It's A Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Vs Corvette ZR1 Track Face-Off!
For whatever reason, the Chevrolet’s Corvette ZR1 just wasn’t as fast at the Nurburgring as expected. But how might it do at a shorter track, like Hockenheim?
Thanks to Sport Auto, we get to find out. The German publication put the ridiculously handy Christian Gebhardt behind the wheel and sent him out on the track’s short configuration to see how it might get on. Oh, and he also had a go with the Camaro ZL1 1LE. Packing 745bhp, the ‘Vette has around 100bhp more to play with, so does that mean this is a walkover, even at a short track? Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to see a spoiler…
Assuming you don’t mind knowing the result or have just watched it, here are the numbers: 01:09.6 for the Camaro, and 01:06.9 for the Corvette. Yep, that’s a pretty clear victory for the ZR1, which isn’t exactly surprising. As well as the extra power, the ZR1 is on semi-slick Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s, where the ZL1 uses slightly less focused Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar boots, albeit of a design bespoke to the car. Oh, and a base Corvette is a somewhat more athletic starting point for a track weapon than a base Camaro.
What’s particularly interesting though, is Sport Auto managed to get a Z06 around Hockenheim not so long ago in exactly the same time…
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
Now where’s the demon or red eye or hellcat
Now thats a mouthfull
Ford Mustang GT350R and Ford GT knock on the door
Howdy. Naaaice wetha we havin Yall
Now step asside for tha REAL champion
Oh, a friendly competition
Of course the ZR1 will win when it has more power and handles better. It would be more interesting how the Camaro ZL1 fairs against the Corvette Grand Sport. They are fairly similar in price and the ZL1’s power advantage might be balanced more with the Grand Sport’s handling advantage
I see GM does make their Model Names up out of leftover Letters or does the ZL-1 1LE actually mean something?
The zr1 really is a bit of a disappointment. I hoped for some supercar killer performance and now its about 3 seconds slower than the porsche gt2rs in hockenheim. Its still an amazing car tho.
Stick shift (yes, I know they’re more fun) in the Camero verses that killer 10-speed auto in the ‘Vette? I think the Camero could have closed the gap a little with the same tranny…
Also worth noting the ZL1 had a manual and the ZR1 was auto and he wasnt shifting himself
I want to see Randy Pobst drive the ZR1