Chevy does it again!

[fdcg27]

I got the February issue of Car&Driver in the mail Monday.
The mag had done another one of its bunch of fast cars track runs at Viginia International Raceway.
The news is that the Camaro ZL1 bested every car present save the Ferrari 458 Italia and the Lexus LFA.
German engineering proved no match for pushrod Chevy power, with the fastest German car, the Mercedes C63 AMG Black Series being about a half second slower, while the 911 Carrera S was about a second and a half behind the Camaro.
The BMW M5 and M6 weren't even in the hunt.
The highly touted Shelby Mustang GT500 was about 2.5 seconds slower than the Camaro.
The fastest car, the Ferrari, did trounce the Camaro by more than seven seconds, a real eternity on a 4.1 mile road course.
The Lexus was only a little more than two seconds faster than the Camaro, although it was a privately owned car on loan, not a press demo from Toyota, so there may have been some reluctance to really use the car, risking it mechanically and bodily.
Still, there were no Corvettes on site.
I wonder how a ZR1 would have done.
Might have provided some real competition for the Ferrari.
In other news, the ZR1 stomped the new Viper by about two seconds on a 2.2 mile road course in California in the same issue of C&D.

 

[Klutch9]

Although I'm a Ford guy, I will say that the ZL1 is one of the best looking cars not only available now, but one of the nicest looking muscle cars ever. Especially with white paint and the black rims...

The car's stance, wide tires and fenders, etc just looks so mean, yet perfectly balanced and proportioned. The standard Camaro is nice too, but the ZL1 is on another level.

I do have a theory as to why the GT500 is so "slow" compared to the Camaro. From what I read, it is geared very high, and 5th and 6th gear are both essentially overdrive. Although it is a LOT more powerful than the ZL1, very tall gearing and a solid rear axle does not really equal a good track car, unless the course is mainly long straights. VIR is a very fast track, but still... I think the ZL1 has more balance, not just insane power. The GT500 would make its money in a straight line no problem, however.

 

[fdcg27]

Accoring to the C&D folks who drove both cars, the GT500 couldn't put its power down due to the poor weight distribution of the Mustang chassis as well as skinnier tires.
Gearing was not a factor.
The Camaro is both heavier and less powerful than this Mustang.
It handled better, though.
Based upon what I've seen, the GT500 would win every drag race, light rear end and skinny tires notwithstanding.

 

[daman]

A mear 60k and you can have one.

 

[ls1mike]

A bargin at twice the price.

 

[cos]

That Camaro ZL1 is quite impressive! Quicker around VIR then totally redesigned 400 HP 911 S!

 

[LeakySeals]

580hp. 0-60 is 3.9 with an automatic, 4.0 with a manual. Top speed of 184 mph. Whoa.

"Chevrolet also an automatic transmission available that is equipped with newly improved TapShift technology that allows drivers to control up- and down-shifts with paddle shifters. When equipped with the automatic gearbox, the ZL1 will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds – a tenth of a second faster than the manual transmission time."

"By staging hydraulic pressure in the clutch for the next gear, the new control module algorithm reduces tap delay for the 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and 4-5 up-shifts by 200-300 milliseconds. The system anticipates shift requests based on current gear, throttle, torque and speed. By pre-filling the clutch for the next gear, the tap up-shift response is near instantaneous."

 

[fdcg27]

You could probably have one for less than 50K, given typical GM discounting as well as the fact that a number of the many Chevy dealers will have some in inventory, ready to not sell without steep discounts.

 

[Turk]

You can get a 2005-2006 GTO and have all the fun, destroy other cars on the road for way less money.

My 2006 GTO FTW.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: Turk
You can get a 2005-2006 GTO and have all the fun, destroy other cars on the road for way less money.

My 2006 GTO FTW.


But a Maro is just so much more bass [censored] looking then the joke GTO of that era. The GTO name should have never been on that body platform, a disgrace IMO.

 

[daves87rs]

Go Z go!

 

[hattaresguy]

Cool the top of the line Camaro which has 200hp more than the 911 beat it by only a second? Since its so heavy I guess that makes sense.

Who compares these cars in real life?

FYI the Porsche equivalent to the ZL1 would be the 911 GT2RS or the 911 GT3 4.0 RS.

The LFA is a super car, it doesn't compare to anything in the test and wasn't pushed because it should have been on the 458's heals. Different price point and customer target than the 458 though, not comparable.

This is why I stopped reading Car & Driver, they should run more comparable cars to the Camaro, cars that people would actually cross shop in real life.

Now a ZR1 vs a GT2 or 3 and maybe a Ferrari 599evo thrown in that would be interesting...

 

[Astro14]

Wait... The E63 AMG was only 0.5 seconds slower around the track?

A 4 door luxury sedan was only 0.5 seconds off of the best muscle car? And that same sedan was ahead of the Mustang?

And you conclude that "German engineering proved no match"?

OK....

 

[hattaresguy]

No it was the C63 Black series which is meh, more of a smoke show for the rear end than a track car. Also they ran the hair dressers 911 model.

A big boy AMG and P car would have munched it. They couldn't even get their hands on a 911 Turbo 4S or an E63...

 

[MinamiKotaro]

I don't care how fast it is, it's just too [censored] ugly.

 

[itguy08]

So what did they do? Finally have a Camaro that can beat a Mustang? Sure took them long enough! Sounds like it would get spanked if the Shelby had better tires.

It's one test on 1 course. I'd still rock any of those cars above the Camaro.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
So what did they do? Finally have a Camaro that can beat a Mustang? Sure took them long enough! Sounds like it would get spanked if the Shelby had better tires.

It's one test on 1 course. I'd still rock any of those cars above the Camaro.

I say it took Ford ahwile to catch up after the introduction of the LS1. Up until about 07 any LS1 would walk a way from a Mustang unless you were talking an 03 or 04 Cobra.
Seems like it took Ford longer to get around an engine that was introduced in 97 and wasn't put in an F-body after 02 because there were not made any made. But the F-bodies left were still beating up on 4.6 cars for awhile after their final production run.

 

[Noobie]

You can't defy the laws of physics . . .

 

[Smokescreen]

...Motor Trend has a YouTube head to head where the GT500 came ahead on lap times.
(search YT Motortrend..gt500 vs ZL1 its the first hit)

Depending on the course you can fine tune the outcome to almost any car.

 

[4D-56]

Id take an M5, even an old one, over anything with made by GM, any day. no comparison.