Corvette C7 Z06 dealt another blow of humiliation and obcolescence and this time, it is by another GM car, the upcoming 2017 Camaro ZL1

Gotta give the latest generation of +General Motors Chevrolet Corvette a big credit for one thing: it serves as a test bed for other GM vehicles, helping others avoid the string of blunders that continues to come from +Tadge Juechter and his fine team of engineers, designers and bullshit artists (not that bullshit is a trait foreign to anyone on that team...)

Had it not been for the mind boggling incompetence of the Corvette team, teams designing and engineering cars like Cadillac CTS V and Camaro would be forced to invest considerably more time trying to figure out how to make the newest LT series of engine turds perform beyond the C7 Corvette's trademark limp mode.

Fortunately, Juechter et al already made all the wrong moves and things can only look up for the Camaro team.

The case in point: the latest generation of Camaro and specifically, the upcoming 2017 Camaro ZL1.

Al Oppenheiser, the Camaro's counterpart to Tadge Juechter must be following closely the string of on and off track fuck ups the latest Corvette "crown jewel" C7 Z06 continues to gather.  No other explanation why the newest Camaro top dog differs so much from the C7 Z06.

Of course, there is always the difference just because one car is a Camaro and the other Corvette but... since this is the same shitty GM, the corporate parts bin is always there and anyone working within the corporate box is stuck with the same engines, electronics, transmissions, suspension components and brakes and of course, the corporate fuel economy measures.

Thus, and unfortunately, the cars like Cadillac CTS V and Camaro ZL1 are stuck with the same ill designed, underperforming and overly complex turd called LT4.

Certainly, things cannot be good when LT4 serves as the starting point since performance and LT4 are already well proven to be fully contradictory.  Without any doubt, Oppenhaiser would much rather start off with LS9 engine but he apparently has no choice, due to costs involved and the bullshit technological progress advertised ad nauseam by Juechter.

On the bright side, unlike with the previous generation of Camaro and Corvette,  courtesy of Juechter's stupidity, the supercharger and engine assembly became so under designed that there is really no way to scale it back, leaving both Camaro and Cadillac with LSx turdy econo takes on LS9, there is no way anymore to use a smaller than Corvette supercharger or use even cheaper engine components-the piece of shit LT4 forces everyone to use the same exact engine, regardless of the cost of the car!!! (did GM and idiot Juechter consider this part?  Of course NOT!!!).

Apparently, to offset the "certified supercar" Z06, the new Camaro gets TEN HP LESS than its Corvette counterpart but... as the history has shown, the F-body Camaros and Firebirds even  though officially rated less than their Corvette counterpart of the same vintage, managed to actually dyno higher than Corvette, thus the slightly lesser power rating means absolutely jackshit.

Right off the bat, there is the matter of the engine cooling,  considering that the newest CTS V designers did the same thing, the new ZL1 has ELEVEN HEAT EXCHANGERS instead of 3 found on the "certified supercar".  Without any doubt, both Cadillac and Camaro engineers realize the huge cluster fuck created by Juechter with the new Z06.  Unfortunately, as already demonstrated by the newest CTS V, the problems with the lack of sufficient flow through the engine may limit the benefits of the increased number of heat exchangers, not mentioning the heat pump disguised as the TVR1740 supercharger.

The extra cooling measures do not stop with extra heat exchangers, there is also a huge front air intake opening, in the ZL1, SS and SS 1LE specific front bumper.   This part sets the new ZL1 apart from the Z06, the car that is stuck with the base Stingray front bumper and radiator.

To further enhance the cooling measures, there is a prominent hood extractor on the new ZL1, the heat extractor that at least appears to be a significant improvement over the fully disfunctional Z06 attempt.

Apparently the Camaro team did not stop on making cooling upgrades only, the lessons learned from the Z06 aerodynamic disaster are easy to see as well.  Unlike the barn door gracing the fugly rear end of the Z06, there is a half ass wing pulled from the Camaro and Corvette parts bin which if not an enhancement measure, at least does not create the full time air brake effect.

The most interesting part of the new ZL1 Camaro is the fact that it does not use the seven speed manual transmission but instead, relies on a SIX SPEED TR6060, the transmission of choice for not just C6 ZR1 but Dodge Viper and Ford Mustang.  Given the fact that the new Camaro top dog is supposedly track oriented, obviously nobody would want to spend the extra time figuring out if the transmission is in the intended gear, a guessing game that continues for all Corvette C7 owners who checked off the manual transmission option.

However, no matter how much Oppenheiser gained in knowledge from Juechter;s fuck up, there are of course problems with the new Camaro, something that is expected from any GM vehicle.

First of all, the automatic transmission for the ZL1 has no less than TEN GEARS.  The question is WHY?  The eight speed 8l90 slush box is alreary a piece of shit, delivering jerky take offs and overheating problems, why the fuck would anyone make the misery even worse, especially on a supposed track oriented car.  Ten speed slush box works great in sedans and turbo charged small displacement performance cars but why would anyone put it in a big displacement and high torque performance car, especially one claimed to be a track worthy?

Then, there is the interior, truly aweful, even if slightly better than Corvette interior.  The seats, they look both uncomfortable and not very sporty, in spite of supposedly supplied by Recaro.  The dashboard layout is very confusing, cheap looking and even though it is all analog, besting the Corvette arcade cheese, it looks completely uninspiring.

Furthermore, the new "track worthy" Camaro comes with magnetic ride control and again, WHY?
Why would Oppenheiser abandon the suspension previously available on the last Z28.  No serious track enthusiast would even consider MRC for a true track car.

Finally, there is the matter of the exterior design, the new Camaro is virtually impossible to tell apart from the outside, it is still truly hideous and unappealing.  As a matter of fact, the newest Camaro is virtually impossible to tell apart from the previous generation.  To make the matter worse, the front of the new ZL1 looks like it came from a Toyota, WTF Oppenheiser?

Overall, the new ZL1 renders the current Z06 very obsolete and underdesigned.  Can the car compete with Z06?  Of course it can sine it should last longer on the track.

A word of warning to Op(p)enheiser here:  if you really learned from Juechter's idiocy, make sure to have a serious talk with the marketing department and remove any references to Porsche and stop marketing the Camaro as an alternative to Porsche, you will end up exactly where Juechter and C7 Corvette are right now, a laughing stock.  Marketing the new ZL1 as a TRACK car is beyond stupid, it is still heavy and still prone to heat soak and overheating, no matter how many heat exchangers you may cram in it.  As it is, due to axing the LS7 based Z28, Camaro is not a track car.