With the Chevrolet Camaro getting discontinued after the 2024 model year, it's high time for us to remember how capable of a pony car the Camaro actually is. The one and only Sam CarLegion sourced a 2022 model year SS with the manual box for a series of drag and roll races against two bonafide sports cars, namely the Z and Supra.
First things first, why is the Camaro going away? Similar to Stellantis, the good folks at General Motors decided to focus on all-electric vehicles. For this reason, word has it General Motors will revive the Camaro in the form of an electric sedan. Quite a shocking development if the rumor proves to be true, but then again, is the Mustang Mach-E actually worthy of being called a Mustang?
Pictured at the Dunnville Autodrome in Canada, the 2SS 1LE in the video below packs a small-block V8, namely the LT1 that premiered in the C7 Corvette a few years ago. In this application, the 6.2-liter engine develops a respectable 455 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 455 pound-feet (617 Nm) at 4,400 rpm.
Rather than racing three abreast, Sam CarLegion first pitted the Camaro against the Z. The more consistent car then dukes it out with the BMW I6-engined Supra. Not surprising in the least, the Chevy makes easy work of the Z from a standing start and from a rolling start. Zero to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) takes 4.2 seconds in the Camaro's case, whereas the Z couldn't do better than 4.5 seconds. As for the standing quarter mile, make that 12.5 seconds compared to 13.0 seconds flat.
Part of the reason the Z lost every single race against the 'Maro is the force-fed sixer under its hood, a 3.0-liter mill shared with the Infiniti Q60 Red Sport 400. The 370Z-replacing Z belts out 400 ponies at 6,400 rpm and 350 pound-feet (475 Nm) between 1,600 and 5,200 rpm.
The Supra, however, is a bit more challenging for the Camaro. Part of the reason is the B58, an inline-six turbo that BMW underrates in every application. The B58-based S58 of the M3 sedan also make a little more power than advertised. From a 43-mph (70-kph) rolling start, the Camaro asserts dominance over the Japanese coupe. However, the Supra excels from a standstill.
It's a much smaller difference than before, though, with the BMW-powered coupe recording 12.4 seconds in the quarter mile compared to 12.6 seconds for the pony car. The Supra also launches better off the line, clocking 3.9 seconds to 60 miles per hour instead of 4.2 seconds.
The question is, which of these two extremely different machines would you take home? Or, better said, would you give up the intoxicating sounds of that punchy small block in favor of a turbo'd inline-six?
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. Full profile
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