2012 Chevrolet Red Camaro ZL1 / Z28

Contrary to popular perception, there is not just one higher-performance Chevrolet Camaro on the way, but two thumpers. It is ­perhaps instructive to look, as Chevrolet has, at the current Ford Mustang lineup. In addition to the bread-and-butter V-6, V-8, and convertible versions, the Mustang ­corral includes the ground-pounding supercharged Shelby GT500 and the track-oriented, naturally aspirated Boss 302.
Chevrolet will match Ford move for move, first with what company insiders call the “HP” edition. This is the model that until recently had been assumed to get the Z28 badge. It carries the Cadillac CTS-V’s supercharged LSA V-8 engine making at least 550 horsepower, bolted to a six-speed manual. The CTS-V also donates an updated version of its magnetorheological shocks and asymmetrical half-shafts (differing diameters) to reduce axle hop. From the Corvette comes an active exhaust system with a flap that opens at high engine speeds to reduce back pressure. It’ll carry massive, track-ready, two-piece Brembo rotors and new high-perform­ance Goodyear tires, at 285 mm front and 330 mm rear. It should get to 60 mph in less than four seconds. The monster engine will be covered by a bulged and louvered hood, the center section of which is made of that fastest of materials, carbon fiber. The top-shelf Camaro will also have a higher, trunklid-mounted spoiler and a unique front fascia with a deeper chin. Owing to this car’s overwhelming power, the company decided to change its name to the more historically consistent ZL1 badge, as that model was a big-block bruiser, not a track-tuned road racer like the Z28. The ZL1 will go on sale in February of  2012.
More interested in track days than high-tech dampers? Chevrolet plans to have you, and the Boss 302, covered. Around April of  2012, Chevy will release what so far has been referred to by insiders as the “Track Pack.” This significantly stiffened Camaro will be the hard-core version, with handling as its primary focus. That doesn’t mean it won’t get a power upgrade, though. The “Track Pack,” which might inherit the Z28 moniker, could have an uprated iteration of the standard V-8 or a version of the LS7 7.0-liter V-8 from the Corvette Z06. Both high-performance models will—like all 2012 Camaros—carry revised interiors, too