The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 caught our attention for a variety of things, chief among them being its distinction of having the most powerful engine a Camaro has ever had. It's powered by an LSA 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 engine that produces an estimated 550 horsepower and 550 lb/ft of torque so you know that there aren’t any donkeys under that hood.

Seeing as it’s a Camaro, the number of tuners itching to get on the ZL1 bandwagon figures to be a crapshoot sooner than later. But the creds should definitely go to SLP Performance for getting the first crack at building a ZL1 kit – sort of.

While it’s technically true that the kit is for the Camaro ZL1, the Camaro used by SLP Performance is actually that of the Camaro SS. Nevertheless, SLP Performance’s work on the Camaro, and the subsequent ZL1 tag attached to it, more than makes up for using a Camaro SS to turn it into a ZL1. There’s plenty of aerodynamic and performance upgrades to go around so you really won’t feel cheated if you do decide to splurge on one of the 69 available units.

Details on the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by SLP Performance after the jump.

2011 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by SLP Performance

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2011 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by SLP Performance
  • Engine/Motor: 427 CID engine
  • Horsepower: 750hp
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array
Pros
Cons

Exterior and Interior

Dressing up a Chevrolet Camaro doesn’t seem necessary given the already awesome aesthetic the car comes in. Nevertheless, SLP Performance still gave it a nice exterior and interior dress-up. The front of the Camaro is all dressed up in an all carbon fiber hood, an SLP front fascia with a unique grille assembly, an SLP front splitter with a carbon fiber finish, and SLP grill insert graphics. The back of the car gets a bevy of additions including an SLP ZL1 high lip rear spoiler with a carbon fiber finish that matches the hood, a trunk lid carbon fiber finish that also matches the hood, an SLP rear diffuser with carbon fiber finish and unique exhaust tips with polished aluminum tips, a ZL1 fender and rear deck lid badging, factory bowtie badges front and rear with blue inserts, a painted rear tail light black-out panel, and a set of SLP forged light-weight 9″x20″ wheels on the front and 10.5″ x 20″ wheels at the back.

Inside the Camaro ZL1, there are plenty of upgrades to go around as well, including a Katzkin-made leather interior trim package for both the front and rear seats, the center: Ash, Medium Red, Orange, Pacific, Vanilla, Sunrise Red, and Hounds Tooth. In addition to that, there will also be ZL1 embroidered logos in the headrests.

Performance

Technically speaking, the Camaro SS already has a powerful engine in its own right - a 6.2L V8 engine that produces 422 horsepower and 408 lb/ft of torque. Apparently for SLP Performance, having that engine isn't enough to turn this Camaro SS into a ZL1. So they decided to have their own custom built 427 CID engine with aluminum blocks and heads, and combine that with an SLP TVS 2300 Supercharger. The result is a Camaro that come with a staggering output of 750 horsepower. That's more like it.

Pricing

You want this monster Camaro in your garage? Well, you better get ready to shell out quite a lump sum of money to the tune of $80,000. But wait, it gets better. That $80,000 doesn't even include the base car itself. Just in case you're still interested, you better get off those rocking chairs and get yours first because SLP Performance will only be releasing 69 of these bad boys on the market.

Competition

With the number of tuned-up Camaros proliferating the market these days, it seems right to make compare this Camaro to another tuned-up vehicle of the same make. Since SLP's version has 750 horsepower under its hood, one other version that can match wits and metal is that of Baldwin-Motion and Redline Motorsports and its plethora of different packages, including an SS-427 that has 525 horsepower, a Phase III 427 that outs 600 horsepower, an SS-454 that nets 550 horsepower, a PHASE III 454 that produces 625 horsepower and, the cream-of-the-crop, a PHASE III 427-SC that unleashes a gawdy 800 horsepower.

At this point, it's hard to figure out which aftermarket company has the better offering, but given the extensive work done by SLP Performance and the question marks surrounding Redline's work, we're going to stick with the sure thing, even if it costs more than a bucket full of gold and limited to only 69 units.