Chevrolet promised big things when it debuted the new, 650-HP Camaro ZL1 earlier this year. It seems the company is making good on its promises, because an automatic-equipped ZL1 just set a 7:29.60 lap at the Nurburgring, 11.67 seconds quicker than its predecessor. Chevy's got the video to prove it, and you need to watch.
This Nurburgring run was done by Drew Cattell, the ride and handling engineer for the Camaro. Interestingly, he leaves the car in full automatic mode for the whole lap, never touching the paddles once. Chevy's making a big deal about the ZL1's new 10-speed automatic, and this run serves to prove its point. Of course, you can still get the ZL1 with a six-speed manual.
The ZL1 was spotted testing at the Nurburgring a few months ago, and it looked incredibly fast. That's not suprising given how sophisticated the new Camaro's chassis is, and the fact that it shares its supercharged V8 with the Corvette Z06 certainly helps. Base price for the 2017 ZL1 is $62,000, and given what the car is capable of, that seems like a bargain to us.
