Another day, another car hits a record number at the Nurburgring. It’s the American Muscle this time, the Chevrolet Camaro, in the 2018 ZL1 1LE guise, which took on the northern loop of the Nordschleife and recorded an impressive time of 7:16.04seconds.
The ZL1 1LE becomes the fastest Camaro to hit the Nurburgring, being 13seconds faster than the regular ZL1.It beats commendable names such as stable mate C6 Corvette ZR1 (7:26.4seconds), previous-generation Porsche 911 GT2 RS (7:18seconds), Nissan GTR (7:19.10seconds) and Ferrari 488 GTB (7:21.63). To put things in perspective, the track focused Camaro is just a couple of seconds slower than the Lexus LFA Nurburgring package (7:14.64seconds)
This makes the hardcore Camaro one of the fastest rear-wheel-drive cars in the world to go around the gruesome German racetrack. The Mercedes-AMG GT R wasthe record holder here (7:10.92seconds) last year. However, the ZL1 1LE costs a fraction of the price and can be had with a six-speed manual transmission.
The Nürburgring lap time was achieved with the ZL1 1LE test car’s suspension adjusted for optimal track performance and running production Goodyear tires, asserts the American carmaker. The 1LE package loses 27kg off the standard ZL1 and there are sleuths of performance additions to make the potent 1LE so much quicker. With racing-based suspension components — including Multimatic DSSV(Dynamic Suspension Spool Valve) both fore and aft dampers — special front dive planes and carbon-fibre rear wing, and the exclusive Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3R summer-only tyres. Power comes from a massive 6.2-litre supercharged V8 pushing out 650horsepower.
The 2018 Camaro ZL1 1LE carries a price tag of just $69,995. The price looks like a complete bargain, given the fact that the ‘modern muscle’ ran the ‘Ring in a brisk time, rivalling that of many expensive cars.
