Chevy Melts Our Faces Off With Ultimate Street, Track Camaro SS Concepts: SEMA 2014

by Aaron Brzozowski
— Nov 4, 2014

Ultimate Street Camaro SS

The Ultimate Street Camaro SS features the familiar 1LE sport suspension package, which upgrades the stabilizer bar set and introduces improved toe links and rear shock mounts. It also adds 1LE wheels and tires: Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G:2 rubber on 20-inch rims, 10 inches wide on the front, 11 inches wide rear. This is capped off with the 1LE strut tower brace, and the ZL1’s air filter and brakes, plus a stainless exhaust from Chevrolet Performance.

Ultimate Track Camaro SS

The gains on the track from these tweaks are sizable, but performance is taken about two steps further on the Ultimate Track Camaro SS. It receives the same 1LE tires and Goodyear Eagle F1 tires, along with the ZL1’s wheel hubs and front brakes kit, and the 1LE’s strut tower brace. But that’s about where the shared components end. The Ultimate Track Camaro SS is then fitted with the Z/28’s aero package and spoiler wicker bill, brake cooling ducts, and superior air intake system. The Z/28’s helical limited-slip differential and cooler were also installed, along with the cat-back exhaust from that model.

To top things off, the Ultimate Track concept receives the DSSV dampers from the Z/28, which are race-derived, spool-valved units, and the Z/28’s higher-rate springs and bushings, and solid stabilizer bars. And then, Chevrolet Performance turned the car up to 11, installing the LS3 Power Upgrade Kit, which includes a performance camshaft and cylinder heads, allowing for an additional 30 horsepower (with some tuning).

The Results

The result of all of this? When tested on General Motors’ 2.9-mile Milford Proving Ground track, a stock Camaro SS set an impressive time to-beat of 2 minutes, 5.1 seconds. The Ultimate Street Camaro SS concept then did it in a stunning 1 minute, 59.3 seconds, followed by the Ultimate Track concept’s unfathomably quick time of 1 minute, 56.4 seconds.

Lap Times Around GM's 2.9-Mile Milford Proving Ground Track
STOCK CAMARO SS	ULTIMATE STREET CAMARO SS	ULTIMATE TRACK CAMARO SS
2:5.1	1:59.3	1:56.4

That’s 8.7 seconds off the stock Camaro’s lap time (that’s nothing to sneeze at to begin with), with a hodge podge of (mostly) bolt-on parts available straight from Chevrolet Performance. If reading that sent a chill down your spine, don’t worry; we’re pretty sure that’s the appropriate physiological response.