Ian Allen

(Photo by Ian Allen)

"I want to win. Beat anything Mustang comes up with, at all costs." That was the goal that General Motors' product chief Mark Reuss set in 2011 for Vehicle Chief Engineer Al ­Oppenheiser and the Camaro development team. And so Chevrolet made the Camaro Z/28. That's a simplification, of course. At $75,000, this edition of the Z/28 is the most expensive Camaro ever, and it shows what happens when people who love cars build one with a single purpose—in this case, to create the world's best factory track car (and, yes, to trump Ford along the way).

To find out whether the ­Camaro team succeeded, I headed­ to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., and cranked the Z/28 through the 16 turns that the Indy Grand Prix course squeezes into 2.38 miles. The track driving was more than an adrenaline rush. A Zen-like experience descended as I focused intently on controlling the car, striving for the perfect lap but never truly achieving it. Time seemed to slow down, and the world became a vibrant blur of hardwoods, grassy banks, and steel infield sculptures.

After hours of pounding asphalt it was clear the Z/28 would never let me down in my pursuit of a speed-induced altered state. The brakes and tires were as fresh as they were on the first lap; oil, water, and transmission temperatures—all stable. For the less experienced track driver, the Z/28's Performance Traction Management system offers varying degrees of electronic stability and traction control. There are five different modes and full off—depending on how much you want to tempt fate on any given day. Amid talk of a driverless future, it's easy to forget that computer assistance can teach us how to go fast.

The Z/28 also features several smart details to enhance all-out speed, such as its hollow bow-tie logo that allows more airflow to the radiator. And the special surface treatment on the bead of the aluminum wheels maximizes grip by preventing the 305-mm-wide tires from slipping on the rim during acceleration and braking. Even the 505-hp 7.0-liter LS7 V-8, borrowed from the previous ­Corvette Z06, is beefed up with new pistons and connecting rods to withstand the harder duty cycle that comes with the Z/28's extra weight. Also, the Z/28's shocks are the same design as those found on world champion Sebastian Vettel's F1 car.

In Oppenheiser's words, Z/28 drivers are meant to take their steed and "run it, beat on it, drive it home." Despite its stiff tuning, the Z/28 is more than tolerable on public streets, even though the massive tires and hyper-responsive steering follow every nook and cranny of the road. You have to pay attention when you're driving the Z/28, and that's actually kind of the point. The Z/28 is something increasingly rare in the automotive world: a car that's a tool instead of an appliance.





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Martin Laksman

Martin Laksman

The Z/28's ride is a magic combination of flat cornering and rough-road comfort. One reason: the ­Multimatic DSSV shock absorber. Like a normal shock, it dampens motion by restricting the flow of oil through a series of passages. But the special ingredients are the spool valves—one for bounce and one for rebound—that offer vast flexibility in tuning the shock's performance. Most of it depends on the shape of the spool valve outlet ports, which open and close depending on how fast the shock moves. Here's a step-by-step explanation.

Martin Laksman

(Illustration by Martin Laksman)

A. As the shock moves, oil presses on the spool valve, compresses the internal spring, and exposes part of the outlet ports. Each valve works in one direction only, so the other valve stays closed.

B. With the ports open, oil flows out and through the rest of the shock. Bigger motions open the ports further, allowing more oil to flow through and the shock to move more easily.

C. A typical port design is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, which corresponds to shocks that are stiff for small motions—such as during cornering—but forgiving over big bumps.





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Ian Allen

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