2012 Boss 302 LS vs. Camaro ZL1 in March MT

[ArizonaBOSS]

Great question on how to hook up, I spun all the way through second gear the other day racing an SRT8.

 

[cloud9]

Great question on how to hook up, I spun all the way through second gear the other day racing an SRT8.

Just get some sticky tires like this:



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[Tflong24]

Regardless of the results this is great competition and rivalry. Think of how fast and capable are cars are compared to cars from just a few years ago. I can't wait to see what's next from both Ford and Chevy. 8)

Agree. This battle between Ford and Chevy is great for all of us. I do see a peak soon tho. If you want one of these great cars, regardless of brand I say get it soon. With the new mileage regs coming down the road I don't see manufacturers building these types of muscle cars much longer. It will not be as bad as the seventies, but pretty soon the best you will get is a turbo/sc V-6. At least they are making good power with some of these smaller engines. But if you like a good old V-8, time may be running out. So I say keep it up Gm and Ford. Now let's get that 2013 GT500 out there and handle up on that ZL1!!!

 

[jimprw]

Regardless of the results this is great competition and rivalry. Think of how fast and capable are cars are compared to cars from just a few years ago. I can't wait to see what's next from both Ford and Chevy. 8)

Agreed. The golden age of Detroit Muscle wasn't the late 60s, it's right now.

+1 Muscle PLUS handling. Something nowhere to be found in the 60's or 70s.

 

[Boss1309]

March Issue of Motor Trend


Well I knew this comparison was gonna happen some time and here it is . ..ZL1 Camaro tell Boss to shove it.

I my opinion the Boss does well despite its 74 cu in and supercharger disadvantage. Thats 136 less H.P . Up to about 80 mph the Boss is only .4 sec slower than the Camaro. On the 2.2 mile road coarse the Boss was 2.4 sec.slower. The Camaros handling has been much improved with the magnetorheological damping from the CTS -V and it has bigger brakes all round get it stopped faster (I thing our rear disc look way to small) .

I guess Chevys bubble will burst when the 2013 GT 500 is unleashed. That would be a better comparison.

 

[CaliMR]

Re: March Issue of Motor Trend

I'm not classy enough for a car with a bowtie on it.

 

[fourcammer]

Re: March Issue of Motor Trend

i guess this is gonna become a boss302 beat down .last year or the past 6 or so months nothin but praise. now kicking us to the curb . oh well i would not rid mine for a zl1 .

 

[Boss1309]

Re: March Issue of Motor Trend


Me neither, a smaller displacement z 28 would have been a much more interesting comparison .

 

[SouthJerseyBoss]

Maybe it is 2 secs per lap faster. How many laps before it heat soaks and ends up in the parts bin?

As for the comments that the Boss is hard to handle, I'm not sure what car they were driving but if the ZL1 is THAT much 'easier to drive' then I'm not interested. When was it ever a good thing that a cars feedback is more 'under control'? They make it sound like you need to be a pro to wrestle the Boss to the ground on the track.

Sorry, but I'm taking this personally... ;D

One weird thing about the article is that it seems like Pobst, who glowed about the Boss in previous tests and in car videos, now seems to highlight aspects of the car that never before appeared in his comments. I mean, the cars are fairly close here, and by all admissions the Boss gives up a lot to the ZL1 in $$, HP, among other things. You can't simply go "gush ga ga" and then find all these "faults" (braking, curb unsettling, etc). I mean, he had to hit a couple of corner curbs in his runs at Laguna Seca and yet said nothing about the car becoming so unstable that he needed to avoid them at all costs.

 

[PeteInCT]

+1

 

[CaliMR]

As for the comments that the Boss is hard to handle, I'm not sure what car they were driving but if the ZL1 is THAT much 'easier to drive' then I'm not interested. When was it ever a good thing that a cars feedback is more 'under control'? They make it sound like you need to be a pro to wrestle the Boss to the ground on the track.

A car that has the potential to be fast but takes skill, is more fun imo than an easy car to drive fast even if it is faster. Modern Porsches are a great example of a too easy car, the older ones are way more fun. But I am one of those knuckle dragger cavemen who doesn't think F1 cars should have automated trannies either so ymmv

 

[cloud9]

Agreed. At the end of the day the article smacks of advertising bias but oh well, that's how the mags pay the bills. I truly look forward to running against one at the track to see how fast they really are

 

[mustang920]

hi guys i got a friend who bought a 2011 camaro ss i let ty my car now he wishes he would have waited for the boss.

 

[BLAZN BOSS]

As far as the pony car wars go, Gm has always been catching up for 48 years. One year later after Ford, GM has always needed to come out with larger cubic inches and a "better" (?) idea than Ford to compete. Fast forward, finaly after the Camaro/Firebird sales (with even with more HP and better handling) couldnt keep up with Mustang sales, production was ended. Mustang kept forging on, eventually elvolving to a modular engine smaller than the reliable than the 60's 289 the 4.6 liter (280.709 cubic inches), Mustang kept the pony car alive and kicking and still making the competition stuggle to keep up. Now we have the new Coyote, 302 cu in of pleasure, which now is comapred to the "new Camaro" and its 6.2 litre (378 cu in) motor. Again GM NEEDED more motor, higher tech suspension etc to "catch up" to Ford, and this time barely getting ahead. The camaro boys will have something to thump their chests over for a few months, maybe, because utill the new Shelby gets tested against it we Ford guys are speculating. Now we all know that adding this, lowering that, changing shocks, super charging, sticky tires, anything can be made better ONCE YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR BASELINE GOAL IS, this baseline Ford has set since 1964 1/2 for GM. The comparrison for this article should be sticker car against sticker car. The Boss 302 is slated for two years, Ford isnt going to keep screwing with something special, thats our job, so I dont think we will see a Boss modified by Ford for production to compete against the ZL1. How would you feel if you were Gm to have had to do what they are doing just to beat out 302 cu in? All this will probably come to somewhat of an end just like it did in the 70's, no matter, GM is still one year behind Mustang in performance. As far as looks go thats a prefrence thing, what looks good to one guy looks bad to another so that shouldnt be debated.

 

[Tflong24]

As far as the pony car wars go, Gm has always been catching up for 48 years. One year later after Ford, GM has always needed to come out with larger cubic inches and a "better" (?) idea than Ford to compete. Fast forward, finaly after the Camaro/Firebird sales (with even with more HP and better handling) couldnt keep up with Mustang sales, production was ended. Mustang kept forging on, eventually elvolving to a modular engine smaller than the reliable than the 60's 289 the 4.6 liter (280.709 cubic inches), Mustang kept the pony car alive and kicking and still making the competition stuggle to keep up. Now we have the new Coyote, 302 cu in of pleasure, which now is comapred to the "new Camaro" and its 6.2 litre (378 cu in) motor. Again GM NEEDED more motor, higher tech suspension etc to "catch up" to Ford, and this time barely getting ahead. The camaro boys will have something to thump their chests over for a few months, maybe, because utill the new Shelby gets tested against it we Ford guys are speculating. Now we all know that adding this, lowering that, changing shocks, super charging, sticky tires, anything can be made better ONCE YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR BASELINE GOAL IS, this baseline Ford has set since 1964 1/2 for GM. The comparrison for this article should be sticker car against sticker car. The Boss 302 is slated for two years, Ford isnt going to keep screwing with something special, thats our job, so I dont think we will see a Boss modified by Ford for production to compete against the ZL1. How would you feel if you were Gm to have had to do what they are doing just to beat out 302 cu in? All this will probably come to somewhat of an end just like it did in the 70's, no matter, GM is still one year behind Mustang in performance. As far as looks go thats a prefrence thing, what looks good to one guy looks bad to another so that shouldnt be debated.

Concur. That's why I hope the 13 GT 500 beats the ZL1. GM had to do all that to a camaro to beat a n/a 302 with manual shocks, only to hopefully be beaten months later. That would have to piss them off.

 

[SouthJerseyBoss]

As far as the pony car wars go, Gm has always been catching up for 48 years. One year later after Ford, GM has always needed to come out with larger cubic inches and a "better" (?) idea than Ford to compete. Fast forward, finaly after the Camaro/Firebird sales (with even with more HP and better handling) couldnt keep up with Mustang sales, production was ended. Mustang kept forging on, eventually elvolving to a modular engine smaller than the reliable than the 60's 289 the 4.6 liter (280.709 cubic inches), Mustang kept the pony car alive and kicking and still making the competition stuggle to keep up. Now we have the new Coyote, 302 cu in of pleasure, which now is comapred to the "new Camaro" and its 6.2 litre (378 cu in) motor. Again GM NEEDED more motor, higher tech suspension etc to "catch up" to Ford, and this time barely getting ahead. The camaro boys will have something to thump their chests over for a few months, maybe, because utill the new Shelby gets tested against it we Ford guys are speculating. Now we all know that adding this, lowering that, changing shocks, super charging, sticky tires, anything can be made better ONCE YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR BASELINE GOAL IS, this baseline Ford has set since 1964 1/2 for GM. The comparrison for this article should be sticker car against sticker car. The Boss 302 is slated for two years, Ford isnt going to keep screwing with something special, thats our job, so I dont think we will see a Boss modified by Ford for production to compete against the ZL1. How would you feel if you were Gm to have had to do what they are doing just to beat out 302 cu in? All this will probably come to somewhat of an end just like it did in the 70's, no matter, GM is still one year behind Mustang in performance. As far as looks go thats a prefrence thing, what looks good to one guy looks bad to another so that shouldnt be debated.

Concur. That's why I hope the 13 GT 500 beats the ZL1. GM had to do all that to a camaro to beat a n/a 302 with manual shocks, only to hopefully be beaten months later. That would have to piss them off.

Still, I find the odd thing here is that Chevy has not recreated the Z/28. Seems like they continuously raid the parts bin of more expensive siblings and cousins (ZR1 and Caddilac) bolting on parts to the Camaro. Now it's like a Cor-maro-llac. The car has no spirit, which is precisely what Ford has done so well with the Boss 302. From the stripe packages, to the two-year run, to making the most power out of a naturally aspirated small block - the car perfectly translates it's forefathers while remaining completely relevant today. They put a side exhaust on a production car for godsake!!!! The Boss 302 can been seen, no matter who you are or what magazine you write for, as nothing less than a pure driver's car built by guys who embody and embrace the visceral and connected experience of driving pleasure. I have no doubt that the introduction and performance of the Boss instantly replaced all the candy in the candy machines at GM headquarters in Detroit with Tums.

 

[SouthJerseyBoss]

Ok, last thing - I promise

Check out Mr. Pobst's comments from his test of the LS in MotorTrend:

"On handling... "The way it comes off the second-gear hairpin, I cannot believe the way it hooks up. They musta had, like, John Force doing the drag racing setup, because I virtually couldn't knock it loose. I couldn't...I mean, I was...the first time I was real careful. I'm like "Yeah, I know what this thing's gonna do..." I get on the power, and it just drives off. I'm...wow. So the second time around...more. The third time around...more. And it just digs outta there. I'd love to know how they got it to hook up like that. It puts power down so well. Extremely well-balanced car. A joy to drive. Didn't even feel very crude, tell you the truth. Felt pretty well-balanced. A little bit of body roll, but stick. Lord have mercy, it's better than the Shelby GT500 we tested a while back. Handled better than a Porsche Cayman."

What's with this guy? I'm ok with him having a better impression of another car he drove after the Boss, but he should not simply sell himself out like he never drove OR commented about the Boss in a positive light before.

Crazy...

 

[PeteInCT]

+1

I think the main thing about ZL1 is that it is not in the price range of a Boss and IT IS NOT A ROAD RACE car no matter what MT or GM want prospective buyers to believe. If cost wasn't part of their equation let them do the same test against a 302S.

 

[cloud9]

+1

I think the main thing about ZL1 is that it is not in the price range of a Boss and IT IS NOT A ROAD RACE car no matter what MT or GM want prospective buyers to believe. If cost wasn't part of their equation let them do the same test against a 302S.

I agree. Sadly most of us will never run into a ZL1 on a track to verify the "real story" with this car.

 

[PeteInCT]

We need to ask Smitty to hunt one down and video it. We should take up a collection ;-) and then send it to MT!