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The pony car wars are still in full force and the Chevrolet Camaro is on the forefront of every battle. The seasoned muscle car boasts a muscular exterior with sleek lines and a powerful engine mounted behind that familiar face. The rear-wheel drive Chevrolet Camaro is powered by a 3.6L V6 engine delivering 304hp and 273 lb-ft of torque, but the better choice is found in the 6.2L V8 engine cranking out 400/426hp and 410/420lb-ft of torque. These engines are mated to either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. 2013 Mustang GT500 vs 2013 Camaro ZL1 - Florida Heat Beats the ZL1 
We have seen the competition between the 2013 Mustang GT500 and the Camaro ZL1 get exhausted in the last few weeks, so seeing yet another comparison doesn’t really interest us much. Then again, if that competition is happening live on a public track and it is between two competitors that have been jawing at each other via forum flame posts, well, we suddenly become extremely interested. So the story begins with us taking a short trip from the TopSpeed offices down to the Miami Homestead racetrack for a day full of watching various cars tackle the track. We stumbled upon this situation of a stock 2013 GT500 with under 1,000 miles on its clock and 650 ponies under the hood, and a Camaro ZL1, which was modified by Torq and is touted as a true racecar, ready to go head-to-head to settle their online feud of which is better. The Camaro ZL1 admittedly had supercharger overheating issues in the past, so Torq installed a high capacity water pump to help aid in the cooling. Apparently, Torq overestimated the capacity of the new pump before heading to Miami and the blazing hot South Florida sun resulted in the engine overheating. Yeah, Torq forgot an important fact, if you install a high-capacity water pump, you need to raise the amount of coolant stored in the cooling system. Ironically, Torq is quoted as saying that pitting the GT500 against this modified ZL1 is “like bringing a knife to a gun fight” and we agree, because the GT500 is better known as a drag-style car and the ZL1 truly is a better road handler. Let’s see if Torq can rectify this issue and get us a good race to see. 06/03/12 Update from Torq: Okay, so it appears as if our article ruffled some feathers in regards to the guys involved in the race and they made it clear that there were a few misunderstandings in our article. We will further clarify what we were intending to demonstrate, as well as include some of the other details that Torq has kindly provided us. First and foremost the statement that the ZL1 is more of a true racecar than the GT500 was not intended to be taken as a statement by Torq. This is the common consensus of the automotive industry, as the ZL1 is a best suited on a road track, whereas the GT500 is better on the drag strip, though both perform well on either track style. This has nothing to deal with any modifications performed on either car, but rather a statement of the fact around each stock model. According to a Torq rep, the GT500 is not as stock as we thought it was. Turns out the GT500 is boasting a cold air intake and a performance ECU tune. Torq claims that this puts the GT500 up to 740 to 750 horsepower. And, yes, we rounded the GT500 down to 650 horsepower, when it is in fact 662 ponies. Also according to Torq, the ZL1 is at a drastic horsepower disadvantage, which we, of course, expect, given the factory performance differences. It also turns out that Torq actually did attempt to compensate for the addition coolant flow by adding in an aftermarket heat exchanger that adds about two additional gallons to the cooling capacity and experimenting with several auxiliary coolant reservoirs, without success. Unfortunately, Torq did not specify why the ZL1 was running hot. In closing, we are not taking side with either car. We were excited to see this type of real-life comparison take place and unfortunately, it did not. So hopefully you guys can get this heating issue worked out and back onto the track. On an aside, you can catch the ZL1 in an upcoming issue of GM High Tech, so it is very clear that these guys are no amateurs. Update #3 from RevanRacing The GT500 did not have a full blown aftermarket cold air intake but a "factory" ford racing part that is known as a resonator eliminator and makes the supercharger whine louder. The car did have a tune estimated at around 60+ horsepower. No doubt we will here more about the Torq ZL1 fight against RevanRacing GT500 in the near future because if there is something we have learned, it is that loosing is not an option for any of them. Full story 2013 Chevrolet Camaro Euro-Spec
The Camaro was first launched in 1967, in response to the overwhelming popularity of the Ford Mustang, which hit the market three years earlier. It carried on as a North American model only, just like the Mustang, for 35 years before being discontinued. It picked up where it left off as a North American model in 2010 when Chevy re-introduced it. In 2013, the Camaro is set to makes its biggest move ever, as for the first time ever, the Camaro is heading over to the European market, legally. For many years, Camaro enthusiasts had to spend thousands of dollars in shipping fees, taxes, and registration to import a Camaro into Europe, but that’s all over for 2013. Ford is still massaging the new Mustang body for release in Europe, making a model that is almost unrecognizable as a Mustang, but Chevy isn’t going that route. The Euro-Spec Camaro, on the surface, is just about identical to the American model. Now, under the skin, the Euro-Spec is a little different than the American version, but not in the way you would expect it. Click past the jump to read our full review on the Euro-Spec Camaro. Full story
2013 Chevrolet Camaro WTCC Safety CarThe 2012 FIA World Touring Car Championship season has received a surge in popularity in the past few years. Capitalizing on this new-found attention, the WTCC has enlisted the services of an American icon to serve as its official safety car: the fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. Although the WTCC Camaro Safety Car will carry a serial engine, it still carries enough juice - 432 horsepower’s worth of it - to outpace all the touring cars in the series by as much as 40%. The WTCC Camaro Safety Car will be piloted by Portuguese driver Bruno Correia, a veteran racer that has been involved in over 350 races. Needless to say, Correia is more than qualified to be behind the wheel of the car that is instrumental in restoring order in the often chaotic and action-packed races of the WTCC. The WTCC even has a video explaining the need for a car of the Camaro’s stature to serve as its official safety car. You can check that out by clicking on the photo above.
Video: Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 vs Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Dyno ComparisonIf we were to compare the official numbers provided by Ford and Chevrolet, the horse power difference between a 2013 Mustang Shelby GT500 and a Camaro ZL1 would be off by about 82 HP (662 HP for the Mustang and 580 HP for the Camaro). However, a recent dyno test provided by Inside Line with the two cars side by side, revealed a difference of close to 100 HP: 595 HP at 6600 HP for the Mustang and 497 HP at 6000 rpm for the Camaro. Either way, the result is the same: the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is the victor, as well as the meaner sounding vehicle, of the two. Does this mean that Ford automatically wins the muscle car war? Well, that depends on what Chevrolet has up their sleeve. Make your move, Chevrolet! 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS/RC1
Richard Childress Racing Street Performance partnered with General Motors to create RC1 Camaros to pay homage to legendary racer, Dale Earnhardt. The latest rendition of the RC1 series came just one model year after the Camaro beat all odds and made a successful comeback following its deletion in 2002. This 2011 Camaro SS/RC1 is based on the 2011 Camaro SS, but features much more than any normal SS on the market. It not only features a stylish design, but it also packs a mean bite under the hood. This particular 2011 Camaro SS/RC1 was not offered to the public, but instead Richard Childress Racing (RCR) built several of the RC1 Camaros and shipped them straight to RK Motors Charlotte. The RC1 is the first of the series and the least powerful of the three. Of course, being the least powerful of the RC-series is not saying much, as the top-end RC3 pumps out a concrete pummeling 750 horsepower. The best thing is that this special edition Chevy Camaro is in a price range that a working class Joe can actually afford. You may be wondering how much it actually is and what you get for your money. Click past the jump to read our full review and answer all of your questions. Full story 1969 Chevrolet Camaro COPO 427 Yenko
In the 1960s two of the big three, Chevrolet and Ford, each had their own secret weapons in the form of racecar drivers turned muscle car builders. Ford had the recently deceased Carroll Shelby modifying Mustangs for SCCA use and sale, whereas Chevy had the late Don Yenko modifying a wide array of their muscle cars, the most popular being the Camaro. Yenko also ran multiple Chevy dealerships where the bulk of his creations were sold. In 1967 and 1968, Yenko was dropping 427 cubic-inch monsters from Corvettes into Camaro bodies and creating some of the most powerful Camaros of the era. One of Yenko’s crowning achievements came in 1969 when Yenko was tired of selling Camaros with limited warranties because of his modifications and convinced Chevy to add a 427-equipped Camaro to its special equipment ordering system, known as COPO. This addition of the 427-equipped Camaro to COPO made it possible for Yenko to sell these cars with the GM-standard 5-year or 50,000-mile warranty. Yenko ordered a grand total of 198 of the Camaro 427s available from COPO. The total number of COPO Camaros produced and sold is unknown, but has been rumored as anywhere from 500 to 1,000. With exception of the 427 jammed into the engine compartment, the Camaro 427s came from COPO with almost nothing identifying them as a special model; they even came with the old dog dish hubcaps on steel wheels. Yenko made sure to order his from COPO with 15-inch rally wheels, a front stabilizer bar, and a 140 mph speedometer. The rest of the customization was all Yenko’s doing. Needless to say, these COPO-ordered 1969 Yenko Camaros are tough to come by, but Legendary Motorcar Company got its hands on one and had it up for auction on Ebay. Click past the jump to read more about this COPO-ordered 1969 Yenko Camaro. Full story 1968 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 "Old Reliable"
Super Stock NHRA racing is likely one of the most badass motorsports on the planet, or at least it was back in the 1960s. It was once about as close to stock vehicles as you could possibly get, yet they still screamed down the track. One of the dominant and most memorable cars of the 1960s was Dave Stickler’s Camaro Z/28 dubbed “Old Reliable.” After it claimed the Stock Car World Championship in the 1968 season, “Old Reliable” was retired and sold. In 1993, a buyer used VIN data saved by the Sticklers to track down this beast, after it had been repainted and raced in various events across the nation. Few actually knew what the Camaro once was, but this buyer knew what it was and wanted it, badly. According to some sources, when this buyer went to buy “Old Reliable,” it was actually scheduled to be chopped up for scrap metal. One question that comes to mind is how good of condition can a car that was about to be scraped be in? From what we can see, this thing is in excellent shape and is certainly set to pick up a premium price, now that it has been listed for sale on Ebay by RK Motors Charlotte. Click past the jump to read the full review. Full story
2012 Chevrolet Camaro Transformers Edition by O.CT Tuning
The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro Transformers Edition is already a special vehicle on its own. But for all of the muscle car’s awesomeness, O.CT Tuning has a way to turn it into something even more worthy of its special edition badge. The Swiss tuner has just released a new performance package for the American muscle car, one that would make even Bumblebee proud. On its own, the Camaro Transformers Edition is already powered by a 6.2-liter V8 engine that produces an impressive 602 horsepower and 503 lb/ft of torque. Not content with that output, O.CT Tuning decided to add a supercharger and a new stainless steel exhaust system to the mix. The result? An increased output of 630 horsepower and 538 lb/ft of torque for the Transformers-badged Camaro. Surely, owners of the Camaro Transformers Edition are already enjoying the muscle car’s Rally Yellow exterior paint job, which is exactly the same as the one Bumblebee sports in the three Transformers movies. Add in the black rally stripes that run the length of the vehicle, the high-wing spoiler, the new set of 20" black-painted wheels wrapped in high-performance summer tires, and the distinctive Autobot logo on the center caps and front quarter panels, and you have a special edition muscle car that brings new definition to the unmistakable Transformers phrase "more than meets the eye." Camaro ZL1 runs the quarter-mile in 11.93-seconds at 116 mphDespite its previous problems, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is still an amazing car who has stolen the hearts of many car enthusiast. And as a proof of what an amazing car it is, the ZL1 has now officially joined the "11-second" club, as engineers recently turned an 11.93-seconds at 116-mph quarter-mile elapsed time run in a showroom-stock Camaro ZL1 automatic. A Camaro ZL1 manual ran an 11.96-second ET at 117 mph. This result comes shortly after the car lapped the famous Nürburgring in 7:41.27. The only "special equipment" this car was wearing were a pair of the factory-issued Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G:2 tires developed specifically for it. Everything else was stock from factory. "The ZL1 is great at everything and we’re very proud of that," said Tony Roma, Camaro ZL1 program engineering manager. "You can take it to the drag strip and run 11-second quarter-miles all day long. You can also take it to a road course, where it’s balanced, handles well, and does exactly what you want – including lapping Virginia International Raceway’s Grand Course in under three minutes – and yet the ZL1 is sophisticated enough to use as a daily driver. It’s a supercar you can drive every day." Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by Lingenfelter goes up to more than 200 mph
A standard Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 can hit a top speed of "only" 184 mph. But the package recently announced by Lingenfelter has managed the impossible: at a recent test drive at the Continental Tire’s Proving Grounds in Uvalde, Texas on April 30th their car hit a top speed of 202.67 mph. However, it took another two tries before scoring this impressive result, but the car "only" managed to hit 199.8 and 199.9 mph respectively. Behind the wheel was Hot Rod boss David Freiburger. This impressive Camaro ZL1 has been equipped with a GT9 camshaft, CNC ported cylinder heads, an increased supercharger speeds, custom air intake with LPE’s race mesh filter, Continental ExtremeContact(tm) DW tires and production ZL1 wheels. But the most impressive thing is the car’s output: a total of 720 HP and 650 lbs. ft. of torque at the rear wheels! We have to remind you that the same car scored an impressive quarter-mile time just a few weeks ago: 11.03 seconds at 130 mph. So we guess its your move Mustang GT500! | Chevrolet Camaro tuning:Find us on Facebook | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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