Tag Archives: Camaro

2013 Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE vs. 2013 Ford Mustang GT Track Package

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Motor Trend puts together the latest comparison from the ongoing muscle car war with Chevrolet’s awesome new 1LE handling package for the Camaro SS and Ford’s Track Package for the Mustang GT. The $3500 1LE Package uses huge 10 and 11 inch wide wheels, custom tuned mono-tube shocks, bigger anti-roll bars, a 3.91:1 final drive and some minor driveline enforcement to fix the stock Camaro’s handling problems for track use. Ford’s $1500 GT Track Package includes the anti-sway bars from the GT500, retuned shocks and springs, 19″ wheels with Pirelli summer tires, Performance Friction brake pads, recalibrated ABS and traction control and a shorter (numerically larger) 3.73:1 final drive with carbon fiber clutch plates. The guys put the two cars against each other at the drag strip and then around the Horse Thief Mile at Willow Springs with Randy Pobst behind the wheel.


Source: Motor Trend on YouTube

2013 Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE

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Chevrolet provides another point to the argument that we are currently in the new golden age of the Muscle Car with the $3500 1LE package for the Camaro SS. GM basically gave their suspension guys who do track driving free reign to make the Camaro handle well. The result is “The best handling Camaro yet! *thumbs up*” according to Randy Pobst. Huge wheel and tire upgrades form the core of the 1LE upgrades. The fronts are 10 inches wide and the rears are 11 with 285/35/20 Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires (same as the ZL1 fronts) at all four corners. Monotube shocks with revised damping replace the stock twin tube. Larger anti-roll bars were also added, 27mm in the front and 28mm in the rear. The fact that the rear bar is larger than the front is probably where the engineers killed most of the regular SS’s horrible understeer. Power output remains the same as the SS but the final drive is upped to 3.91:1 to give a little better acceleration. Reliability modifications round out the 1LE package with various beefed up links, mounts and half shafts. The $3500 price tag for the 1LE upgrades beats what you could buy in the aftermarket and have an added bonus of coming with a factory warranty. It also seems like the engineers got the suspension tuning right on a sweet spot that turns the Camaro into a true driver’s car that gets better with the harder you push it. The base price starts at under $34,000 with the car they tested here optioned out to $46,000. That puts the 1LE in direct competition with the Ford Mustang Boss 302. Both cars focused on the chassis balance instead of huge power upgrades which is something kind of new and pretty awesome for Detroit. Lets hope Motor Trend will do a Head 2 Head episode with the Camaro 1LE and Mustang Boss 302.


Sources: Motor Trend on YouTube and CAR and DRIVER

2013 Shelby GT500 vs. 2012 Camaro ZL1 – Hot Rod Magazine

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The guys at Hot Rod Magazine get their hands on the Shelby GT500 and Camaro ZL1 press cars after they’ve made their rounds getting formal reviews by British guys here and here. Instead of doing the same thing again, they just have fun with the cars testing their burnout abilities, exhaust notes, cup holders vs. bang shifting and drag racing.


Source: Motor Trend on YouTube

2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 vs. Red Devil – Hot Rod Magazine

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Hot Rod Magazine does a showdown between the Camaro ZL1 and Mark Stielow’s 1969 Red Devil Camaro. This is interesting on levels beyond simply old vs. new. The ZL1 is Chevrolet’s ultimate expression of the current Camaro with the LSA supercharged engine, third generation magnetorheological shocks and a high tech computer controlled driver’s aid package. On the other hand, the Red Devil is widely regarded as the ultimate expression of the first generation Camaro with a 750 hp Corvette ZR-1 drive train and Detroit Speed suspension system. Going even deeper than the specs, both cars are essentially built by the same man. Mark Stielow works as a suspension engineer at GM and helped develop the ZL1. Watch the video to see which of his children set the faster lap time around Gingerman Raceway in Michigan.


Source: Hot Rod Magazine on YouTube

Ford Shelby GT500 vs. Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 – Chris Harris

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Here is yet another comparison between the top representatives of the modern muscle car era, the Ford Shelby GT500 and the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Normally I would wait a little longer to post this after the Motor Trend comparison, but I thought Chris Harris offered some fresh insights into these cars. He’s from the UK and spends most of his time driving cars in Europe, so he hasn’t had as much exposure to American muscle cars. Between the two comparisons, you get a really complete picture of what the two cars are like. Harris spends time in both cars driving them around Manhattan at slow speeds and then takes them the track at Monticello to see how they perform at high speeds.


Source: DRIVE on YouTube