When it goes on sale this spring, the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 will carry a suggested retail price of $75,000. The figure includes a $995 destination charge (and the gas-guzzler tax), but excludes tax, title, license, and dealer fees.
Offered in five exterior colors, including Red Hot, Black, Silver Ice Metallic, Ashen Gray Metallic, and Summit White, the only option the Z/28 will offer is a $1,150 package that adds air conditioning and a total of six audio speakers, compared to the one speaker that’s part of the standard Z/28 package.
“The Camaro Z/28 is an uncompromising performer that’s bred for the track – and every one of its unique components supports the goal of faster lap times,” said Mark Reuss, president, General Motors North America. “It takes the Z/28 back to its racing roots and adds to the strong lineup of Chevrolet performance cars, including a revamped Camaro SS and supercharged ZL1, as well as the SS sedan, Corvette Stingray convertible and 2015 Corvette Z06, which we’ll introduce at the North American International Auto Show next week.”
The Z/28’s exterior contains several unique elements seen on race cars to produce downforce, thereby pressing the tires against the track for greater grip — up to 1.08G in cornering acceleration and faster lap times. The optimized aerodynamics of the Z/28’s exterior helped the Camaro flagship lap Germany’s legendary Nürburgring road course that was four seconds faster than the Camaro ZL1’s and beat published times for the Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640.
The SAE-certified 505 horsepower (376 kW) and 481 lb.-ft. of torque (652 Nm) is the result of the 7.0-liter LS7 engine with dry-sump oiling. The engine is built by hand at the new Performance Build Center within GM’s Bowling Green assembly plant. The LS7 is mated to a close-ratio six-speed manual transmission — the only gearbox available — sending power to the rear wheels via a Torsen limited-slip differential (LSD). The LSD features a helical gear set, rather than traditional clutch packs, for optimal traction, and works in conjunction with Chevy’s proprietary Traction Management System, enabling drivers to adjust the level of throttle and braking intervention to match their capability and driving environment.
The Z/28 is also one of the very first production cars equipped with race-proven spool-valve dampers that allow four-way damping control, enabling engineers to precisely tune both bump and rebound settings for high-speed and low-speed wheel motions. “The wider tuning range also allows dramatically greater damper stiffness without a significant change in ride quality”, according to Chevrolet. The changes to the chassis are rounded out by stiffer spring and bushing rates for improved cornering response.
Putting it all down to the pavement are lightweight 19-inch forged aluminum wheels wrapped in Pirelli PZero Trofeo R tires. The setup reduces unsprung weight by 49.6 pounds (22.5 kilograms) per car compared to the 20-inch wheels that are standard on the Camaro SS and ZL1. Notably, the huge 305/30ZR19 PZero Trofeo R tires represent the first production-car application in the industry and are believed to be the widest front tire on any production car.
A balanced race car needs to be able control its great power with great stopping ability. That’s why the Z/28 also features Brembo Carbon Ceramic Matrix rotors and fixed monoblock calipers. The large 394 x 36 mm front rotors are paired with six-piston calipers, while the 390 x 32 mm rear rotors are paired four-piston calipers. The discs also contribute to a weight-savings, with the lightweight carbon discs saving 28 pounds (12.5 kg) per car compared to similarly-sized two-piece steel rotors.
This winning combination of tire grip and braking power enable the Camaro Z/28 to achieve at least 1.5 g in deceleration. What’s more, the standard front brake cooling ducts enable the car to be used for continuous track use.
The Camaro Z/28 continues the racing theme inside, with a distinctive matte-metallic-finished trim called Octane, a flat-bottom steering wheel and Recaro seats with microfiber inserts. The seats feature aggressive bolsters for high-performance driving, as well as seat cutouts inspired by the five-point harnesses found on racing seats. To save weight, both front seats are adjusted manually.
In addition, the Z/28’s rear seats have been modified for weight reduction. Nine pounds (four kilograms) were saved by eliminating the seat-back pass-through and by using high-density foam in place of the rigid structure of the seat back and steel mesh of the seat bottom.
Additional examples of weight savings include:
- Elimination of the tire-inflator kit, except for Rhode Island and New Hampshire, where it is required by law
- Removal of some interior sound deadener, as well as trunk carpet
- Use of a smaller, lighter battery
- Thinner rear-window glass – 3.2 mm vs. the standard 3.5 mm
- Elimination of high-intensity discharge, or HID, headlamps and fog lights
- No air conditioning except as part of the single option package
Customers will be able to order the Camaro Z/28 in late January, with the first cars slated for delivery in the spring. Rights to the first Camaro Z/28, VIN 0001, will be auctioned at Barrett Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz. on January 18.
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Comments
Any body notice the vin is for a 2014 camaro SS with a LS3.
The Z28 is an awesome vehicle and I’m so impressed that GM has had the courage and will to make it available to the general public, for it is a pure and true racing machine without compromise. No pavement princess here, just pure passion, adrenaline, and muscle.
That said, this pauper will have to make do with a ZL1 this spring for I still think it’s is the best power to $ value in the automotive world … but I’ll be looking to trade up my wheel/tire combo to that of the Z28.
My bad it’s a 2013 Camaro SS with an LS3
Good eye! Since they weren’t in production at time of reveal, what you see here is a custom-built unit from an SS.
Im letting that msrp sink in for a minute…
Anyone who does not understand this car you really have to do two things. One stop thinking Camaro here as this is not just another Camaro and it is really a race car with lights and a muffler.
Two you have to look at the sum of the parts we have here and just what performance it provides and what the cost of any other sedan out there would cost to even come close at matching lap times here. Also more than one lap as this one will keep lapping when the brakes are gone on the first lap with the others.
If GM had built this car with the intent of high volume then yes they made a mistake but this is a car that there will only be a handful of them out there. Think of it as like the COPO cars of the 60’s were. To be honest few companies would have the balls to offer a car like this because of the low volume.
To sum it up we all knew this car was going to be more than $70K to start with and we should all be glad it is on our side.
It will be interesting to see how many of these end up on the track in some racing series.
The reality is the Pony car died long ago as they were cheap cars build on light econo box platforms like the Nova or Falcon and the Camaro has not done that since 1981. The Muscle car died back in the early 70’s and has only given a hint with the Monte SS and GN but one had little power and the other was not even a V8 let alone a Big Block.
It is time we start appreciating these cars for what they really are performance GT Sport coupes as that is what they really are. To call these anything less is a dis service as they are much more car than they used to be. They may carry the name but they are a well rounded performance car that does it all not just a few things cheaply.
Arent the 305s illegal in sanctioned races?
They would run tires that are required on the series and they would also be full on racing compound. The cars in road race series now running mostly stock have 16″ and not 18″ too. Not a big issue.
They also will stick them in most series with intake restrictions to cut the power as they have more now with the LS3 than most of the other cars.
Cars in stock form are seldom run completely stock as they would only have one car winning races and lose the money of the other MFG.
Sorry Racing has not been pure for years and when it was those series did not last long. That was the good and the bad of it.
Wow. So slotting it into the old Z06 space since the next Z06 will be closer to 100k. I do not blame GM for charging the most they feel the market will pay and still sell the full run. However the numbers do not add up. If this is meant to be a streeet legal track car, there are a lot of other things that could have been done to remove weight that they did not. for $41,000 over the base SS, you are getting a run of ls7 motors that needed to be used up because the Z06 is not in production, a carbon disk package that you can buy off the shelf, some marginal weight savings….the only real new upgrade is the suspension and a few areo mods.
Fine for the people who want it, and have the money to throw away i guess, but until they shed the weight under 3500lbs it still needs a diet.
Maybe on the next generation they will get it right….until then at least the vette with its new gen motor is not out of reach with its price.
The car is not a mass market car. It is a car for racers and headlines and nothing more.
There is not a lot GM can do to the present car to kill weight with out a lot of investment. They would have to re crash test the car and do a lot of expensive work to a vehicle that is in it’s last year or two.
Yes they are using up the 7.0 engines.
The Brakes are not really for cutting weight but for better stopping. They transfer heat and provide better stopping.
To be honest there was investment here but not a ton. The real money is going to the new car and you will see small gains in power and a lot of weight cut. The next car will be as big of a jump as the C7 was over the C6.
Expect the Camaro to be about the size and weight of the new Mustang but it will have a better suspension and more power from my expectation on what they are working on.