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From Edmunds Inside Line.............but it's only 4 seconds faster than a Subraru Impreza!!!!

Doug Houlihan, GM's chief engineer for global rear-wheel-drive vehicles (the architecture underneath the Camaro, the Pontiac G8 and all that blowsy, big-V8 Holden stuff from Australia, where the platform originates), coughed it right up: A Camaro SS ran the Nürburgring in 8:20.

A quick scan of an authoritative listing (it definitely looks authoritative, anyway) of Nürburgring lap times at supercars.net shows cars posting a lap time of 8:20 include the E36-generation BMW M3 in 1999, the Porsche 911 GT3 (993 generation) in the same year driven by 'Ring ace Walter Roehrl and stuff like the Audi RS6 in 2001. For a little extra perspective on that 8:20 lap time, GM recently boasted the coming '09 Corvette ZR1 did it in 7:26.4.

"We learned a few things," from the 'Ring session, says Houlihan, which led the Camaro development team to tire supplier Pirelli for some subtle changes that he says fine-tuned steering response and turn-in, and also resulted in some nitty-gritty tweaks for suspension settings — all of which will further improve the Camaro's on-road handling.

Houlihan also said all Camaros — V8 or V6 — will feature the best StabiliTrak stability control system GM can offer; the SS enjoys essentially the software from the Corvette's magnificent Active Handling system that we insist remains the world standard in performance-oriented stability control. The Camaro SS stability control will have a track mode, a performance mode and a setting that fully disables stability and traction control. Stability/traction control for all Camaros can be fully disabled, but Camaro SSs with the six-speed manual also get a launch control feature.

Houlihan also said the 2010 Camaro's coefficient of drag is an OK, but unremarkable 0.35 for the SS and 0.36 for the LS/LT V6 models. Ed Welburn, GM's vice president of global design, said it's tough to get super-slippery aero numbers for cars with full-width grilles and recessed headlights — design cues Welburn and his styling team insisted on, obviously, to deliver on the 2010 Camaro's retro promise.

We whined the RS appearance package that adds high-intensity discharge, "halo ring" headlamps, unique tail lamps, a rear spoiler and 20-inch wheels makes it almost impossible to distinguish a V8-packing Camaro from a V6 job. But for those of you who can spot the difference of an inch, Houlihan says there's one giveaway: the exhaust tips for the Camaro SS, which is V8 only, are 96mm (3.7 inches) in diameter. But LT Camaros (standard 3.6-liter V6) — even with the RS package — have exhaust tips that are just 3 inches in diameter.

What this means to you: The Nürburgring number proves even if it's a little heavy, a Camaro SS can run with some pretty exclusive company. And with 300 horsepower, the Camaro V6 doesn't exactly earn the "secretary car" stereotype, either. — Bill Visnic, Senior Editor, Edmunds AutoObserver