Chevrolet’s Camaro ZL1 Is A Mega Muscle Car

Is 650 enough horsepower? In a Chevrolet Camaro, it sure is.

Motor Trend’s Jonny Lieberman has driven a lot of really fast cars. With the new ZL1, he’s impressed, and that says a lot. It’s got the same powerplant as the Corvette Z06, as well as all of the awesome bits from the 1LE handling package. It’s already been well established that Chevrolet’s Alpha platform is a fantastic base for a performance car, and the ZL1 proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that it has the goods to take on the world. Not only is Jonny convinced of it’s Z06-beating dynamics, but he’s got racing driver Randy Pobst on board, too!

The new generation ZL1 makes use of a 10-speed automatic that keeps the revs right in the power band, right where you want it. The 6-speed manual ZL1 gives the driver more control over the ratios and allows you to really cane every last inch of performance out of the engine. In a head-to-head battle, pro-driver Pobst managed to run a slightly faster (just over three tenths of a second) lap of Willow Springs in the manual transmission car. However, unless you’ve got as much experience behind the wheel as he does, you might not be able to replicate such a feat. The Automatic, however, will do all of the fast work for you. So which one do you want?

In either case, you’re going to get that hellish 650 horsepower engine that sounds like an unhinged beast fighting a giant margarita blender, throaty roar coated in a thick layer of supercharger whine. You’re also going to get one of the best handling and best driving packages Chevrolet has ever put together. All it takes to tame a Z06 is apparently putting it in a Camaro-shaped shell.

[Source: MotorTrend on YouTube]