This is a great time to be a Camaro enthusiast. The ZL1 Wars are in full swing, with all of the big-dogs of the LSX tuning world battling one another to see who can create the most horsepower and fastest times. But, every beastly tuner Camaro has to get it’s start as a simple-stocker. In this video from our friends at Livernois Motorsports, we get a look at their 2012 Camaro ZL1 with an automatic transmission and just 180 miles, that is going to serve as their development car as they enter the ZL1 Wars.
Livernois strapped the new “Z” on their dyno for some baseline numbers, and the new Chevy didn’t disappoint. It spun the drums to the tune of 476 horsepower and the same amount of toque. On the dyno at Livernois the ZL1 seems a bit subdued, and you’d never guess that over 580 horsepower is hiding under the hood.
After they had their baseline numbers to work with, the guys headed out to Milan Dragway, about 45 minutes from Livernois’ headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Ironically enough, this is the exact same track that the ZL1 engineering team recently turned in a string of 11.9 second timeslips from a very similar bone-stock ZL1.
Unfortunately, the guys from Livernois wouldn’t be able to get the same type of runs that the GM engineers were able to produce with Milan all to themselves. Rick LeBlanc, the Livernois’ shop hot shoe, tells us, “We were at the track for about eight hours, and only got in three runs since an event was going on at the same time. The track prep just wasn’t there because of all the other cars running with street tires. On the first run I just annihilated the tires, so on the other two passes I waited until the car shifted into 2nd before I mashed the gas hard. If I had a few more passes, I think I could’ve found the car’s sweet-spot for launching it.” In the end Livernois’ ZL1’s best time was a 12.41 at 115.6 MPH, with a 60-foot of 2.1. LeBlanc tells us that they know they can do better with the car, and they are taking the ZL1 back out to the track later this week. Keep it tuned to LSXMAG for updates on the Livernois ZL1.