Chevrolet’s Camaro 1LE Blazes Virginia

Nestled in the heart of Virginia is one of the nation’s most demanding and treacherous road course ever conceived. Spanning nearly four miles and holding numerous twists and turns, Virgina International Raceway’s (VIR) Grand Course has been an American performance benchmark for years; a place where bragging rights are both created and taken away on a daily basis. Recently, Chevrolet took its latest track inspired road car to lay down a fast lap and the results were nothing more than impressive. Breaking into the famed “under three-minute” club was the 2013 Camaro 1LE which tackled the entire course is just 2:58.34.

“To break a three-minute lap on the four-mile Grand Course is an incredible accomplishment for any car,” said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer. Based on the 6.2 liter manual transmission SS, the 1LE is a $3,500 add-on package. By using key components from the best GM super and race cars, Chevrolet has optimized the big Camaro for the track with items such as big sway bars, a strut tower bar, Goodyear Eagle Supercar G:2 tires, monotube dampers and ZL1 rolling gear. An exclusive, Tremec TR6060-MM6 six speed manual is paired with a shorter, 3.9:1 final drive so that all of the V8’s 426 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque can be put to good use.

“One of the best sections in the 1LE is the Climbing Esses. They are a series of four quick turns, as the track climbs uphill, that tend to upset the balance of most production cars. The 1LE offers such neutral balance, and tenacious grip, that I could charge into the Esses at nearly 125 mph and steer the car with the throttle to carry a tremendous amount of speed through the Esses,” said Camaro engineer Aaron Link. Earlier in the year, Link took the reigns of a much more powerful and more expensive Camaro ZL1 and lapped VIR in 2:52.4. Despite a more than 100 horsepower difference, the 1LE came very close to exceeding its bigger brother.

Source: Chevrolet