You know what the best thing about the muscle car era we’re re-living these days is? While we’re bathing in horsepower and track-savvy developments, things will only become richer in the years to come. Case in point with the sixth-gen Camaro ZL1, which offers us plenty of reasons to reserve some spare time and cash for 2018.
Now that the 2016 Camaro is upon us, we’ve started thinking about the further developments that will allow Chevy to dogfight Ford on the GT350 track day matter and Dodge in terms of the motor-dominated Hellcat.
While the first regards the Camaro Z/28 and is a story for another time, we want to discuss the ZL1 for now. This has plenty of chances to shatter the Challenger Hellcat’s trone, simply because its lighter construction will make it a better all-rounder.
The rendering above, which comes from Jackie Eason via CamaroNews, gives us a pretty good idea of how the new ZL1 will look like. As we can see now with the standard models, Chevrolet is betting on anything but the shyness card with the 6th-gen Camaro, so expect the ZL1 to be one visually aggressive animal.
In fact, the exhaust tips are the only detail here we expect to look even meaner in the real world - you have to take into account the ones you see here appear to be modelled on the tips of the current ZL1.
With 6.2 liters of supercharged displacement, the LT4 should provide just enough oomph to make the ZL1 a blast. Sure, it might not deliver the 707 ponies of the Hellcat, but this engine goes very well with the overall lighter approach of the new Camaro. And the power-to-weight ratio could best that of the Mopar machine.
Based on the 5th-generation release scheme, we’re expecting the new ZL1 to arrive as a 2018 model year.
While the first regards the Camaro Z/28 and is a story for another time, we want to discuss the ZL1 for now. This has plenty of chances to shatter the Challenger Hellcat’s trone, simply because its lighter construction will make it a better all-rounder.
The rendering above, which comes from Jackie Eason via CamaroNews, gives us a pretty good idea of how the new ZL1 will look like. As we can see now with the standard models, Chevrolet is betting on anything but the shyness card with the 6th-gen Camaro, so expect the ZL1 to be one visually aggressive animal.
In fact, the exhaust tips are the only detail here we expect to look even meaner in the real world - you have to take into account the ones you see here appear to be modelled on the tips of the current ZL1.
I got the power
Nothing is even close to official for the moment, but the most likely version is that the ZL1 will continue to borrow firepower from the Corvette top gun, which means it should inherit the LT4 V8.With 6.2 liters of supercharged displacement, the LT4 should provide just enough oomph to make the ZL1 a blast. Sure, it might not deliver the 707 ponies of the Hellcat, but this engine goes very well with the overall lighter approach of the new Camaro. And the power-to-weight ratio could best that of the Mopar machine.
Based on the 5th-generation release scheme, we’re expecting the new ZL1 to arrive as a 2018 model year.