Track test review: Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Tuesday, 14 April 2020

Cling to the roof as Holden racing legend Greg Murphy does skids in the mighty Camaro ZL1.

**CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1

Base price:** $175,990

Powertrain and performance: 6.2-litre supercharged petrol V8, 477kW/881Nm, 10-speed automatic, RWD, Combined economy 15.3 litres per 100km, CO2 351g/km (Source: RightCar).

The Camaro ZL1 combines huge amounts of grunt with huge amounts of grip on track.

Vital statistics: 4831mm long, 1344mm high, 2811mm wheelbase, 20-inch alloy wheels with 285/30 tyres front, 305/30 rear.

We like: Insane power, sharp handling, belligerent attitude, seriously fun and capable track day car.

The differences between the ZL1 and a lesser Camaro are subtle, apart from the black bonnet insert and ZL1 badges, that is.

We don't like: Poor rear visibility and cramped cabin, it ain't cheap…

This road test was completed before the current coronavirus lockdown restrictions came into effect.

Back in August last year we had the mighty HSV 're-engineered' Camaro ZL1 for a week that also featured quite a remarkable amount of rain, which made it somewhat difficult to appreciate its true talents.

To be fair though, it was quite a lot of rain, and it happened all of a sudden after a long dry spell, which means everything is very slippery indeed. So not ideal conditions to test a brutally powerful muscle car in…

The ZL1 with its lesser sibling, the 2SS, which received an unflattering facelift that the ZL1 avoided.

So that is why HSV gave a group of journalists the opportunity to test the ZL1 on Hampton Down's club circuit, in the dry, on the original factory tyres.

* HSV adds supercharged ZL1 to local Camaro range

* HSV lands a hefty right-hook (Camaro, that is)

* Camaro to replace Commodore in Supercars?**

So what exactly are its 'true talents' then?

Those black marks where there when we arrived. Honest.

Well, apart from the brutal amounts of power and utterly savage acceleration, the ZL1 is also supposedly remarkably adept at going around a corner too, which is something Americans have traditionally never been too bothered about, so it was disappointing to not be able to see for myself if this was true or not.

Although to be honest, I did have a fairly good idea that the handling claims would be accurate, as the standard 2SS was certainly no slouch in that department, even having a slight edge over the Ford Mustang, thanks to its sharper steering and ever-so-slightly more responsive chassis.

The ZL1, however, gets additional handling help in the form of standard with Magnetic Ride Control dampers that continuously adjust to road conditions and work magnificently well in ironing out the Camaro's brittle, busy ride in 2SS form and makes it a fairly spectacular thing in Sport setting on a track.

Yes, really.

Wait, you mentioned 'original factory tyres' before. Why do they swap the tyres?

HSV will sell you the original Goodyear tyres when you buy a ZL1. You probably wouldn't want these ones though, they are a bit second hand...

To understand that, we need go back a bit - when HSV get the shiny new LHD vehicle they completely strip it back, right to the B-pillar. The bonnet, front guards, engine, transmission and interior are all removed, while the wiring loom is completely unpicked right back to the boot. About 350 completely new parts are used, with about 120 man hours taken to convert it.

Everything that comes out of a vehicle is coded, sent to an outside supplier to be modified, or it is done in-house, then the same parts go back into the same vehicle, so that if a recall ever occurs, HSV knows a car had all the same parts it came out of the factory with.

Then the Camaro has to go through Australian Design Rules (ADR) certification before it can be sold in Australia and that's where the tyre issue comes in.

The tyres the ZL1 originally leaves the factory wearing are Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3R summer tyres which, while road legal in Australia and New Zealand and are superbly sticky tyres, they are virtually racing slicks for the road with a few cursory nods at tread, which means they don't handle the dry-to-wet transition test as well as the ADRs require, so they are swapped out for Continental ContiSportContact 5P tyres.

So does HSV just chuck them away?

Oh, no. That's the fun part - they will sell them to you for $1,000, which, considering that is roughly the cost of one of the front Continental 5P tyres that already come on the ZL1, is an absolute bargain.

And it was a set of those optional standard tyres (yeah, yeah, that doesn't make sense. I know) that were fitted to the ZL1 we got to thrash around Hampton Downs and based on that one afternoon alone, I would happily say you would have to be insane to not shell out an extra thousand bucks to get them if you have just dropped $176K on a ZL1.

Okay, sure, they would probably be even worse in the wet on the road, but strapping them on even just a couple of times to head out for a track day is well worth the money. And more.

So the Camaro ZL1 is an American car that can really handle?

Oh, yes, it really is.

Like I said earlier, the standard 2SS we get here as well is a pretty impressive handler to begin with, but the ZL1 takes it to another level again (as it arguably should for $70K more).

Not only is it wildly powerful and seriously fast, it is also ridiculously predictable and remarkably sophisticated. And there's not even a 'for an American muscle car' disclaimer tacked on there either.

At the track we had Holden racing legend Greg Murphy in the passenger seat offering advice (and, it has to be said, a degree of sarcasm when it came to my lack of patience in regards to throttle application out of corners) and he too marvelled at the ZL1's total and utter predictability, regardless of whether you wanted precise and unrelenting speed out of corners, or big, lurid drifts.

He actually offered this opinion in the middle of a big, lurid drift during one of the laps that he took the wheel to 'clean the tyres'…

However, it is the level of grip (when you do want it) that is the most impressive thing, and nailing a corner just right, then feeding all that huge power and torque on to rocket down the straight with the big V8 bellowing, overlaid with a subtle supercharger howl is something I could do all day.

Any other cars I should consider?

The hefty price and sheer power of the ZL1 put it well above and beyond the official RHD Ford Mustang officially offered here, meaning there isn't much direct factory-offered, fully warrantied competition for it here in New Zealand.

Sure, you could import something and have it converted to RHD, but the job wouldn't be anywhere near as complete or imperceptible as the factory-approved HSV effort and you wouldn't get the warranty.

Some of the similarly priced European performance metal offers similar performance, and an AMG C63 does a fine impression of a muscle car, but it's still not something likely to feature on a Camaro buyers shopping list.

Then there is the mid-engined Corvette that is still likely to land here once Holden is finally shuttered, the proposed GMSV thing is finalised. It will probably be more expensive, but it is a Corvette…