Camaro ZL1 (vs GT-R) Review by Road & Track

[zero]

Who would have ever thought they would see a camaro against godzilla in a magazine test.

This speak volumes as how great the ZL1 actually is

[eolson]

Totally inappropriate having the ZL1 on those tires at 45 degrees, and then making judgements about the cars performance. Below 55 degrees, your only choice is going to be on thinner 275 Ultr High Performance All Season tires.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=yes&tab=Specs

or for Winter driving:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...35&diameter=20

so what gives with the test conditions, pretty lame, compared to an all wheel drive GTR which will always fair better than a rear wheel drive car in cold weather even with equal tires, much less the ZL1 having such soft 220 ware rated tires. Erik

[stymie]

Up until recently, I had a '92 DODGE Stealth R/T Twin Turbo w/GETRAG 5 speed & a '98 MITSUBISHI 3000GT VR-4 w/GETRAG 6 speed manual tranny. Both cars had AWD/AWS. The Stealth was my snow-mobile. I used the same GOODYEAR bow-tie pattern M+S rubber that the Missouri Hwy Patrol use on their pursuit cruisers. I could literally go anywhere with superb control... NO white knuckle ride here. It was like a HOT ROD JEEP & a LOT of fun to drive in weather that would send most cars into a ditch. The right tire with the proper compounds & an aggressive groove pattern that grabs rather than plows makes all the difference in the world. The footprint needs to be 90°/180° squared to the direction of travel rather than a "V" unidirectional pattern. If you attempted to drive a Steath or VR-4/AWD with the original Z-rated tires, you'd have enough traction to pull out in traffic, but as soon as you'd hit the brakes... the anti-locks would kick-in & vibrate the car all the way into the nearest ditch... WORD! They just do NOT have any BITE in deep snow. With the right Winter tires, you'd be amazed at what you can do in the snow with AWD...without & you're begging for a rude awakening. You are ONLY limited by ground clearance. I was able to get out of a fire station parking lot that was an absolute sheet of ICE. Others weren't so fortunate.

[2cnd chance]

Originally Posted by Deki

Wow. Just answer my question...Do you think the GT-R's traction would increase as well in warmer conditions?

And by the way, 2<4 only when used on interval or ratio scales, not on nominal or ordinal. Just in case you try to use that for things other than the number of wheels on a car.

I and others have made logical points here, yet you prefer to argue apparently for the sake of arguing or because you are delusional. Either way I will not continue to discuss this or any point with you. You're just not that interesting.

[SGOS252382]

Sorry if it was already mentioned. I didn't read the entire thread.

I got my new Road and Track and I was shocked to see the ZL1 running 12.9 @ 113 mph.
So I instantly looked to see what the conditions were like. To my suprise the track elevation was 4400 ft.

So Road and Track tested the new ZL1 at 4400 ft elevation. I know forced induction isn't affected by elevation as bad as NA, but why test a new car at such as high elevation?

The ZL1 may not run all that well (as indicated by the 1/4 mile trap speed) at such a high elevation.

[anthonynoz]

Gtr gods project car!
The Zl1 is awesome i would love for edmunds to take it and take on the 2012 (not 2013) gt500. Track and 1/4
Btw both the gtr and zl1 are force induced
The boss 302 isnt so i wouldnt bass in the glory of the zl1's victory over a n/a stang.

---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.734083,-73.869081

[Mr. Wyndham]

Re: tires in cold weather.....

Didn't they say they warmed up the tires & cars before testing?

[Paco]

Originally Posted by 69NMYSS

In a straight line yes, on the track no. I do not think the '13 GT500 will do better than 7:41 on the Ring, but that is just speculation at this point. The latest edtion of Car and Driver has the ZL1 on the cover. They also got to take a "ride along" in the '13 GT500. They estimate the new GT500 will do 0-60 in 3.7 and the 1/4 in 11.7.

Being honest I have to say most real car people I KNOW (and myself included) could care less what their "ring" times are on a track 2000+ miles away. There are 100's of factors that produce a good time on that track. Much of which has nothing to do with the car itself. I am more intrested in what it does on tracks here in the USA. The "ring" is not the "end all, be all" of tracks either

Food for thought, the ZL1 beat the BOSS by 2.4 seconds. Cool, it should beat it. The BOSS is down 138 HP. Even factoring in the weight difference between the two of a couple hundred lb's, that still was a tough fight for the BOSS.

The "12 GT500 has been proven to be faster (on average) then the BOSS on any given track. But not by much.

(FYI the '13 GT500 was made to distance itself from the BOSS. A answer to GM's ZL1 is just a by-product)

Anyway, that means IMO the distance between the ZL1 and the "12 GT500 is most likely going to be less. Being less than 2 seconds is nothing to jump up and down about (IMO of-course) and it seems GM's stance on it as well. They could of and should test it against the '12 GT500.

Like I orginaly said, IMO the ZL1 is going to beat the '12 GT500. I have confidence in that. However I think the '13 GT500 is going to best the LZ1 it just about all if not ALL performance categories. They simply did not add 100 hp and call it a day. It will have better suspension parts then the current "13 BOSS..

Regardless the ZL1 is going to be one hell of a car. I just want to see what actual enthusiast's can do in them. Not a bunch of mag editors.

[10spokess]

These cars are so sexy I don't even care about the track times

[chain777]

The acceleration tests for the ZL1 have been all over the place. I can understand the ET differences. A bad launch, or a bad shift can kill your time. But the MPH differences are telling another story. I wonder if the ZL1 is suffering from the same issues as the SS; low octane tables.

Anyone know if the LSA is similar to the LS3/L99 in this regard? I know elevation can have an effect, but as it was mentioned here, FI isn't effected as much as NA. The GTR's MPH seems to confirm this.

[evolve]

Originally Posted by chain777

The acceleration tests for the ZL1 have been all over the place. I can understand the ET differences. A bad launch, or a bad shift can kill your time. But the MPH differences are telling another story. I wonder if the ZL1 is suffering from the same issues as the SS; low octane tables.

Anyone know if the LSA is similar to the LS3/L99 in this regard? I know elevation can have an effect, but as it was mentioned here, FI isn't effected as much as NA. The GTR's MPH seems to confirm this.

I was curious about the same possible issue.

[Cvega]

Originally Posted by YourBlindingBias

wow.. that was a joke right?
You just created a car that didn't exist and beat it with a ZL1 and celebrated lol

Nothing wrong with dreaming.

[Cvega]

Originally Posted by Deki

Jesus H...so much face palm. From "if the ZL1 was AWD" to "if GTR was RWD" and now to "ZL1 looks better on the track". Was anyone really surprized with the result? Pointless comparison. And I'm willing to bet half of you haven't sat inside a GT-R let alone driven one. Car is impressive.

The GTR is a beast. If I had the money I would own one, however it is also $97000 plus for the 2013. Of course the comparison is pointless, yet loyal Muscle car fans will cheer for the underdog even if we know it will lose.

[2cnd chance]

Originally Posted by YourBlindingBias

wow.. that was a joke right?
You just created a car that didn't exist and beat it with a ZL1 and celebrated lol

That's the funniest thing I've heard in a while!