Throttle House puts the 2020 GT500, Camaro ZL1 and Challenger Hellcat Redeye on the track

[Classic Lover]

None of these cars came close to putting all their power down.

Zl1 is the best at it, then the gt500, then the redeye.

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[MaskedRacerX]

And apparently even with a drag strip, success is not guaranteed.

Holy shit, you moved those goalposts onto a different planet ....

 

[millhouse]

The ZL1 puts up similar times on the street as it does on the strip. So, 2 of the 3 cars need a specialized surface...

Wrong...unless you believe the GT500 is a full second faster at the dragstrip. In many tests, the ZL1 has ran 11.5 to 11.7 seconds on the street. Do you really think that's close to what it is capable of at the dragstrip?

The more power you have, the more difficult time you have putting the power down on the street. A ford focus could run the exact same 1/4 mile on the street and at the dragstrip. That doesn't mean it's better than the GT500....or has a more refined chassis.

 

[millhouse]

None of these cars came close to putting all their power down.

Zl1 is the best at it, then the gt500, then the redeye.

It's funny...least horsepower to greatest. Who'd of thunk it?

 

[Classic Lover]

It's funny...least horsepower to greatest. Who'd of thunk it?

Yeah that is a huge factor.

That and tires, the Camaro has the widest then the gt500 then the redeye.

 

[Arkarius]

GT500's are running nearly a second faster on the strip.. ZL1 is about an 11.4 on the strip with a good run. Pretty close to the street times, no?

All I'm saying is that the ZL1 puts power down better and you are arguing by saying the same thing. I don't get it.

 

[millhouse]

GT500's are running nearly a second faster on the strip.. ZL1 is about an 11.4 on the strip with a good run. Pretty close to the street times, no?

All I'm saying is that the ZL1 puts power down better and you are arguing by saying the same thing. I don't get it.

You tell me? Camaro folks seem to claim the ZL1 is a 10.9 second car.

I'm saying that putting the power down isn't indicative of the better car. It's indicative of the car with less horsepower. That doesn't make it better. That doesn't mean it has a better chassis...or better tuning as you have been eluding.

Getting better traction on the street is easy....and fully under warranty. When I daily drove my 10 second foxbody, it always wore drag radials.

 

[Classic Lover]

You tell me? Camaro folks seem to claim the ZL1 is a 10.9 second car.

I'm saying that putting the power down isn't indicative of the better car. It's indicative of the car with less horsepower. That doesn't make it better. That doesn't mean it has a better chassis...or better tuning as you have been eluding.

Getting better traction on the street is easy....and fully under warranty. When I daily drove my 10 second foxbody, it always wore drag radials.

The gt500 is alot faster on a prepped drag strip, this is not even a debate the evidence is in.

Gt500 10.6 good conditions run.

Zl1 10.9 hero run not done by any other stock zl1 that I know of.

 

[millhouse]

The gt500 is alot faster on a prepped drag strip, this is not even a debate the evidence is in.

Gt500 10.6 good conditions run.

Zl1 10.9 hero run not done by any other stock zl1 that I know of.

I agree. It just seems that a lot of camaro folks like to claim the ZL1 is only .3 slower than the GT500 at the drastrip....but many also claim that the ZL1 is just as fast at the strip as the street. My point is, you can't have both.

Consistency is great for bracket racing. I've seen many a stock pontiac grand-am win on bracket nights.

 

[Classic Lover]

I agree. It just seems that a lot of camaro folks like to claim the ZL1 is only .3 slower than the GT500 at the drastrip....but many also claim that the ZL1 is just as fast at the strip as the street. My point is, you can't have both.

Consistency is great for bracket racing. I've seen many a stock pontiac grand-am win on bracket nights.

3 tenths is quite a bit. However I do expect to see a gt500 run low 10.5s which will just put more ground in between. Camaro isn’t going to get faster than 10.9 unless Chevy adds hp.

 

[millhouse]

3 tenths is quite a bit. However I do expect to see a gt500 run low 10.5s which will just put more ground in between. Camaro isn’t going to get faster than 10.9 unless Chevy adds hp.

The MPH shows us these are likely a full .5 seconds apart. I agree, although I think in negative DA we may see a 10.4 if the DCT allows it.

 

[Arkarius]

You tell me? Camaro folks seem to claim the ZL1 is a 10.9 second car.

I'm saying that putting the power down isn't indicative of the better car. It's indicative of the car with less horsepower. That doesn't make it better. That doesn't mean it has a better chassis...or better tuning as you have been eluding.

Getting better traction on the street is easy....and fully under warranty. When I daily drove my 10 second foxbody, it always wore drag radials.

Some folks are pretty delusional...

I'm not saying the GT500 chassis is bad, or even worse than the ZL1. My entire point has really only been about the effectiveness of the powertrain and chassis combination, and how that relates to the performance of the vehicle when driven on the street.

Like the ZL1, I think putting a drag radial on the GT500 to drive on the street goes against the nature of these cars, and takes away from what they are meant to do as well-rounded vehicles. Of course everyone is going to use their car differently, and that is their right to do so, but I'd get a base GT if I wanted to build a drag car.

I give the GT500 a lot of credit for essentially matching the ZLE with it's hardcore suspension. I would really rather see the base version comparisons on the track.

I agree. It just seems that a lot of camaro folks like to claim the ZL1 is only .3 slower than the GT500 at the drastrip....but many also claim that the ZL1 is just as fast at the strip as the street. My point is, you can't have both.

Consistency is great for bracket racing. I've seen many a stock pontiac grand-am win on bracket nights.

They certainly can be a drivers race at the drag strip, but I'd put my money on the GT500 every time.

 

[kilobravo]

Whoever described the car as "intoxicating," hit the nail on the head. It truly DOES beg you to get after it and that sound...oh yeah. But I have to disagree with the comment that it doesn't "punish" you ride-wise. It's stiff, REALLY stiff, even in Normal, and it will knock you all over the place on a bumpy road.

 

[millhouse]

Some folks are pretty delusional...

I'm not saying the GT500 chassis is bad, or even worse than the ZL1. My entire point has really only been about the effectiveness of the powertrain and chassis combination, and how that relates to the performance of the vehicle when driven on the street.

Like the ZL1, I think putting a drag radial on the GT500 to drive on the street goes against the nature of these cars, and takes away from what they are meant to do as well-rounded vehicles. Of course everyone is going to use their car differently, and that is their right to do so, but I'd get a base GT if I wanted to build a drag car.

I give the GT500 a lot of credit for essentially matching the ZLE with it's hardcore suspension. I would really rather see the base version comparisons on the track.



They certainly can be a drivers race at the drag strip, but I'd put my money on the GT500 every time.

Again, this isn't about effectiveness of the powertrain. It's about the car that has significantly less horsepower. You seem to think the camaro has an advantage. I adamantly disagree, it simply has less horsepower. The GT500 can overcome it's traction issues under warranty by swapping on sticker tires, as can the redeye.

The higher horsepower car will always be at a traction disadvantage on the street. But again, this does not mean the car with better traction is the better car. Remember the ford focus analogy.

 

[Arkarius]

Again, this isn't about effectiveness of the powertrain. It's about the car that has significantly less horsepower. You seem to think the camaro has an advantage. I adamantly disagree, it simply has less horsepower. The GT500 can overcome it's traction issues under warranty by swapping on sticker tires, as can the redeye.

The higher horsepower car will always be at a traction disadvantage on the street. But again, this does not mean the car with better traction is the better car. Remember the ford focus analogy.

I do think the Camaro has the advantage in the handling department, and I am clearly not alone. Exactly how much is the question. We have some data, regardless of how flawed these individual comparisons might be, we are seeing very similar trends from each.

I think a track test of the two base models of the car will paint a better picture of that, due to the vastly different approaches to the track versions of the cars. If the handling capabilities are similar we should see a clear advantage for the GT500.

I understand that higher horsepower cars are going to struggle more with traction. This only goes to prove my point that too much power for the chassis is relevant. These cars are past the limits of what front engine rear wheel drive chassis' can do. Personally, I wouldn't want to *have* to put on a drag radial to avoid a smoke show every time I hit the gas.

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