Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums - Camaro5.com

2011 opened with the news that in 2010 the Camaro outsold the Mustang for the first time in 23 years. Also in January, the Camro Convertible officially went into production. February saw perhaps the biggest news of the entire year: the ZL1. At the time, we didn't know much ... just that it would be the supercharged beast that many of us have been waiting for for years. In March we had the first deliveries of convertibles to our members and a some announcements regarding the 2nd annual Camaro5 Fest, including a number of cars that GM was going to be bringing such as the 45th Anniversary Camaro, the 2nd ZL1 showcar, and the new Synergy Series Camaro.

April was dominated by Camaro5 Fest II in Phoenix. It was my first time at a Fest and it was awesome to see so many of the members having a good time either on the track, in vendor alley or just hanging out with each other and checking out everyone elses cars. The thing that impressed me the most was that even though there were hundreds of Camaros there, no two were exactly alike. Late May featured the first 5th gen V6 to make a sub 12 second 1/4 mile pass. Thats as fast as the ZL1 is expected to be (as we learned later in the year)! Speaking of the ZL1, we learned in June that it will be offered with an aumatic and will come with a performance traction management system like what is found on its Corvette cousin, the ZR1.

2012 production began in July, which includes a new 'LFX' V6 engine that makes more power and weighs less than the previous 'LLT' engine. There was also a new suspension, dubbed 'FE4', for the SS. Reportedly this new suspension tuning reduces understeer when the car is pushed to its limits and responds better to the conditions of everyday driving. In August, longtime member SilverTurtle got the first 45th Anniversary Convertible. September brought even more ZL1 news. First was some footage of it on Germany's famous Nurburgring then not much later we learned that the ZL1 will have 580 hp and 556 ft-lbs of torque.

Moving into the fall, we found out that durring the ZL1's time on the Nurburgring it recorded a time of 7:41.27 ... a time that only a few years ago would have been good enough to set a production car record at the 'ring. We also learned more specs on the ZL1 specs including weight, 1/4 mile and 0-60 time. In November GM unleased a number of concept cars at the SEMA show in Las Vegas. The 1LE, ZL1 Carbon, Synergy, Redzone, Hotwheels, and COPO. Lastly, we closed out the year with rumours that the 6th gen Camaro will be coming for 2016. Supposedly lighter and more powerful, it will be a worth successor to the 5th gen.

If want to look back at the the previous years here are 2008, 2009, 2010