MotorTrend Pits the ZL1 vs GT500 on the Street, Dragstrip, and Racetrack

[PistonsFan]

Featured on Camaro5 HOMEPAGE

2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 vs. 2013 Ford Shelby GT500

Updated with Video:

THE STREET

"Be it a back road or the daily commute, the Camaro ZL1 is the better street car. Its magnetorheological shock absorbers offer an impressive performance range, smoothing the impacts of rough pavement in Tour mode and keeping the heavy chassis under control in Sport mode. Senior features editor Jonny Lieberman described it to me as "basically a sportier CTS-V," balancing ride and handling beautifully. The GT500, by contrast, suffers from a stiffer ride and too much vertical motion. Every bump gets your head bobbing up and down as the big Shelby bucks like an unbroken colt. Its two-mode Bilstein shocks are simply too stiff for everyday driving, even in Normal mode."

THE STRIP

"Drag racing, though, is not as cut-and-dry as it sounds. Timing is vitally important, as is traction. Cut a bad 60-foot time, and you might as well abort the race and try again. Still, it's usually a fair bet that all other things being equal, the more powerful car will win. That's certainly the case here. The 662-horsepower GT500 hits 60 mph in 3.5 seconds to the 580-horsepower ZL1's 3.8 seconds. The gap only widens from there, with the GT500 finishing the quarter-mile in 11.6 seconds at a blazing 125.7 mph, trailed by the Camaro at 12.1 seconds and 117.4 mph."

THE TRACK

"While the Mustang was a half-second faster around the track than the ZL1 on its best lap, it couldn't repeat the performance. By the end of the first lap, the brakes had already begun to heat up so badly, we could smell them from the pits as the car passed by on the front straight. By the end of the second lap, the Shelby had lost more than half of its advantage over the ZL1, turning a 1:39.03. By the third lap, the Mustang was behind the Camaro, turning a 1:39.30. The ZL1, meanwhile, never deviated by more than two-tenths of a second."




OVERALL

ZL1


Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz1yzdT5oQm

[Brutal SS]

Good info! Exactly what you might expect from these cars, with the exception of a small surprise or two!

[Run and Gun]

Nice

[SlingShot]

Awesome !!!

Lets the excuses fly about a bad driver or some other crap now.

[cjon9657]

If you are a real car guy. you will have respect for all cars to some extent. the gt500 is very impressive. but i would never buy one. I'm a chevy guy.

[A-little-perspective]

I am surprised at the amount of info they provided. Wow!!!! These two cars are very close.

Conclusions: MT said pretty much the same thing as IL.

"It won't end here, though. Many of you probably jumped here to the end to find out who won, and you've already fired up your e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and MotorTrend.com accounts. You'll dissect this story and all the data and conclusions, looking to support your case. You'll defend or defame us; you'll quote other sources and you'll cancel subscriptions. The musclecar war will continue to rage no matter what we say, and not a single die-hard Mustang or Camaro fan will change camps."

[GrabberB5.Slow]

I'd still prefer a straight line car than a corner carver anyday. I'd rather have the advantage where I can use it anywhere on any road where 99% of driving will take place, rather than making excuses, "Well if we were at the Autocross..." . GT500 in my book, it's faster and more powerful.

If I wanted a corner carver I'd build a kickass 240 for half the money and smoke both cars on the track.

But each to their own! If it wasn't for this rivalry these cars wouldn't exsist today.

[DRKS1D3]

Both are impressive cars! Nobody can deny that, but some will try.

[Blown355]

Wow! That was a dog fight. The Mustang gets it done with sheer brute force. Great read.

[mdmoore23]

Is anyone surprised about the GT500 posting faster lap times in the past few tests? It may need some brake ducts or different pads though.

[zero]

Now if the ZL1 woulda beat the GT500 in just about every performance test and they picked the GT500 for the win, the C5 server would crash from all the replies

SS vs GT 4.6 deja vu all over... slower yes but close enough we like the GT better...

I know how the GT500 guys must feel because I was the SS guy when they liked the slower GT or SRT better. Just saying...

[Cam#7]

Great job Scotty !!!

Motortrend has compared the ZL1 and Shelby GT500 and declared the Camaro the winner !!!!!!!!

Street driving - Camaro

Dragstrip - Mustang

Road Course - Camaro - Mustang beat the Camaro the 1st lap but then it had serious brake fade.

[kbui]

Originally Posted by PistonsFan

2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 vs. 2013 Ford Shelby GT500

THE TRACK

"While the Mustang was a half-second faster around the track than the ZL1 on its best lap, it couldn't repeat the performance. By the end of the first lap, the brakes had already begun to heat up so badly, we could smell them from the pits as the car passed by on the front straight. By the end of the second lap, the Shelby had lost more than half of its advantage over the ZL1, turning a 1:39.03. By the third lap, the Mustang was behind the Camaro, turning a 1:39.30. The ZL1, meanwhile, never deviated by more than two-tenths of a second."




OVERALL

ZL1


Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz1yzdT5oQm

By far this is the most complete review with actual numbers on the course for these cars. The ZL1 was clearly designed for consistency, i.e. in a single lap the GT500 would be faster, but lap after lap, the ZL1 would take it. Around the track, the GT500 would pull way ahead in the fast straights, but the ZL1 would catch it around the curves and even pass it until the next fast straight. Very similar to the IL's review but with actual numbers. Both are pretty amazing for American pony/muscle cars.

[adamgl]

Some Mustang guys swore the ZL1 would lose more time as laps went by b'c of heatsoak. But the GT500's brakes fade first. It sounds like it needs brake cooling ducts like the ZL1. And the ZL1 could use an intercooler upgrade to keep the temps down from stock.

But both are pretty awesome cars.

12 theoretical lead changes on the fast laps. ZL1 would out corner the 500 and the 500 would pass it back on the straights. ZL1 needs some power upgrades.