Camaro ZL1 Runs the Nurburgring in 7:41.27
Expectations for the Camaro ZL1 are huge. I mean, when you have a 580HP LSR powered, MRC Suspension blessed, monster of a Camaro coming in at a sub $50k price tag it's difficult to keep them tempered. Well, fear not: there's no reason to temper them.
Last week, Mark Reuss, the president for GM North America, confirmed that the Camaro ZL1 lapped the Nurburgring in 7:41.27. 7:41.27! That's super-car level good. In fact, that time is better than a lot of official times by super-car level vehicles, such as: 2006 Porsche 911 GT3 (7:42.00), 2009 Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce (7:42.00), 2009 Audi R8 V10 5.2 FSI (7:44.00), 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera (7:46.00), 2006 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano (7:47.00), 2009 Ferrari California GT (7:56.00), and many many others. That's very good company for a sub $50k American sports car. Very very good.
Now, that great time isn't all. No, what makes this already impressive feat even cooler is the excitement with which Reuss delivered it.
From MotorAuthority's article on the Nurburgring time announcement:
Mark Reuss, president of General Motors North America flew from sunny and warm Detroit to rainy and chilly Los Angeles to address media members on Wednesday. Once he arrived, the climate change was evident in the room close to Los Angeles International Airport; this man's enthusiasm for automobiles, motorsports and General Motors is evident by his demeanor and excitement for the future.
The first item Reuss addressed was the vehicle on display outside the hotel where the meeting was held - Chevrolet's Camaro ZL1. The street and circuit-worthy Camaro wasn't terribly pretty but it looked, at first glance, that it was worthy of great performance.
Reuss stated as much - from personal experience - as he was one of the drivers to conduct performance validation on this machine on the famed Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit of 14.173 miles in Germany, where the LSR-powered V8 muscle car turned an incredible 7 minutes, 41.27 seconds in a single lap, he said. Can anyone remember a GM president that was enough of an enthusiast to take part in a session of this type? Didn't think so.
The ZL1 was "forgiving and neutral," Reuss, a Grand-Am-licensed competitor said. "I was able to drive deeper than I ever have." He especially enjoyed passing the Porsche GT3's that were lapping concurrently, before the car was boxed and returned from Germany to the GM proving grounds and then brought to Los Angeles for this morning appearance. The street car will have its debut during the mid-November Los Angeles International Auto Show.
It's great, ultimately, to see that the man in charge of the Camaro ZL1's production is such a fan of the vehicle himself. That sort of joy and excitement is rare in the world of automotive executives and provides even more reason to be excited about the release of the Camaro ZL1. At sub $50k, this car will be, without doubt, among the greatest performance bargains in the automotive world, and for that reason, and all the others we've talked about before concerning this ZL1, it's very difficult to temper my expectations and excitement concerning this exciting new vehicle.
For reference, here's a list of vehicles and their Nurburgring times. The ZL1's place cements it squarely in the realm of super-car:
Pos Make / Model Time Speed (km/h) Year Power (hp) / Weight (kg) Driven by
1. Radical SR8LM 6:48.00 182 0 455 / 650 Radical
2. Radical SR8 6:55.00 179 '05 363 / 650 Radical
3. Gumpert Apollo Speed 7:11.57 172 '09 700 / 1200 Gumpert
4. Dodge Viper SRT-10 ACR 7:12.13 172 '08 600 / 1536 Dominik Farnbacher
5. Lexus LFA Nurburgring Package 7:14.64 171 '12 570 / 1509 Lexus
6. Donkervoort D8 RS 7:14.89 171 '05 350 / 600 Michael Duechting
7. Porsche 911 GT2 RS 7:18.00 169 '10 620 / 1370 Porsche
8. Radical SR3 Turbo 7:19.00 169 '03 320 / 500 Phil Bennett
9. Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 7:19.63 169 '08 647 / 1530 General Motors
10. Dodge Viper SRT-10 ACR 7:22.10 168 '08 600 / 1536 Motor Trend
11. Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Z07 Package 7:22.68 168 '11 512 / 1394 General Motors
12. Lexus LFA Nurburgring Package 7:22.85 167 '12 570 / 1509 Lexus
13. Gumpert Apollo Sport 7:24.00 167 '07 700 / 1200 Sport Auto
14. Nissan GT-R 7:24.22 167 '11 530 / 1736 Nissan
15. Maserati MC12 7:24.29 167 '04 632 / 1335 Marc Basseng
16. Pagani Zonda F Clubsport 7:24.65 167 '05 650 / 1230 Marc Basseng
17. Ferrari Enzo 7:25.21 167 '02 660 / 1365 Marc Basseng
18. Nissan GT-R 7:26.70 166 '08 479 / 1740 Toshio Suzuki
19. Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 7:27.00 166 '11 500 / 1360 Porsche
20. Ferrari 458 Italia 7:28.00 166 '09 570 / 1485 Scuderia Autoropa
21. Porsche Carrera GT 7:28.71 165 '03 612 / 1380 Marc Basseng
22. Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 7:30.00 165 '11 500 / 1360 Sport Auto
23. Porsche 911 GT2 7:31.00 164 '07 530 / 1440 Auto Motor und Sport
24. Porsche 911 Turbo S 7:32.00 164 '10 530 / 1585 Porsche
25. Pagani Zonda F 7:33.00 164 '05 602 / 1371 Sport Auto
26. Porsche 911 GT3 RS 7:33.00 164 '10 450 / 1400 Sport Auto
27. Koenigsegg CCX 7:33.55 164 '06 806 / 1456 Marc Basseng
28. Koenigsegg CCR 7:34.00 163 '04 806 / 1418 Sport Auto
29. Audi R8 GT 7:34.00 163 '10 560 / 1520 Sport Auto
30. Nissan GT-R Spec-V 7:34.46 163 '09 492 / 1680 Best Motoring
31. RUF RT12 7:35.00 163 '05 650 / 1573 Sport Auto
32. Porsche 911 Turbo 7:38.00 162 '06 480 / 1585 Porsche
33. Lexus LF-A 7:38.00 162 '10 560 / 1609 Sport Auto
34. Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera 7:38.00 162 '10 570 / 1430 Sport Auto
35. Ferrari 430 Scuderia 7:39.00 162 '07 510 / 1402 Sport Auto
36. Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 7:40.00 161 '06 640 / 1805 Auto Bild Sportscars
37. McLaren Mercedes SLR 7:40.00 161 '03 626 / 1693 Auto Bild
38. Porsche 911 GT3 7:40.00 161 '09 435 / 1376 Walter Rohrl
39. Porsche 911 Carrera S 7:40.00 161 '11 400 / 1415 Porsche
2012 Camaro ZL1 7:41.27
40. Porsche 911 GT3 7:42.00 161 '06 415 / 1395 Walter Rohrl
41. Radical SR3 7:42.00 161 '02 205 / 495
42. Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce 7:42.00 161 '09 670 / 1664 Sport Auto
43. Chevrolet Corvette Z06 7:42.90 160 '05 513 / 1437 Jan Magnussen
44. Porsche 911 GT3 RS 7:43.00 160 '03 381 / 1360 Motor
45. Pagani Zonda C12 S 7:44.00 160 '02 555 / 1250 Sport Auto
46. Audi R8 V10 5.2 FSI 7:44.00 160 '09 525 / 1620 Sport Auto
47. Mercedes CLK 63 Black Series 7:45.00 159 '07 507 / 1745 Berndt Schneider
48. Gardner Douglas GD T70 Spyder 7:45.00 159 '10 710 / 900 Dario Margutti
49. Porsche 911 GT2 7:46.00 159 '00 460 / 1430 Sport Auto
50. Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera 7:46.00 159 '07 530 / 1520 Auto
51. Jaguar XJ220 7:46.37 159 '92 549 / 1470 John Nielsen
52. Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano 7:47.00 159 '06 620 / 1748 Sport Auto
53. Wiesmann GT MF5 7:47.00 159 '08 507 / 1380 Sport Auto
54. Porsche 911 Turbo 7:47.00 159 '09 500 / 1570 Sport Auto
55. Porsche 911 GT3 RS 7:48.00 158 '06 415 / 1375 Sport Auto
56. BMW M3 GTS 7:48.00 158 '10 450 / 1543 Sport Auto
57. Lamborghini Murcielago 7:50.00 158 '02 580 / 1800 Sport Auto
58. BMW M3 CSL 7:50.00 158 '03 360 / 1385 Sport Auto
59. Porsche 911 Carrera S 7:50.00 158 '08 385 / 1425
60. Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series 7:51.00 157 '09 670 / 1870 Sport Auto
61. Lamborghini Gallardo 7:52.00 157 '03 500 / 1613 Sport Auto
62. Ford GT 7:52.00 157 '04 550 / 1538 Sport Auto
63. Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 7:52.00 157 '08 560 / 1530 Sport Auto
64. Mercedes CLK DTM 7:54.00 156 '04 582 / 1678 Sport Auto
65. Porsche 911 GT3 7:54.00 156 '03 380 / 1380 Sport Auto
66. Ferrari F430 7:55.00 156 '05 489 / 1450 Sport Auto
67. Caterham R500 1.8L K Series 7:55.00 156 '99 233 / 450 EVO
68. BMW M5 7:55.00 156 '11 560 / 1870 BMW
69. Porsche 911 Turbo 7:56.00 156 '00 420 / 1540 Sport Auto
70. Ferrari 360 CS 7:56.00 156 '03 425 / 1280 Sport Auto
71. Ferrari California GT 7:56.00 156 '09 460 / 1787
72. Porsche Panamera Sport Chrono Turbo 7:56.00 156 '09 500 / 1974 Auto Bild
73. Porsche Panamera Turbo 7:56.00 156 '09 500 / 1870 Walter Rohrl
74. Chevrolet Corvette Z06 7:56.00 156 '02 411 / 1414 General Motors
75. Porsche 911 GT3 7:56.33 156 '99 360 / 1350 Walter Rohrl