Those are impressive numbers, but the job of tuners like Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE) is to squeeze every last bit of performance out of the Camaro’s 6.2-liter LSA engine. Upon taking delivery of a new ZL1, Lingenfelter set an ambitious goal: be the first tuner to break into the 10s with Chevy’s fastest-ever Camaro.
The company started by adding its CNC-ported cylinder heads and a hotter GT9 camshaft. Next came a 2.3 upper pulley and a five-percent overdriven bottom pulley for the stock supercharger, an LPE high flow intake with race air filter, a high capacity intercooler reservoir, larger injectors, boosted voltage for the stock fuel pump and a custom ECU calibration.
The car was fitted with Nitto drag radials for maximum traction, then filled with VP MS 109 race gas and sent to Muncie Dragway in Albany, Indiana for testing. The end result was that the crew at LPE achieved its goal, running the quarter mile in 10.79 seconds, at a speed of 134.36 mph.
Lingenfelter has already prepared three upgrade packages for owners of ZL1 Camaros, ranging in output from 630 horsepower to 700 horsepower. While there’s no guarantee that the kits will allow your own Camaro ZL1 to run in the 10s, but you’ll have no chance of doing so with a stock ZL1.
While Lingenfelter may have been the first tuner into the 10s, they’re no longer the quickest down the quarter mile in a ZL1. Just a week after Lingenfelter set its record, a Redline Motorsports-built ZL1 (with an automatic transmission, not the manual used by Lingenfelter) ran a 10.32 at 134.7 mph at Palm Beach International Raceway.
Sounds like the bar has been set, and we suspect Lingenfelter is already working on reclaiming its title. Can a nine second ZL1 be far off?
