Stock Camaro ZL1 1LE Hits the Drag Strip, Records Impressive Results
Stock Camaro ZL1 1LE proves that it isn’t just a one-trick pony, but does require some skill to drive.
YouTuber itsjusta6, or Gavin Simon as he’s known in the real world, has owned quite a few fast cars over the years. Perhaps his most famous ride is his black S550 Mustang, which is more of a purpose-built drag racer that has run some impressive times yet also experienced its fair share of catastrophic engine failures. Perhaps that’s at least part of the reason why Simon hasn’t modified his Camaro ZL1 1LE just yet, but regardless, he recently took the car to the track for the first time.
Simon admits he isn’t sure what to expect from his Camaro ZL1 1LE at the drag strip. “I have no idea what this thing’s going to run today,” he says. “It’s bone stock, pretty much, no tune at all. I’m in the slowest thing out here. This is the slowest car I’ve had in a while, so I don’t know what I’m gonna be running, but we’re going for it.”
Of course, “slow” isn’t a word that people typically use to describe the ZL1, but we suppose it’s all about perspective here. This is a car that was built more for turning corners than going fast in a straight line, but it’s still packing a supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V8 that produces an even 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque.
On his first pass, Simon takes it easy on the launch to get a feel for the car and it responds by getting off the line with little drama. He also uses the opportunity to find the optimum shift points and discovers that it can take far more than he gave it. Regardless, Simon still runs an impressive 11.2 seconds with a 1.41-second 60-foot time, the latter of which is ironically his personal best. And that was with a passenger in the car, to boot.
Simon makes a few more passes on the day but fails to record a better time than his first outing. On his second pass, he goes too hard on the launch and smokes the tires, and things don’t get much better after that. As Simon admits, “it isn’t the car, it’s me.” But at the end of the day, that just proves that even a stock ZL1 requires a bit of driving to extract its maximum performance.
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