Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 2020 Review

The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is the hottest Camaro you can get in Australia. Thrust is provided by a stonking 6.2-litre supercharged V8 whose booming acoustic presence and breathtaking power delivery create an unforgettable driving experience.

The big budget Camaro is imported from the USA and converted to right hand drive, re-manufactured by HSV in Australia and sold via the latter’s dealers.

And while the Holden brand doesn’t appear anywhere on this Chevrolet, there's definitely a whiff of familiarity about the Ford Mustang-baiting machine. Indeed, after bombing around in one of Detroit's most potent muscle cars, there's a sense that the Holden or at least HSV brand's spirit has been instilled into the Camaro.

The steering, the engine response, the car-to-driver connection has distinctive hints of V8-powered Commodore and Monaro cars. Make no mistake, this is a feel good car.

If you want a HSV converted Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Australia, it'll cost you $159,990 – and another few grand in on-road costs. Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination.

Options? Not many. Cargo nets, boot mats and branded car cover for the main.

And that's because it comes with all the fruit as the flagship Camaro.

We're talking about a pair of supportive (heated and cooled) leather and suede Recaro sports seats, microfibre covered flat-bottom sports steering wheel and gear shifter, sports alloy pedals, massive six-piston Brembo brake calipers working gargantuan 390mm two-piece front brake discs, adaptive dampers, 20-inch alloy wheels, and so on…

The head-up display with its various modes (including a massive tacho!) is a nice touch and the exterior is quite arousing, what with its massive carbon-fibre air extraction module built into the bonnet (shaker?), tasteful rear wing and black body kit accents – front lip spoiler, side skirts, and rear diffuser.

Warranty provisions? They're so-so. The Camaro ZL1 has a three-year/100,000km warranty and while there's no capped-price servicing, you can pay $2141 up front to cover the five first services (which occur every nine months or 12,000km).

The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is an epic car to drive. The 6.2-litre supercharged V8 blasting out 477kW at 6400rpm and 881Nm at 3600rpm is uncommonly happy to also purr along at low revs or rip into squirrelly madness in third gear at 5500rpm.

The Camaro's earth-shaking power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual in our test car’s case (or 10-speed auto), then through an electronically controlled limited slip differential.

The clutch is well weighted, the gearshifts are clean and despite the tremendous power on tap, the car feels quite refined and beautifully balanced, so you'll rarely feel scared to nail the throttle to the floor.

The steering is heavy enough to keep the driver involved on challenging roads, but not so weighty as to make urban driving exhausting. The big Brembo brakes are also very reassuring.

True blue, I loved driving this car. It didn't matter whether it was on a winding road (where the expertly tuned suspension does a great job of keeping rubber on the road) or even commuting to work -- blatting away from traffic lights as stability control attempted (sometimes in vain) to maintain traction.

There's a simple joy to driving this car that belies the fact it is the most powerful car HSV has ever sold. For what it's worth, the HSV GTSR W1 (474kW/815Nm) was the previous record-holder.

The ZL1’s exhaust acoustics are also delightful – indeed, the lumpy, bassy V8 is a beautiful dinosaur. There's also a tasty supercharger whine which increases in intensity as the engine revs rise.

Using logic instead of emotion however, there are way more reasons not to buy this car. It's a four-wheel pollution machine, belching out more carbon-dioxide than (362g/km) than a coal-fired power plant.

It also drinks fuel very quickly, shreds tyres, has useless rear seats, a tiny boot and the infotainment screen is angled towards the floor.

Our test car also had intermittent LCD screen glitches. The infotainment system blacked out and ceased to work, along with the digital instrument cluster, more than once.

Thankfully the head-up display stayed ‘lit’ -- as guessing road speeds in this car would be detrimental to one's ability to retain a valid driver's license.

The 2020 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is available to purchase now but availability is limited to just 300 units in Australia. So cashed-up boomers who have an affinity for American muscle but don't want to join the ‘sheeple’ cruising around in Mustangs might need to be quick.

That said, HSV will offer an updated MY20 ZL1 next year, when it will become the only Camaro it produces, therefore making it even more exclusive.

More broadly, the ZL1 is pitched at V8 fans and those who may have enjoyed high-end Aussie V8 vehicles in the past. It's not a practical vehicle, more of a 1.8-tonne power toy, like a heavy motorcycle or a wheeled jet-ski.

It can really only seat two but will accelerate from 0-100km/h in around 3.6sec seconds (claimed), which is quicker than the Dodge Hellcat. Our independent dragstrip testing with the manual version yielded 4.6sec, which is still crazy quick.

The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ain't perfect. Some of the dash plastics are a bit cheap, the digital displays in our test car were glitchy and it's an absolute cop magnet.

But if you've even considered taking a car like this for a test drive, the positives almost certainly outweigh the negatives.

Even against its primary rival, the Aussie developed 522kW Ford Mustang R-Spec, the ZL1's emotional appeal is momentous and, at the end of the day, I found myself fabricating excuses to go for a drive.

It's that kind of car.

How much does the 2020 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 cost?
Price: $159,990 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 6.2-litre V8 supercharged-petrol
Output: 477kW/881Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 26.2L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 362g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: TBC