is held by the Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak EV from 2018.
– Ford returned with a three-motor, 1,400-horsepower Super Mustang Mach-E, optimized aerodynamics and suspension from the previous year’s weather-shortened run.
A flight from Albany, New York, to Denver, Colorado, along with lodging, was provided by Chevrolet so that Ars could attend the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.,The 12.4-mile (20 km) stretch of asphalt winding up Pikes Peak features 156 corners and a posted speed limit of 25 mph (40 km/h). Stick to that limit and ignore the breathtaking views along the way, and you’ll reach the summit in about 30 minutes. But on Sunday, professional driver JR Hildebrand did it in just 9.5 minutes, with his eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead.
The vehicle he piloted was a 1,250 hp (932 kW) hybrid Corvette ZR1X, a machine that carries a price tag of roughly $210,000 and is available for purchase. This run set a new production car record for hybrids at Pikes Peak, on a day when both EVs and combustion-powered vehicles vied for dominance on the mountain.
The 104th running of the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb took place in 2026, continuing a tradition that stretches back over a century. From the very first event, drivers have faced the dual challenge of linking every turn cleanly while maintaining momentum all the way to the 14,115-foot (4,302 m) summit. At that altitude, the air is so thin that even climbing a flight of stairs can leave you winded. For a combustion engine, the effect is brutal,power can drop by as much as half at the top. Forced induction, through turbocharging or supercharging, helps offset that loss, but in recent years, many manufacturers have turned their attention to cars that don’t need to breathe at all.
Testing and racing at altitude is extremely limited, adding a layer of difficulty for both car and crew. The challenges are unique and require careful preparation.
The overall Pikes Peak record still belongs to an EV: the Volkswagen I. D. R Pikes Peak, which stormed the mountain in an astonishing 7:57 in 2018 with French endurance racing legend Romain Dumas at the wheel. Dumas returned this year, this time with Ford, piloting an upgraded version of the company’s three-motor, 1,400-horsepower (1,060 kW) Super Mustang Mach-E. It is essentially the same car that ran a shortened, weather-impacted course last year. Zach Burns, Program Engineer for demonstrators at Ford, told Ars that the team spent the past year refining the car’s aerodynamics and suspension, working closely with Dumas in the simulator to squeeze out every possible improvement.
(Source: Ars Technica)