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2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Sets 7:16.04 Nurburgring Lap, Here’s The POV Video

It did it, ladies and gents! As expected from the most extreme road-going Camaro yet, the ZL1 with the 1LE Extreme Track Performance Package set the new lap record for American muscle cars on the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Not only that, but it blew away all our 7m20s guesstimate.
2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Nurburgring lap attack 15 photos
Photo: Chevrolet
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The name of the game here is 7:16.04, a better time than what the Porsche 911 GT2 RS posted in 2010. Slower cars than the ZL1 1LE include the ZL1 (7:29.6), Shelby GT350R Mustang (7:32.19), Z/28 (7:37.47), Ferrari Enzo (7:25.21), as well as the Maserati MC12 (7:24.29).

“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,”
commented Al Oppenheiser, chief engineer of General Motors’ big bad ‘Maro. “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.”

Will the Shelby GT500 Mustang, which is due to arrive for the 2019 model year, fare better? Only time will tell. But as it is, Team Camaro did an immensely fine job with fine-tuning ZL1 1LE. In all respect to the engineering team, it’s hard to imagine the sixth-generation Camaro getting a Z/28 derivative considering that the 1LE-equipped ZL1 is so damn fast.

Identified by the order code A1Z, the most extreme Camaro money can buy today is a manual-only affair that holds a retail price of $69,995. Arguably the most impressive thing about the 1LE is how planted the car is in high-speed corners. Steering wheel control seems to be sublime too.

There are at least three secrets to the vehicle’s high-speed stability. First and foremost, the tires are ultra-sticky Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3Rs. The suspension, meanwhile, is kept in check by probably the best dampers in the business: Multimatic DSSVs. Last, but certainly not least, there’s the added downforce coming courtesy of 1LE-exclusive aerodynamic trickery.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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