Camaro ZL1 is a Mustang-tamer

Posted by hpayne on December 7, 2013

ZL1 shares DNA with sibling Corvette (behind).

ZL1 shares DNA with sibling Corvette (behind). (Henry Payne / The Detroit News)

The lower, wider, sleeker 2015 Mustang debuted this week to broaden its appeal to European and Chinese markets. “We’ve benchmarked it to the BMW M3 and the Porsche Cayman,” says Frank Davis, Executive Director of Ford North American Product Programs. But it’s not just foreign-born stallions that the iconic pony will be chasing.

It will also be hoofing after the Chevy Camaro.

Since the latest evolution of the Camaro in 2010, the chiseled sports sedan has displaced the mighty Mustang as America’s muscle car of choice. The Camaro appears poised to retain its title in 2013 with 77,000 in sales so far this year, a healthy 4,000 more than its rival. Just as significantly, the Camaro has carved out its own pop culture niche as star of Hollywood’s “Transformer” movies to counter Mustang’s celebrity status as a star of screen (“Bullitt”) and song (“Mustang Sally”). “The Transformers movie has made Camaro very popular in China,” says David Leone, GM Executive Chief Engineer for Performance Programs. High import duties keep sales low at 500 units a year, but the car’s celebrity gets new Chinese buyers inside showrooms.

But Camaro doesn’t succeed on good looks alone. Its independent suspension-induced athleticism has forced Mustang to abandon its solid rear axle for the first time in 50 years. Where the powerful Mustang made its name pulverizing the competition into submission, the Camaro floats like a butterfly and stings like a behemoth.

“If it were only about straight-line acceleration, we would take our fallout-shelter time machine back to the ’60s and stay there,” wrote Car & Driver in crowning Camaro best muscle car in 2012. “The Camaro does almost everything with more refinement and with more empathy for its driver. One’s a gorilla, the other’s a racehorse. Which one would you rather ride?”

A ride in the two bloodline’s top performers, the Mustang Shelby GT500 and Camaro ZL1 confirms that conclusion. The awesome, 662 HP GT500 is a ball in a straight line, but turn the wheel and the adventure begins. Thanks to electronic stability control, you can do lurid things in the $55K Shelby and never lose control. But I still wouldn’t recommend riding that wild horse on a country road without lessons first.

Not so Camaro’s ZL1 which I drove in Palm Spring’s intimidating San Bernardino Mountains recently.

With 580 HP and 556 lbs-ft of torque at its disposal from a 6.2 liter, supercharged V-8 (getting goose bumps, aren’t you?), the ZL1 can gobble up plenty of road, but throw it into a corner and you won’t be reaching for the ejector seat button. Thanks to magnetic ride shocks and supple suspension, the Camaro shares more DNA with its Corvette sibling than just an engine. The result is behavior more akin to a sports car than a bucking bronco. With the first rule of torque in mind — modulate, don’t floor, the pedal on a car with more than 3 liters out of corners — the big ZL1 blasted nimbly through the hills of California.

There are flaws, sure. For drive-in lovers the big Camaro’s tight back seat is not much of an option, and rear visibility is compromised by the car’s high window sills and big corner pillars. And the hand brake is on the passenger side of the center console. Huh? But even Arnold Schwarzenegger had gapped front teeth.

Competition lifts all boats — er, horses — and the Camaro-Mustang rivalry has delivered a class of muscle car almost unrecognizable 40 years ago. My $61,140 ZL1 came with accessories like leather Recaro sports seats, a grippy suede steering wheel, smoldering ring-white LED lights, and huge Brembo brakes hiding behind wide, 20-inch wheels front and rear.

Mustang will counter this weapons assault with a more fuel-efficient, 2.3-liter turbo engine in its entry-level 2015 pony to go with its more European face. That attention to the muscle car’s base customer looking for affordability — not just brawn —in their sports sedan should pay dividends with both women and foreign buyers (where ya’ gotta’ rob banks to afford gas). Will Camaro counter when it redesigns its icon? Will it reveal its own small-block turbo? Will it soften its menacing front cowl?

For now, the new Mustang has had to adapt to the Camaro, which, as the ZL1 proves, sets the standard for American muscle.

 

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