The myth saying American cars can’t corner was busted a long time ago, with the outgoing Camaro ZL1 and its 7:41.27 lap time on the Nurburgring being the absolute proof.
The thing is, Chevrolet never left the Green Hell, as it nursed the current Camaro on the track’s unforgiving chicanes. We’ve seen the American car manufacturer developing the sixth-gen pony car on the track as the years went by, from the basic LT model all the way to the Z/28 and ZL1, but now Chevy is back on Nurburgring with the latter.
The ZL1 official presence there remains a wild guess, as Chevrolet could use it to benchmark the Z/28 – which is still being tested, and sometimes crashed – or it could test the waters for braking a new record on the circuit.
With a 6.2-litre, supercharged V8, developing 640hp (477 kW) and 640 lb-ft of torque (868 Nm), the new model outshines the outgoing ZL1 by 60hp and 84 lb-ft (114 Nm), but it also features an updated Magnetic Ride suspension, Performance Traction Management, electronic limited-slip differential, Custom Launch Control and Driver Mode Selector. And if somehow that’s not enough to demolish the 7:41.27 lap time, the car comes either with a six-speed manual transmission with active rev-matching, as well as a brand-new 10-speed automatic with paddle shifters.
According to the video description, the red ZL1 is the 10-speed, while the blue variant is equipped with the manual; moreover, both cars are reportedly louder than the Z/28.