Is the New Camaro More Powerful Than the C7 Corvette?

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2015 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Jonathon Klein 

 

                               

                              

The rivalry between the Camaro and Mustang has never been hotter. Each car has a multitude of variations, each laser focused on the other. After Chevy debuted the Camaro Z/28, Ford retaliated with the GT350R. Then Ford debuted the new Cobra Jet Mustang, so Chevy dropped the hammer with the all-new COPO Camaro. However, it seems that the biggest rivalry right now is the one developing between the Camaro and the Corvette.

The sixth-generation Camaro is an impressive piece of machinery. It’s lighter than the previous generation by leaps and bounds, has a chassis that’s begging to be tuned, and uses the same LT1 V8 engine out of the C7 Corvette. Or so we all thought.

Hennessey Performance, the people behind the much loved and psychotic Venom GT, just received the new Camaro to begin modifying, and as such, the company put the stock car on the dyno to see where they can improve it.

 It also told Hennessey how much power the car is making from the factory. Chevy rates the Camaro at 455 horsepower, which accounting for a 15 percent driveline loss, should put the wheel horsepower around 395-400 horsepower at the wheels. It’s not.

According to Hennessey, the new Camaro puts down an impressive 431 rear-wheel horsepower and 427 lb-ft of torque. A set of numbers made more impressive by the fact that the C7 Corvette, which again has the same motor, only makes 402-410 rear-wheel horsepower.




While many of you will then say, well the Corvette doesn’t need as much horsepower because it weighs less, which is true, but it’s not by as much as you’d think. The current-generation C7 Corvette weighs between 3,298 and 3,582 pounds. The new Camaro weighs between 3,339 and 3,685 pounds. While 100 pounds would make a big difference on a Miata, 100 pounds between a Corvette and a Camaro wouldn’t.

Also, consider the fact that General Motors has historically gone out of its way to ensure that the Corvette was the king of the hill. Projects have been killed, rivals within the GM family of brands have been neutered or denied more performance all so that the Corvette was the undisputed top-dog of its performance portfolio. To offer a more powerful Camaro would be a huge tidbit to come out so unceremoniously.

The only option left is to see if the Camaro can pull on a Corvette, because on paper, this is shaping up to be an epic grudge match between siblings.