It was the rumor, and now it’s a reality: after months of speculation, and first guesstimates of 640 horsepower, the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will come out swinging with all 650 ponies available in its C7 Corvette Z06 cousin.
That makes the application of the 6.2-liter LT4 supercharged V8 engine faster than the 2017 Cadillac CTS-V, which also utilizes the latest version of the blown small-block V8. But, that’s not all. Check out the impressive stats below:
- 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds
- Quarter-mile in 11.4 seconds at 127 mph
- 1.02 g max cornering
- 60-0 mph braking in 107 feet (32 meters)
- 220-pound (100 kg) weight reduction
Chevrolet states these performance specifications were achieved with the Camaro ZL1’s 10-speed automatic transmission.
A 3.5 second 0-60 time was a supercar number merely 10 years ago. Now, the Camaro is nearly a 10-second car out of the box. Well done Camaro team, well done indeed.
Comments
Sean, you’re a little behind in your specs on the Camaro SS performance numbers. Chevrolet division has published a 0-60 time of 4.0 seconds and 1/4 mile time of 12.4 @ 116 mph. In reality Camaro SS owners have logged 0-60 times in the high 3’s. I have heard as low as 3.8 showroom stock. 1/4 mile times have been posted as low as 12.2 seconds at 118 mph. You need to get out of your Ivory Tower and go to some local drag strips. By comparison, the 2017 Shelby Mustang 350GT has logged 0-60 times of 4.2 and above. I’ve been waiting for someone in the automotive press to put the 2 cars on a drag strip side by side but so far no takers.
Although I agree with your overall sentiment, what does SS stats have to do with the ZL1?
Has to do with that fact that the SS is considerably cheaper but faster than the so called Big Bro.Imagine a supercharged SS.This last guy must work for GM.
But it’s not. The ZL1 is still the King Kong Camaro. All the mods spent to get a SS into the ZL1s performance envelope will make a SS a one trick pony. If you get it to handle as good, it will be nowhere near as refined or versatile. You may make a SS accelerate as quick, but it won’t handle as well. Besides, a pulley swap and tuning will again put the ZL1 in another bracket.
The money invested and spent on the ZL1 makes it a mere cousin of the SS Camaro. Except for the Chassis just about everything worth re-engineering, enhancing, or replacing, has been done in the pursuit of take no prisoners performance. The ZL1 is intended to be THE SuperCar Camaro.
It’s literally in another class entirely.