Oh wow.
It's one of those tales that shouldn't be even remotely believable. I know, cars across the board have become so advanced and the technology that even your basic cars contain these days is immense.
But still, this is incredible. The 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE has just set a confirmed Nürburgring Nordschleife time of 7:16.04.
That makes it faster than, well, a staggering array of stuff. It's faster than a Ferrari 488 GTB, faster than the outgoing Nissan R35 GT-R, faster than a 2010 Porsche 911 GT2, faster than the Gumpert Apollo supercar, the Ferrari Enzo...
It's an endless list of jaw-dropping cars. And they've all been slayed by a muscle car that retails in the US for US$70,000. That's NZ$96,000. Consider too that it's just two seconds away from being quicker than a Lexus LFA, and five seconds away from being in the fastest 10 cars ever tested at the Nürburgring.
What's more, Chevrolet achieved the time with a manual gearbox — a remarkable feat considering almost everything in that stratosphere of lap times is using a double-clutch automatic of some description.
How does something worth less than 100k accomplish such a feat? Well, it doesn't use racing slicks like a lot of the less believable times from the Green Hell (they used Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3R summer-only tyres, for you rubber nerds).
Under the bonnet is Chevrolet's 484kW supercharged LT4 V8, but it's the suspension that helps squeeze the most out of the big belter's performance. Multimatic DSSV front and rear dampers help it pound corners, while that in turn is complimented by the ZL1 1LE's various aero pieces. The driver, sadly unnamed, is clearly also an absolute demon.
“With chassis adjustability unlike any vehicle in its peer group, the Camaro ZL1 1LE challenges supercars from around the world regardless of cost, configuration or propulsion system,” said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer.
“To make up more than a second per mile on the Nordschleife compared to the ZL1 automatic is a dramatic improvement and speaks to the 1LE’s enhanced track features.”
Great time, of course. Though I bet the interior is still terrible.