2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Hot Lap! - 2017 Best Driver's Car Contender - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

Pro driver Randy Pobst hot laps the 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for Motor Trend's 2017 Best Driver's Car.

Transcript

00:00 (engine revving)

00:02 How do you make a 650 horsepower Camaro even better?

00:13 Think like a track day weekend warrior,

00:15 which is exactly what Chevy did.

00:17 Stickier tires, stiffer shocks, and a big old wing.

00:20 In fairness, the ZL1 1LE's aero kit

00:23 is much more than just a wing.

00:25 There's a stiff splitter, shin splintering dive planes,

00:28 and the previously mentioned carbon fiber wing.

00:30 That taken together helped create 300 pounds of downforce

00:33 at 155 miles per hour.

00:35 Then you have the specially developed tires from Goodyear

00:38 that provide tremendous amounts of grip

00:40 to go along with all that downforce.

00:42 Finally, the shocks are spool valve dampers.

00:44 The same technology you'll find on supercars like the Ford GT,

00:47 hypercars like the upcoming AMG Project One,

00:50 and honest to goodness F1 cars.

00:53 But how does it all add up on the track?

00:55 (engine revving)

00:57 Yeah, this car stops.

01:14 (engine revving)

01:16 (engine revving)

01:19 Brutally strong power.

01:27 And I like it.

01:30 (engine revving)

01:34 I got a long neck,

01:41 so the visibility out of the Camaro is just fine by me.

01:44 (engine revving)

01:47 Good old manual shifter.

01:53 (engine revving)

01:55 These work.

02:02 God, this thing stops.

02:04 (engine revving)

02:11 The Camaro generates a lot of G's.

02:14 (engine revving)

02:17 In the weeds.

02:26 (engine revving)

02:29 You know what, a pleasure to drive.

02:38 Beast of a car.

02:40 I love pony cars,

02:42 and that right there is the ultimate,

02:44 ultimate pony car right now.

02:46 Yeah, I have my little nits to pick here and there,

02:49 but wow, the power.

02:50 This thing just handles so well.

02:53 It was very much at home on the racetrack.

02:55 I love the huge power.

02:57 It's not a lightweight car, but it handles like one.

03:01 The overall grip was tremendous.

03:02 It was interesting how this car at a similar speed

03:05 would stick to the road over the jump in turn one.

03:09 That's the benefit of that giant wing,

03:11 and we can see these huge dive planes

03:13 on the front of the Camaro.

03:15 I'm gonna say it was not perfectly balanced,

03:17 but when we put it in the context of what it is,

03:19 a front engine, rear drive car with 650 horsepower,

03:23 the traction was incredible.

03:25 It put down power extremely well.

03:27 Tremendous amount of braking grip was available.

03:30 Very, very pleasing and satisfying how late I could brake

03:34 in what is a relatively heavy car.

03:36 Tremendous power going up the hills.

03:38 The bottom line is here,

03:40 Chevrolet has built the ultimate pony car.

03:43 - Meet the supercar killing Camaro.

03:45 The ZL1 one of these time of 134.30

03:49 is not just quick for a Camaro, it's quick for a supercar.

03:52 That time is better than any McLaren

03:54 we've ever ran around with in the Sega,

03:56 save for the million dollar P1.

03:58 It's quicker than any Nissan GTR, full stop.

04:02 Just five short years ago, that time would have been

04:04 good enough to set the production car lap record.

04:06 Again, we're talking about a Camaro.

04:09 Some judges felt that the stiff,

04:11 and we're talking crazy super stiff,

04:13 rear suspension made the ZL1 one of these

04:15 more of a track day novelty than an actual driver's car.

04:19 (car engine revving)

04:22 (car engine revving)

04:25 (car engine revving)

04:28 (car engine revving)

04:31 (dramatic music)

2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE Hot Lap! - 2017 Best Driver's Car Contender

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