Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE And Corvette ZR1 Duke It Out On Track: Video
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For those looking for a high-performance Chevrolet, the bowtie brand offers to crown-topping options for the Camaro and Corvette. The first is the track-focused Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. The second is the Corvette ZR1. Both will rip around a circuit with poise and power.
But, which is quicker? Sport Auto’s latest Track Battle video pit both American brutes against one another to find out.
As a refresher, the Camaro ZL1 1LE sports a 6.2-liter LT4 supercharged V8 engine pushing 650 horsepower. Meanwhile, the Corvette ZR1 cranks out 755 horsepower from its 6.2-liter LT5 supercharged V8 engine.
Around Hockenheim Ring, both sports cars dash down the straights and carve through corners as we’d expect, but it’s no surprise which car is quicker. The Corvette ZR1 with 100 extra hp simply outguns the Camaro ZL1 1LE in the straights. At the end of the day, the Camaro clocked a 1:09.60, but the Corvette managed a 1:06.90. Check out the track action up above.
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Zellenly vs Zarwon
I have a question, is the Corvette an automatic? I saw no shifting?
Looks like it. This isn’t a good comparison.
This is the first year for the ZR1 to offer an automatic transmission. It is an 8-speed with paddle shifters, which is why you did not see shifting. Bob White said this was not a good comparison, and indeed, the Camaro would have fared better if it had the new 10-speed automatic transmission jointly developed by Chevrolet and Ford. No professional or expert driver can beat his own 10-speed AT times with a manual shift. I won’t elaborate, because there is plenty of authoritative commentary on the Internet regarding the subject, but I will say that
the fact that Ferrari no longer offers a manual transmission speaks volumes.
There shouldn’t be any competition given that the C7 Corvette ZR1 has a horsepower and weight advantage over the Camaro 1LE; but given the lap times are so similar suggests that C7 Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter isn’t doing his job to milk out every bit of handling and speed out of the C7 ZR1.
The ZR-1 beat the the Camaro by over 3 seconds on a very short 1.6 mile track. This is a huge difference given the length of the track.
Camaro 1.09.6
Corvette 1.06.9
2.7 seconds Kevin.
Now where’s that Possessed Redeyed Cat from Hell and what’s its lap time?
Not to mention the blue pilled pony!
; )
So true, Kevin. Long gone are the old days when a NASCAR winner would sometimes finish 5 minutes ahead of second place. If you look at the post-race performance data for the last IMSA race, in the GTLM class in which the racing Corvettes compete, you will see that the quickest lap time for each of the 8 cars in the race are contained by a best of 1:14:961 and a slowest of 1:15:919. My math is poor, but that looks like less than a second of difference between 4 different vehicle manufacturers and engine types. That amazes me. Look at it here: https://sportscarchampionship.imsa.com/schedule-results/current-results?eventid=94&sessid=725
Two highly sophisticated machines that perform with surgical precision! Very impressive!
To bad they didn’t use the tires that were specifically designed for the Camaro for the track.
Wouldn’t a ZO6 have been a much better comparison? Or did corvette demand the race include their car to have a 100hp advantage…
Need a 2019 re-match….This time the ZL1 1LE should have the automatic 10-speed transmission. Throw in a new C8 Corvette Z51 to see where it stands. I am happy to see that some Europeans still appreciate American Cars!