Love the idea or hate it, a lap time of Germany’s Nürburgring circuit has become a litmus test for any car with aspirations of performance. If you’re curious enough, you can probably find a ‘Ring lap time for just about any vehicle available with a manual or performance automatic gearbox.

Chevy’s Camaro SS is a good example of a car you’d never expect to see on the Nürburgring. For starters, the Camaro SS is a big car, and the ‘Ring is a very narrow track surrounded by Armco barriers and pine forests. Get sloppy, or push just a bit too hard, and bad things happen quickly.

Consequences aside, the Camaro SS turned a lap time of 8:19, which was slower than a Lexus IS-F but faster than an E46 BMW M3. Using that as a benchmark, Chevy’s engineers predicted that the new Camaro ZL1 would lap in the 7:50 range.

As it turns out, their estimates were on the conservative side. The 2012 Camaro ZL1 lapped the Nürburgring in 7:41.27, which makes it quicker than the Cadillac CTS-V (7:59), but a hair slower than a Porsche 911 Turbo S (7:39). By any measure, that’s quick.