It packs a neck-snapping 638 horses. Tops out at over 200-mph. And will take you zero-to-60 in under 4 seconds. While still in first gear. It's the new Corvette ZR1, a street legal racer made up of a ton of fiberglass, a generous helping of carbon fiber, and a gigantic pair of balls.

I had a chance to take a few hot laps around the road course at Texas Motor Speedway with Jim Merrill, from Advanced Vehicle Dynamics - a guy who spends most of his days sitting behind the wheel of this beast, pushing its limits and laughing at guys like me and you who spend our days sitting behind a desk.

During the ride we hit 125-mph on the short quarter-mile-long straight - while still only in third gear - before diving down to about 70 and taking turns at over 2Gs. (Hence my shoddy camera work.) The clip of the ride is below. And after the jump there are some shots of the car I took before the ride. Love the window in the hood that shows off the power plant, and the carbon fiber splitter on the front end.