Watch Hennessey Race the 2017 Chevy Camaro ZL1 Against the Corvette Z06

The tuner also took the 650-horsepower muscle car up to its 173-mph top speed.

byAaron Brown|
Chevrolet News photo
Share

0

The speed-crazed fools over at Hennessey Performance recently got their hands on a brand-new 2017 Chevy Camaro ZL1. To celebrate the car's presence—with just 26 miles on the odometer—the company's head honcho took the muscle car from zero to 173-miles-per-hour...and pit the new 'Maro against Chevy's flagship sports car, the Corvette Z06.

The Camaro ZL1, which we first saw in person at the New York International Auto Show in March, is one beast of a machine. It shares its 650-horsepower supercharged LT4 V8 with the Z06 and the Cadillac CTS-V; with that monstrous motor, it can do zero to 60 in 3.5 seconds, according to GM. Apparently, it also tops out at 173 miles per hour, as we've just learned from Hennessey in a video shared to the tuner's YouTube channel on Wednesday.

Skip to 2:49 for the good stuff.

Video thumbnail

Right after the run, Hennessey explains that he didn't even shift into the final gear before hitting 173 mph. "It definitely hits top speed in fifth gear, not sixth," the tuner said.

On Thursday, Hennessey uploaded a video to YouTube of the tuning company stepping up its ZL1 testing by putting it side-by-side with a Z07 package-equipped Corvette Z06. Forget comparing the numbers for a second: The sound alone of those two cars blasting down a track with their supercharged LT4s going H.A.M. has us drooling.

Video thumbnail

In the video, Hennessey explains how impressed he is with the performance of the ZL1. The tuner mentions that up until about 120 mph, the ZL1 was pretty much right on the Corvette's tail.

"[It was] a lot closer race than we were expecting," Hennessey said.

Though both cars share the LT4 motor, their differences are otherwise vast. The ZL1 rocks a six-speed manual while the Z06 has its seven-speed gearbox; they have different power-to-weight ratios, and both cars are on different tires. But hell, that's pretty damn impressive for the ZL1—a car with a $62,000 starting price.

stripe
Chevrolet NewsNews by BrandWatch This