Camaro ZL1 1LE Battles Porsche GT3 RS at Thunderhill Raceway
Need proof that the Camaro is now adept at carving corners? Here you go.
For decades, it was Camaro versus Mustang and not much else. Those two legendary American muscle cars have long battled each other in the showroom and on the drag strip. But a funny thing happened in recent years. Chevy has managed to transform the Camaro into a corner carver, not just a straight-line hero. Now, this once one-trick pony is aiming (and beating) competitors formerly in a different stratosphere in terms of lap times.
That includes the Porsche GT3 RS, a car that is, in its essence, a purist track machine. So we were more than a little eager to see how Porsche’s latest/greatest track-focused 911 holds up against a Camaro with similar intentions – the ZL1 1LE. And we got to see just that in this epic video from YouTuber Turn in Track Out. Our host is the wheelman in the Camaro, and his buddy pilots the Porsche. The battleground – Thunderhill Raceway in Northern California.
Our Camaro driver faces a tall task, as his opponent is a seasoned driver and SCCA champ. But he manages to catch up to the green Porsche pretty quickly, using his power advantage in the straights to make up ground. But coming out of the turns, the Porsche’s lightning-quick PDK helps him widen the gap.
Our host admits that he was pushing things harder than usual in a determined effort to beat the Porsche. And he does a great job overall. The only real disadvantage here is the Camaro’s weight, which slows him down in the corners. But in the end, both cars recorded identical best lap times of 1:54. Ultimately, the Camaro can’t quite overtake the Porsche. But the fact that it can hang so closely is a testament to how far Chevy’s muscle car has truly come.
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