R&T: Camaro That Does a Lap Time Below Seven Minutes at the Racing Track Known as the
 

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars...wheelie-stuff/


The ZL1 1LE has brought the Camaro to new heights, but chief engineer Al Oppenheiser isn't done yet. Speaking to Hagerty at the Detroit Auto Show, Oppenheiser outlined some of his next goals for the Chevy pony car. Among them? A sub-seven-minute Nürburgring lap time, and possibly a street-legal drag-racer.

The subject of Nürburgring laps came up when Hagerty asked if the ZL1 1LE could beat any of the Dodge Viper ACR's 13 US road-course lap records. "We think there’s more in it," he told Hagerty. "We’re going to keep tinkering around with it. Wouldn’t it be cool to see a Camaro under 7:00 at the Nurburgring? I’d like to see it."

Last summer, the ZL1 1LE ran a 7:16.04 around the Nürburgring, 13 seconds quicker than the regular ZL1. Shaving an additional 16 seconds off that time would be a huge task. Maybe the ZL1 1LE could get carbon-ceramic brakes, just like the prototype we spotted a few weeks ago in suburban Michigan.

When Hagerty asked if the ZL1 1LE marks the pinnacle of the Camaro lineup, Oppenheiser hinted at the possibility of an even-faster Camaro—perhaps something akin to a Dodge Demon competitor.

"Who said we capped the line? We did for the moment," Oppenheiser said. "We’re looking at performance drag packs for the street, we’re looking at any available horsepower that will fit in the car, trying to stay relevant and on top. That’s a very vague way of saying we’re still playing. There’s a lot of bandwidth to play in this segment."

Related to to a "drag pack" Camaro, Oppenheiser mentioned how his team collaborated with Chevy's Performance Parts division when working on the new ZL1. Apparently, the Performance Parts crew was tasked with durability testing the new 10-speed automatic transmission. Try as they did, they never managed to break it, Oppenheiser said.

The Camaro boss also hints at some good news for the opposite end of the Camaro spectrum. He says his team is working with Chevrolet Performance on some upgrade parts and packages for the Camaro's base turbocharged four-cylinder.

Today's Camaro lineup offers a wide variety of performance, but clearly, Oppenheiser sees more potential for the car. We can't wait to see what he's got in mind.

That car will be the Z/28 IMO, The future looks good thanks Al for moving this car forward.

Only way a Camaro cracks a sub-7 quarter mile is by being supercharged...or turbo'd.....

Don't expect to see it wearing a Z/28 badge... just don't..

No it does not, you can do it with an SB4 and there is a heritage there with AL and the company that makes that and the old C4 ZR1 motor, they both work on that car.

my thoughts exactly, an LT5 powered Camaro maybe but not an NA one.

I'm assuming your talking about the Mercury racing 7.0L. That engine is not street legal/ won't pass emissions. They would have to really dial it back and at that point does it make sense if it makes less power than the LT4

Funny how a car that is close to 15 years old can do a 7:01:30 and its Viper ACR-Extreme, with a The drag coefficient of 0.54 all they had to do was add more power.

The odds of an LT5 Camaro are somewhere between 0 and none. No way in hell does the LT5 see the engine bay of anything but the ZR1.

Didn't the Viper ACR Extreme only weigh around 3300 pounds?

The other thing that makes me think it won't be an NA engine that puts a Camaro sub 7 is this.

The Z06/Z07 Could not beat the ACR. So what did team Corvette do, they went full aero and LT5 for the ZR1. They tried going NA for the Z06 and couldn't do it. They didn't go to Mercury Marine again to revisit the LT5 for the ZR1 (Which I'll admit would have been cool). They went more power revised the LT4 into the LT5. That to me tells me they don't have an NA engine GM feels can make enough power to hit the performance goals they want

We don’t know what the goals were for the n/a engine. They could have been trying for 575-600 hp and failed. The issue is they tried to turn the Z06 into a do everything car. That’s why we have a 3550 lbs “track” Corvette. Because they chased sales, we got an overweight, overheating pig of a car that can put down insane hero laps, but that’s all.

Also true

But we can see the ZR1 is supposed to be ultimate in Corvette performance and what path did they choose to power it. Supercharged

And I could be completely wrong too, they could have something insane up their sleeves. And it could be the most bad ass camaro ever, I personally just don't see an NA camaro out doing the ZLE is all.

Se this is why i think the next car will be a Z/28 as the last of the 6th gen halo car.

If it's that fast - it won't be naturally aspirated. And the only engines that **might** be up to the task will be found in the mid-engined car, not the Camaro for the first couple of years. Which is why I don't think there will be a Z/28 this gen. But I'm going out on a limb for that.

Instead...I think they might be toying with a track "upgrade" beyond what the ZL1 1LE already has. Perhaps that's what the black car we saw was about?

Drag packs....Mag Ride and transmission calibrations?

LT5 blower kit?

The possibilities are endless...I just don't see the Z/28 among them for gen SIX. The opportunity was the ZL1 1LE, and that's passed.

Only time will tell, but i dont see them updating the ZL1LE, at the risk of pissing off all the ZL1LE owners they now have, it will have a different name when it comes out, if its a N.A. car they will call it a Z/28 if its not N.A. then a new Name, i still hope for the Z/28.

The Viper is a beast of a car, but it is about as perfect a balance on a street car as you can get. You're still talking about a 100k car however...

The last ZR1 only made the one run, and as far as I know, they never re-ran it..

Could very easily see it as an upgrade package available to both old/new customers. And, I can absolutely see it being similar to them offering the 1LE package solo....

It's not that much of a stretch to buy it, given what they did with the recent Drag Pack offering...