there is a monster that lurks across the pond one usually only seen on american shores the camaro zl1 it’s a muscle car as exciting as it is rare so when you have a chance to experience one outside of its natural habitat that’s an opportunity you surely have to grab with both hands oh my god this car is an absolute maniac listen to that exhaust it’s just wild back through a cloud at my old spot can’t see a thing wow [Music] [Applause] [Music] the 60 000 zl1 is a track focused step up from the basic camaro where the entry level ls has a four-cylinder engine and other models a v6 the zl1 pulls out all the stops with a 6.2 liter lt4 supercharged v8 standard cars produce 640 horses and 868 newton meters but this particular example is not your average zl1 this zl1 has been modified the engine has an upgraded air intake and throttle body an lt4 supercharger and a stage 2 3-port methanol injection kit and the results are explosive power is up way up the standard car made 650 horsepower but this thing now makes 770. by default it did naught to 62 in about 3.5 seconds but this obviously it’s a lot angrier oh it’s so punchy coming out of the corners i remember driving the hardcore track focused zl11le at willow springs in california with sabine schmitz she pushed me to my limits trying to get me to get the car to its limits and i remember even on that track i was sweating buckets honestly it was so hardcore out here this is a much twistier much more technical handling circuit probably not ideal for this car but it’s bringing all of those emotions back mostly fear [Music] god i miss you sabine and it looks sensational although it’s far from standard the eagle-eyed amongst you will recognize that this car has the front bumper from a zl1 1le chevy’s hardcore track special it also has an aftermarket carbon splitter chameleon front windscreen to protect the owner’s privacy custom black badges and a new rear diffuser below the one elite rear spoiler so it looks just as mean as it drives you’ve got a choice of gearboxes with a camaro cl one either a six-speed manual with auto blipping or in this case a 10-speed auto obviously the manual is the way to go for driver involvement that was the gearbox on the one elite car i drove in america and it was super super involving but i’ll tell you what this 10 speed it shifts nicely in fact according to chevy it actually up shifts quicker than a porsche pdk i’m not quite so sure about the downshifts it’s a little bit more lethargic than the pdk but i’ll tell you what you’ve got 10 gears in here you’re always going to find one that works for you right what’s the steering like [Music] while we’re comparing it to porsches it’s not quite as surgical or precise as you might find in the 911 there’s not quite as much feel or feedback through the through the steering but [Music] it’s quick enough to respond to situations like that you can get this thing sideways and it’s certainly responsive enough for you to take matters into your own hands apply a bit of opposite lock and the bottom line is it’s just involving plenty good enough i’m also very impressed with the suspension it’s on the firm side but the body control is exceptional it feels like a serious car then as you get into a corner what’s the balance like a little bit of understeer if you go too fast but keep your foot planted correct it with oversteer bang what a weapon as for the brakes well you’ve got 390 mil six pots up front three six fives on the back four parts what they like do they stop ow yeah yeah i think i think those work so the zl1 is a very involving car but it’s not one that everybody appreciates in fact there are places where this car is actually not tolerated at all the zl1 wanna league was banned in europe thanks to those dangerous looking aerodynamic aids seemingly designed to slice your ankles off but parts of america passed legislation that banned the car too it’s technically not allowed in california and washington but not necessarily for the reasons you might think the reason for that ban was fish yes bear with me these brake discs which work tremendously well by the way have a reasonably high copper content and as the brake discs wear down that copper gets released into the air and inevitably ends up in the waterways poisoning aquatic wildlife specifically salmon the laws in california and washington specifically say that brake discs can only have five percent copper content the zl1 did not which meant it was banned i mean i find it a little bit ironic that you could walk into any restaurant in california and order a plate full of dead fish then jump back in your prius but there you go the zl1 is slightly more kind to humans on the inside it has all the mod cons you might expect including apple carplay comfy seats and a decent stereo although it’s hard to hear anything with that exhaust unfortunately the suspension is very firm even on the track and unlike the mustang it only comes in left hand drive so pulling out of junctions and overtaking is always an event and yet that’s one of the things that makes the camaro zl1 so appealing it’s an event a real undiluted muscle car and for that reason it’s a car you can’t help but love everybody knows i am a mustang man through and through but if you ever get the chance to send one of these around a corner take that opportunity with both hands like i said it’s just epic fun what a weapon
