Last June, a 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE managed to lap Germany's Nürburgring Nordschleife in a time of only 7:16.04.
It's a time only a handful of rear-wheel-drive cars have beaten, and coming as no surprise they're all a lot more expensive than the Chevy.
But the 640-horsepower ZL1 1LE isn't the end of the performance road, at least as far as the 6th-generation Camaro is concerned.
Al Oppenheiser
That's according to Camaro chief engineer Al Oppenheiser who in an interview with Hagerty, published Monday, revealed that there's much more in store for the Camaro, including potentially drag-oriented packages to combat the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon and upcoming Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.
“Do people want a Demon, versus an SS that they can put drag parts on? We’re always studying,” he said. “We’re looking at performance drag packs for the street, we’re looking at any available horsepower that will fit in the car, trying to stay relevant and on top.”
Oppenheiser also said he'd like to see the Camaro come in under the magic 7:00 mark for a Nürburgring lap time, a feat only one rear-wheel-drive production car, the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, has achieved. The Porsche actually holds the current record for all production cars at the 'Ring with its time of 6:47.3.
2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
The 6th-gen car is set to receive a mid-cycle update for the 2019 model year, and it's a sure bet team Chevrolet will have some surprises in store for us. A drag-oriented package seems like a given based on Oppenheiser's comments. And with the Z/28 package still missing we could certainly end up with an even quicker Camaro track car than the already quick ZL1 1LE.
We've also heard rumors of a more affordable Camaro V-8 and the availability of the Corvette's 7-speed manual.
In other words, Camaro fans have a lot to look forward to in the next couple of years.
