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Hi there. One million years
as in never in 1 million years would I believe that I'd be conducting a Head 2
Head
between Godzilla and a Camaro
This is the manliest thing I've ever done in my life!
I still remember the first time I ever drove a Nissan GT-R
I was up above the hills in Los Angeles, I ran into a pack of 3 Ferraris
a Dodge Viper and an M6. This thing only hung with them
it out ran them. I also very clearly remember
the first time I drove a new fifth gen Camaro. I drove it right off the track at
Streets of Willow in turn 3.
To be honest that car sucked, however
through the years the Camaro has been getting better and better. First came to ZL1
which really was a Cadillac CTS-V crammed up inside a Camaro body.
That was pretty good. Then came the 1LE
and that is one of the best handling track cars I've ever driven.
Today, I'm standing in front of the
Z/28. This is about as hard core
as Camaros get. Under the hood, hand-built LS7
7-Liter Corvette motor that you found in the old Z06.
It's got something called spool valve suspension that you'll find on F1 cars
and the Aston Martin One 77. Seats by Reccaro
tires are Pirelli Tropheo R's and most importantly
these mammoth carbon ceramic Brembo brakes, they're the same ones your gonna find in the
upcoming Z06, oh yeah and the Nissan well it's a GT-R in faster than whatever you
drive.
which one of these two's better? That's what we're gonna find out.
When I first saw the Camaro Z/28 at last year's New York Auto Show the standout
feature was the fact that
all but one speaker had been removed. Why just one?
Because legally it has to be there for the seat belt and you're door is ajar chimes.
That my friends is the definition of hardcore.
Here I am somewhere deep in Alabama on this slice of Heaven road
rocking along in the Z/28
and what a beast of a car this thing is.
What an epic, epic machine this thing is.
it's got grip for days especially once you get these tires heated up.
Transmission is wonderful. It's a 6-speed
manual but it's just love shifting
just feel real solid, real good. Steering is fantastic not a lot of understeer, almost no
understeer.
You gotta check out the bow tie in the grill,
one of the engineers realized that the bow tie was actually blocking air flow
so what he did was, he got out a Dremmel tool and hollowed it out
and that sucks in an additional 250 cubic
whatever's of air a second. Incredible this thing makes the 150 pounds of
downforce at 150 mph. And again, it's a Camaro, this thing started life as like
you know as a sedan in a costume
and they've just made this monster out of it.
and the brakes on his car,
unbelievable massive 14-inch carbon ceramic brakes on all four corners
fronts are little bit bigger, couple millimeters and I'll let you in on a little secret
these are the exact same brakes that are gonna be found on the new Corvette Z06.
In fact, that's how they got to be standard equipment on this car
Is that Camaro and Corvette they co-developed the brakes together.
You know Chevy, they're not protecting the Corvette.
Always people talk. You know Porsche protects the Cayman, right.
You know they don't want to give it too much power cuz then it'll be better than the 911 or something like that.
General Motors just doesn't care, fine make the Camaro as good as you wanna be
that's Corvette problem.
And man, the results are outstanding this such
a driver's car. I can't believe I'm saying that about
a Camaro.
The only problem is that red car is a helluva drivers car too!
The GT-R remains a monster
it's still one of the quickest point to point cars on the planet.
Lots of people will utter silly stuff like the car has no soul
or, but the computers are doing all the driving for you.
Nonsense. Sheer and utter nonsense.
Especially when you switch said computers off..
wooo this thing cooks!
this car just rockets just rockets I mean
it's a $#*#$ missile.
Every time you climb into one of these things just remember that
very, very few cars on earth that can
pulverize a road the way a GT-R can. One of the things it's
so good at is transitions, the way if you are
pork'd over left you can quickly comeback to the right its almost seamless and it's
and it's part of the insanely stiff ride. What a GTR can do that very few other things on earth can do
is just claw their way out of a corner. The Camaro has
tremendous grip, doesn't like to understeer, this thing will understeer a little bit.
Brakes. these are good brakes. I used to think
think they were great breaks after driving the Camaro, I no longer think
these are great
brakes that Z/28, those brakes are just
phenomenal did really does come down to the battlefield that Camaro me right on top
of the pedal
push back, it's real meaty. This you know it,
the first, I don't know, 1/8 of an inch of travel or so
not much is happening, you really gotta get into it so
you know just for aggressive driving I really prefer the brakes of the Camaro.
I don't know on this back road if we were to time and I bet the GTR with clip the Camaro.
I think I like driving the Camaro more. It's more fun it's more
visceral, manlier, whatever that means but,
just terms a getting from A to B quicker I,
I might go to the GTR, just don't rocket.
and I know there's one place where the GT-R is going to be a lot quicker
and that's a drag strip.
The Z/28's big V8, rear wheel drive, traction and relatively slow shifting
6-speed manual, were no match whatsoever for the GT-R's twin-turbo v6, all-wheel drive
stick'em and
gunshot quick dual clutch transmission. 2.7 seconds
to 60 makes it the 4th quickest car we've ever tested behind the
Bugatti Veyron, Maclaren P1 and the Porsche 911 Turbo S.
Both numbers are world-class, though the Z/28 standard carbon ceramin stoppers mean
that shortstops will be more repeatable. Alright, so that's in a straight line.
Ya ya, Godzilla wins but we knew that, all-wheel drive versus rear wheel-drive.
This is the GT-R track edition. Z/28 was developed on the Nurburgring to be
ultimate track expression of a Camaro,
so with that in mind we are headed very cool racetrack The Barber Motorsports Park,
where I'm going to meet up with my good friend Randy Pobst and we're gonna see what's what.
Here we are, Nissan GT-R Track
Barber Motorsports Park.
On a gray morning.
Conditions are ideal for the all-wheel-drive of the GT-R
It's slimy, rained last night.
Track is only about half dry. Going down into turn 1
GT-R's got a well balanced feel. Turn 2 seems
real, HA HA that's understeer folks.
It has less understeer under power but, I'm confident to keep the throttle down as we go over the crest
in turn 4.
There ya go, I can move the tail in second gear.
smile on the face. this transmission is just so
easy to drive on this car.
But it does remove an element of driving, it's less involving than the Z/28.
Come on, get in the corner. See that? The Z/28 turns in much better.
I'm waiting on that understeer, I can't go to power because the car's not turning.
Braking is strong. I don't think I have the grip that the Z/28 does.
But the grip I have is easier to use.
Coming into a fast S, downhill entry here at Barber, real tricky and I really appreciate
the stability
of the GT-R under these conditions. Up over the hill,
flat on the throttle, I know it's not going to suddenly snap loose.
I think the GT-R is making a lot of speed here,
it's an easier car to drive fast than the Z/28. This car is well tied down.
It's not harsh, it just feels right. And it just goes.
Yeah Baby.
Just touching 120 on the front straight.
As I throw the car down into turn 1,
There's a lot of shock damping, I like it. Nissan GT-R was good with shock damping too.
The Camaro really turns in and that's part of the reason why they went for a Torsen
differential.
Torsen type differential does not
hookup on deceleration and that makes it easier
to get a car into the corner.
The Torsen is very effective on putting the power down
on the way off the corners.
I'll tell you what, these carbon ceramic brakes have a lot of bite.
More than the Nissan GT-R and
I'm not feeling any fade, the aggressive dampening makes
the Z/28
a pleasure in transitions, there's no flop
this body is controlled.
These Pirelli Trofeo R tires feel a lot like slicks to me,
the grip is tremendous.
The Z/28 just has that glorious V8 rumble.
Listen to that!
Ha!
I love that sound.
Shifting gears, it just makes me feel like I'm more involved in driving the car.
The advantage I see to the GT-R is its predictability
and it's all-wheel drive traction. The advantage I see in the Z/28
is the enjoyment of the driving experience and
some terrific Pirelli Trofeo R tires, they are very sticky.
There's no question that the Z/28 is a more involving drivers car.
Sounds better, feels better, you're actually shifting gears.
It's more fun out here on the Barber Motorsports track.
I'm not sure which one is faster.
We caught the tail end of the wet and freezing polar vortex down Alabama,
we thought we were hosed. Then around 11 a.m.
fate smiled upon us with some sunshine and once the track was dry
it was time for Randy to set some that fast laps.
Time is a cruel mistress. When the R35 GT-R first stepped on the scene
it was a game-changer. No car that cost so little
could whip so much *** on cars costing so much more.
Back in 2009 we handed at the highest honor we have,
naming it the Motor Trend Car of the Year and true
in a straight line the GT-R is still only bested by a handful supercars,
all them costing scads more. But on a racetrack,
the place that some will argue actually matters most, the GT-R got beaten by the
less expensive
Camaro Z/28. More importantly both Randy and I like the Camaro better
out on a good winding road.
I'm almost tempted to say that the Camaro Z/28 doesn't cost enough.
Regardless, and frankly I'm amazed, but the winner of
this here head 2 head is the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28,
It's simply that damn good.
Never in 1 million years.