5 Things You Need To Know About The New Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
More power, less weight
As with the previous ZL1, the new car is powered by a General Motors LT4 6.2-litre supercharged V8. This time though, it’s a lot pokier, with 631bhp and 640lb ft available - up from 572bhp and 556lb ft.
It’s also 90kg lighter than the old car, and while there are no performance stats just yet, expect the 3.8 second 0-60mph and 11.94sec quarter-mile times of the previous gen machine to tumble.
All the gears!
You can have your ZL1 with a six-speed manual gearbox, but there is the option of an automatic. A 10-speed automatic.
It’s a conventional torque converter auto with paddle shifters rather than being a dual-clutcher, and it’s a transmission we’ll be seeing a lot more of, with GM installing the many cogged ‘box in eight of its cars by 2018.
The brakes are gigantic
Sat under the ZL1’s 20-inch forged wheels are a set of massive two-piece brake rotors. Chevrolet hasn’t said how big the rear brakes are, but up front we have 390mm discs with six-piston Brembo monoblock callipers.
It's all about maximum grip
The new ZL1 picks up where its predecessor left off - continuing to smash stereotypes concerning muscle cars and corners. We have a set of adaptive magnetic dampers - controlled via a Driver Mode Selector - an electronically-controlled limited-slip differential, and something called Performance Traction Management.
To aid handling further, there’s a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tyres developed especially for the Camaro. The bodywork does its bit too: there’s a new spoiler at the rear, a larger front splitter, wider front wings and unique side skirts.
It has a clever bonnet
The bonnet, sorry hood of the ZL1 is no ordinary hood. There’s a special carbonfibre insert and heat extractor in the middle, which should help keep the 631bhp supercharged monster under there nice and cool.
The ZL1 goes on sale later this year, for an as-yet undisclosed price.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Man I can’t wait to see how hardcore the z28 varient is gonna be when it is revealed
Possibly a LSx fitted in?
Lol there will be a manual btw
10 speed? The Camaro is now officially a lorry.
Also Fast&Furious approved
New Jeep (whose name escapes me) did it first with a 9-speed automatic.
To be a lorry you need minimum 12, preferably 14.
Honestly i never thought id word a sentence like this but, that looks dope as hell
Hope the guys from Jalopnik don’t see that, otherwise they’re crash another one
With that 10 speed gearbox I expect 6310HP and 6400 lb/ft.
I believe it’s been since the Trans-Am, for real.
Fast and furious official car..
Christ its got the transmission from a combine harvester…
Quick correction the previous ZL1 has the LSA not the LT4 under the hood.
As for the auto just because it has 10 speeds doesn’t mean it has to use them all. I suspect in normal driving it would start out in 2nd gear instead of 1st and that gears 8 and 10 are overdrive. So in spirited driving it would start in 1st gear and have 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 9th gears at it’s disposal. That would make it a 8 speed for transmission when you push it. And that would be similar to offering for almost every company. While this is just my speculation I would be willing to bet that it’s the case, so you can gain some fuel economy in the day to day use and still have the gear ratios for when it counts.