American Muscle vs. Teutonic Might: Can a V8 Beat a Flat-six?
When American muscle and German tech go head-to-head on the quarter-mile, it is about more than just horsepower.
If you’ve ever played “Would You Rather?” among a group of auto enthusiasts, you know a few questions are certain. Muscle or sports car? American or European? Sure–if money grew on trees–we’d say both, please. But as we are here, you know our answer already. Our heart is always true to American muscle. But we can’t deny that European cars definitely have their advantages and allure.
So, when we saw that The Throttle House matched a 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S against a 2020 Camaro ZL1, our interest was definitely piqued.
The Chevy Camaro is a muscle car legend, period. And the Porsche 911 is the quintessential car to showcase German tech and engineering. This should be good.
Representing Stuttgart…
In racy red we have the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S. Its 3.0-liter 6-cylinder makes 443 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque. Top track speed is 191 mph, and the Porsche 911 Carrera S can sprint 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. It is a rear-engined sports car with the benefit of Porsche’s Sports Response and overboost functions.
More on that later.
The Lansing Menace
And then we have the Chevy Camaro ZL1. Powered by a 6.2L V8 Supercharged LSA–y’know, the same engine in a C7 Corvette Z06–it is an animal. Making 650 horses and 650 lb-ft of torque, the Camaro has the advantage on paper. But does that translate to the road?
Hot Off The Line
Well, it does…and it doesn’t.
The Porsche wins all three goes. But it isn’t that simple. In the first race, the Porsche engages the launch control for some major overboost. Once that levels out, the Camaro was easily catching and matching the speed. But, being a quarter-mile, the race was over. In the second race the Porsche deploys launch control. This time, the Camaro catches up quickly, and the Porsche takes it by a nose. The third is a rolling race, and it is truly neck and neck. Porsche takes it by a hair.
A few things worth noting: the Porsche weighs less than the Camaro to the tune of about 500 pounds. And secondly, the Camaro needs new shoes. Racing on less than stellar tires definitely effected the overall performance and handling. Plus, the Camaro Z really needs to be stretch her legs a bit more on the road. We’d like to see this rematch but with longer laps.
So in the end, we are left–once again–with the same question. Muscle or sports car? Although, credit where credit is due; both cars show they are able to step up and perform as either. And the Camaro is a knockout, pure power. Whereas the 911 Carrera S’s traction control and PDK are remarkable in action.
Guess we might never settle this. I guess we’ll await another rematch.
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