Camaro Z/28 Nurburgring time = 7:37.47 !! [VIDEO]

[shaffe]

Originally Posted by Doc

Hitting 160 on the straight in the rain was impressive and scary as hell. There's no question he had to back off once he hit the rain; he couldn't accelerate coming out of the corners because the back end was kicking loose when he tried. He was getting faster and faster before he hit the rain. This car will get below the 7:30 mark; no question in my mind.

Is it official that the power is 505 hp? I was expecting more like 525.

The handling looks superb. The steering ratio must be very quick; he was hardly moving his hands most of the time.

As for choosing this to be their "official" time... it's middle of October. I doubt weather conditions are going to do anything but get worse heading into winter. This was probably the last fairly decent chance they had this year.

Watching the way he was driving towards the end before the rain hit it looked like he realized it was about to and was literally throwing the car around the track trying to beat the rain but he didn't make it. They were probably radioing him from the pits. That he continued pushing as hard as he did in the wet was crazy but you could see the moment he hit the rain the back end was trying to kick around on him and he had to ease up somewhat.

Yeah....this car will run in the 7:20's.

So Doc, got to ask are you surprised/disappointed with the official time? You seemed pretty confident that the Z would be the fastest GM car to lap the ring

[Mikamaro]

[QUOTE=90503;7094519]...That would make the Z/28 number "28" on the list...what a coincidence...lol



It's the right place to be!

[Zfatuated]

"Making the result even more impressive is the fact that there even was some rain falling on the ‘Ring during the attempt. Based on previous testing, Chevy is confident the Z/28 could shave a further 6.0 seconds from the lap time."

Wow.

All in all I give a lot of respect to Chevy for publicly posting a very challenging (weather) lap. And based on what I saw in that video, I can give full credibility to Chevy for the 6 second comment above.

It's all good. Honesty and integrity are as meaningful in the big picture as the lap time.

[Mikamaro]

Originally Posted by shaffe

So Doc, got to ask are you surprised/disappointed with the official time? You seemed pretty confident that the Z would be the fastest GM car to lap the ring

I doubt that Doc said the Z/28 would be the fastest GM to lap the ring...he sure didn't said that in his last post. Was it said in another thread?
Saying it will run in the 7:20's can also mean up to 7:29.99 which is not far from the claim 7:31.47 Gm says it will do.

[90503]

Originally Posted by Zfatuated

"Making the result even more impressive is the fact that there even was some rain falling on the ‘Ring during the attempt. Based on previous testing, Chevy is confident the Z/28 could shave a further 6.0 seconds from the lap time."

Wow.

All in all I give a lot of respect to Chevy for publicly posting a very challenging (weather) lap. And based on what I saw in that video, I can give full credibility to Chevy for the 6 second comment above.

It's all good. Honesty and integrity are as meaningful in the big picture as the lap time.

I agree. They weren't sniveling or making excuses....It is what it is.

But, Z, at least that six seconds gives you an ace-in-the hole at the track when you go quicker than they expect....lol....

[shaffe]

Originally Posted by Mikamaro

I doubt that Doc said the Z/28 would be the fastest GM to lap the ring...he sure didn't said that in his last post. Was it said in another thread?
Saying it will run in the 7:20's can also mean up too 7:29.99

Originally Posted by Doc

This is a tough one. Knowing that Stielow is developing this makes it hard to guess because he's going to wring every ounce of performance out of this beast.

I'm going to say this car will set a new record for Chevrolet. I'm gonna guess 7:19.6 and yes it will beat the ZR1's lap time.

Originally Posted by Doc

We don't actually know the horsepower; GM said "about" 500 which you can take means more than that, they're just not sure how much more. Weight isn't as big a factor on a track like the Ring which GM proved with the surprising lap times of the ZL1. It's about suspension, spring rates, shock damping and tire grip. Stielow and team are clearly spending a LOT of time focusing on those areas. In those videos you can see a Vette, ZL1 and Z/28 running at the same time under the same conditions. That means they're studying the differences between lighter (vette) versus heavier but intelligent suspension (ZL1) and making adjustments to the Z/28 accordingly. Being out there all at the same time eliminates the variables of weather and track conditions.

Read up on the car projects Stielow has done and you'll realize what this guy can do. He's got the green light from GM management to make this a real track star and I'll be very surprised if this car isn't the fastest GM production car out on the ring. They're learning from what Stielow is doing so the high-performance version of the C7 Stingray will likely take back that crown next year but for now I believe the Z/28 is going to become king and surprise a lot of people. Yes I believe it's going to beat the ZR1's and Viper's times that are in the book.

And I know this is going to come off as a "I told you so" post. that is not my intent. Doc seems to be very knowledgable what makes cars go through the twisties fast and I just wanted to know if he was surprised by what we have seen as the official time

[Sven59]

Have they run the 1LE on the ring, it would be nice to see another Camaro up there.

[Mikamaro]

Originally Posted by shaffe

And I know this is going to come off as a "I told you so" post. that is not my intent. Doc seems to be very knowledgable what makes cars go through the twisties fast and I just wanted to know if he was surprised by what we have seen as the official time

He said it!!!!
Damn,
Come on Doc...
ZR1 more power less weight...
Z06 same power less weight...
Z28
ZL1 more power more weight...
SS Less power same weight

[brt3]

This is a great achievement by GM. Kudos to the Z/28 engineering staff; I hope everyone went to Pistenklause for drinks and steaks afterwards!

I'm not a pro by any means, but I've driven nearly 1,000 miles at the Nordschleife over the last two years. Whoever was driving the Z/28 has balls that must be cast out of pure magnesium. That was an EPIC run!

[EDIT: Adam Dean is the development driver who made this run]

Given the temperature and dampness of the track, I have absolutely no doubt that the Z/28 will run under 7:32. To those who wonder why GM didn't post a faster time, it looks to me like they've broken down the track sector by sector, and have been tuning the car to get everything working exactly how they want. Only now do they have it dialed in to where they could start running all out on the entire lap. Remember that there are many bloggers who devote their lives to posting Nordschleife testing, so once GM started running full laps in anger they knew the results would show up online almost instantly.

I'm thrilled they posted this, as such a good time in such poor conditions really shows that this car is going to be a track monster. 7:37 is a great achievement, and when they go back and pull off a sub-7:32, that will only be icing on the cake. Congrats, to Al and his team -- JOB WELL DONE!

[Camaro_Corvette]

Originally Posted by Sven59

Have they run the 1LE on the ring, it would be nice to see another Camaro up there.

I really want to know this as well.

[hrpiii]

Originally Posted by Camaro_Corvette

I really want to know this as well.

Yes, a red one, like the one you drive, came in at 12:45, about the same time it would be if you were driving...

[Papa T]

160 MPH on a wet track!! Wow!!

[Camaro_Corvette]

Originally Posted by hrpiii

Yes, a red one, like the one you drive, came in at 12:45, about the same time it would be if you were driving...

I don't know about a 12:45, but probably around 10 for sure if I was driving

It's got to be a decent improvement over the 8.22 for the ss

[KMPrenger]

Put me in the disappointed camp...at least somewhat.

Not necessarily disappointed in the Z/28, but just for the fact that GM chose to use this time as the first official ring time, when it sure sounds like the time could have been much faster.

I tend to wonder if all this ring testing is bogus anyways. Its been said that the engineers will spends weeks out there, just dialing in the car section by section so that they can finally make a lap going all out. Well I guess that is fine...but only if those settings are what make it into the final production car. Is that what happens? Does the production car really get the exact same setup as used on the ring?

Anyways, now all GM has done is give the haters and competition fanboys reason to balk about how much this car sucks. All the hype and only about 4 seconds faster than the ZL1. It certainly makes you wonder. How many all out runs did they make? Was this, even with bad weather the best one? It must have been. Could GM not have stayed another few days to a week and gotten a better time? I guess if the weather forecast looked bad that could have been true.

I hope I'm wrong and the car gets the respect it deserves. I hope GM can give us a better time eventually, from a Z/28 spec'd out like what can be bought at the dealership.