The 2014 Camaro Z/28 might just be the greatest factory-built musclecar launched last year. We knew that before Chevy started bragging about the vehicle’s “flying car” logic or telling us about the 28 reasons that make it awesome at the track.
Not many street-legal cars are developed like they’re intended to be raced at the track, but the 2014 Camaro Z/28 is certainly one of them. It’s all in the little details. For instance, did you know that Chevrolet was able to improve airflow to the engine and lower coolant and oil temperature by 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 Celsius) by replacing the regular bowtie badge with one that had its gold center cut out?
It may not sound like much, but it was enough for Chevrolet engineers to decide that the new “flowtie” is transferred from the prototype to the production car.
“There are engineers in our team that race as a hobby,” said powertrain engineer Richard Quinn, “and we used that racer’s mindset to look for ways small or large to get better performance out of the Z/28. Even the smallest details on the Z/28 were weighed for cooling benefit, and this is one that stuck.”
“The Flowtie is just one example of the team’s focus on track performance,” added Camaro chief engineer Al Oppenheiser. “That same attention to detail is evident throughout the cooling systems for the LS7 engine, as well as the carbon ceramic brakes and the differential.”
Scheduled to arrive in dealerships this spring, the 2014 Camaro Z/28 weighs 300 pounds less than the Camaro ZL1 and sports a 7.0-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine under the hood. The 505-hp, 481-lb-ft musclecar starts from $75,000 in the United States.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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