When Chevrolet announced that it was planning something special for its signature muscle car – the Camaro on its 50th birthday, it wasn't hyperbole to distract diehard petrolheads and gear-heads from what Ford was doing with the latest-generation Mustang. With 650 hp on tap, it is the fastest, most powerful Camaro in the car's history.
The 2017 ZL1 will be offered in coupé and convertible form when it goes on sale later this year. It uses a 6.2-litre supercharged V8 engine to deliver 650 hp and when specified with the optional 10-speed automatic transmission, a phenomenal 0-100 km/h time of 3.5 seconds.
To put those figures into perspective, the current Shelby Mustang GT350 delivers 526 hp and a 0-100 km/h time of 4.3 seconds, or 3.9 seconds in R trim, but that means losing the rear seats to cut weight. In fact with 650 hp under the hood, the Camaro is as powerful as Chevrolet's flagship Corvette Z06, yet is twice as practical.
"The Camaro ZL1 offers supercar performance with daily-driver refinement, a combination that stacks up against any other sports coupe,at any price, around the world," said Steve Majoros, director, Chevrolet marketing.
And at $62,135 for the ZL1 coupe and $69,135 for the drop-top, both cars are as competitive on price as they are in terms of performance.
But the company's not finished there and has decided to make its 1LE track-ready package available as an option on any Camaro, rather than simply the SS model. Depending on the base Camaro model the tweaks can include suspension upgrades, magnetic dampers and an electronic limited-slip differential. When fitted to the LT model, it results in a 0-100 km/h time of 5.2 seconds while on the SS, the 0-100 km/h time is an impressive 4.2 seconds as is the lateral g-force it can handle – 1.02g.
"Building on Chevrolet's well-established recipe for track-focused performance, the new 1LE packages expand the performance envelope of the Camaro SS and, for the first time, the Camaro LT," said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer.
All of which could give anyone other than the biggest die-hard Ford fans that are taking delivery of a Mustang a tiny pang of regret. However, proving that competition is good for everyone, Ford is reportedly developing an even more potent 800 hp Mustang that could make an appearance as early as next January's Detroit auto show.
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