Originally Posted by LOWDOWN
From Inside Line:
2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Best Lap: 1:25.57
The ZL1 is a car in which you feel instantly comfortable. You can start pounding around with impunity from the first sighting lap. Why? For one, its electric-assist steering is superb, with excellent feel and proper weighting. Combine that with those wide tires and magnetic dampers and this car has plenty of grip, always going exactly where you point it and staying planted.
The brakes didn't disappoint either, with a firm pedal that remained that way throughout our hot lapping. There's also less dive and more control when entering turns quickly compared to the Mustang that gives you the confidence to mash on the Camaro's brakes at the last second.
The ZL1's shifter is also superb. Not just because of its sexy suede covering, but because the short lever slides precisely and easily into the next gear every time, unlike the Shelby's linkage which is at times balky and requires a heavier hand. This is especially important for the Camaro driver, because its shorter gearing requires more shifting per lap than the Mustang.
And then there's PTM. We ran the Camaro in its most serious mode, PTM-5, which turns the stability system off and puts traction control into Race setting. When proper grip is available, and on our hot day in the desert it certainly was, you can literally wood the throttle like a goon at, or just before, corner apex. It's unnatural at first, and your brain tells you that it's not going to work. But just when you're about to give up, it delivers the perfect amount of slip out of a corner and you feel like a hero. From that point on, the Camaro becomes your best friend.
It's still a Camaro, though, so it has some faults. It struggled mightily with understeer through the final skid pad turn leading onto Willow's front straight. No amount of throttle adjustments would cure this, and there's not a thing PTM can do about understeer.
The ZL1 could also use a better pair of front seats, as the wide buckets — which are thoroughly comfortable — just don't have the lateral support of the Shelby's optional Recaros.
2013 Ford Shelby GT500
Best lap: 1:24.92
All it took was one lap around Streets of Willow in the Shelby GT500 and we understood why Ford officials conducted the initial press drives with the traction control system on. This thing is a wild ride. An edge-of-your-seat, check-the-life-insurance, remember-your-kids kind of ride that is unmatched in the pony car world.
While the Shelby has significantly more power than the ZL1, it also has skinnier tires and less sophisticated chassis, damper and traction control systems. Its engine may be ahead of the Camaro's, but everything else is a bit behind.
And because Ford's AdvanceTrac Sport setting affects the stability control system, unlike Chevy's PTM-5, the system is more restrictive (and slower) than driving with everything off. So we turned everything off. And tried to hold on.
You're a lot busier behind the wheel in the Mustang, constantly controlling throttle-on oversteer as the engine's prodigious power dominates. Getting sideways is the slow way around a track, but the Mustang's throttle-steering talents did help it rotate better through the tighter turns.
The Mustang's steering offers less feedback than the Camaro and the chassis gets upset more easily by quick transitions, with more body roll and a looser tail. It's a chore to keep the Mustang on the track, but it's more fun if you're just looking for the most slides per mile.
More than anything, the ferocity with which the Shelby rockets and bellows down the straights puts it in a different world than the Camaro. And for some, the utter ground-pounding speed of the Shelby is worth its lack of precision.
What Do the Numbers Say?
Looking at the data from our VBOX timing system, several things come to light. The most obvious is the Mustang's speed advantage when the track turns straight. Its maximum velocity was more than 5 mph higher than the Camaro on the fastest part of the track — the back straight before a blind chicane.
Possibly because the Camaro was going slower but also because it's more precise, we held our speed longer into that chicane, and the lack of confidence in the Mustang made it 7 mph slower at the hard, downhill off-camber left-hander that follows.
Through the skid pad turn that leads onto the front straight, the GT500's ability to steer with the throttle helped. But while the GT500 carried a brilliant slide off the skid pad onto the straight, Chevy's PTM system put the power down and pushed the Camaro faster onto the straight, with a 2-mph advantage at start/finish before being gobbled up by the GT500 prior to Turn 1.
The data also showed how much more consistent our lines and lap times were with the Camaro. In contrast, the Mustang's laps were filled with lots of throttle and steering adjustments, not to mention plenty of slides.
The Winner
So which is the better track car? Without question, it's the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Sure, it's possible to throw down a golden lap in the Mustang if you get everything right, but duplicating that time is never easy. And you'll be working far harder and more over the limit in the Shelby.
The Camaro ZL1 can turn consistent fast laps all day. It's infinitely more precise and capable, and genuinely rewarding in its engineering goodness. The fact that it was only about a half second off the Shelby's best time despite a huge power deficit speaks volumes.
The ZL1 has taken pony cars to a new level of handling and on-track composure that, frankly, we didn't think was possible. It makes the Camaro ZL1 the new definition of American Badassery. One that's really not bad at all.
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