[VIDEO] Ride Along in a Camaro ZL1 1LE as it Spars with a C8 Z06 and C7 ZR1 at VIR

By
Alex Sommers
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12
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[VIDEO] Ride Along in a Camaro ZL1 1LE as it Spars with a C8 Z06 and C7 ZR1 at VIR


It’s a battle of Chevrolet’s finest! A YouTube channel that is charmingly uninhibited by an annoying YouTuber posted a video this week that is straight out of this GM fanatic’s wildest dreams. The Camaro ZL1 1LE owner/driver/videographer that goes by the handle “steelankles” participated in some open lapping at VIR with some buddies recently, and those buddies just so happen to have an LT5 and an LT6 under their respective hoods! It doesn’t get much better than that!

After an epic shot of the three orange Chevrolets on “Victory Lane,” the clip opens with Mr. Ankles and his supercharged Camaro out in the open on a straight-ish portion of Virginia International Raceway after going around a poor, hapless Porsche. Before you know it, though, the mighty Camaro is passed by none other than the famed Gemini Project, followed by a mountain of wonderful cross-plane thunder as the drafting low-wing ZR1 shows its quad-pipes to the on-board camera for the first time. The Camaro holds its own – and even closes the gap on the C7 – in the corners, but each time the ribbon of VIR straightens out, the lighter, more powerful ‘Vettes simply walk away from the LT4-powered 2+2.

[VIDEO] Ride Along in a Camaro ZL1 1LE as it Spars with a C8 Z06 and C7 ZR1 at VIR

After toying with what looks like an E92 M3 (the one with a V8!), the two front-enginers start to move up through the traffic (the base aero(!) C8Z is out of sight, at this point) with the ZR1 becoming a spec on the long straight, just to be passed, along with another Porsche, an SS 1LE, and an S197 ‘Stang, in the curves around the 3:15 mark (the ankles aren’t the only things made of steel on this guy!). At 3:40, we have a C5 sighting; then it’s on to another ZL1 1LE, a new Mach 1, and a ’19-’20 GT350 that challenges the ZR1 for the loudest exhaust note at 5:20; this track day is a regular feast for the eyes if you love American performance machines!

Shortly after dispatching the Voodoo-engined Shelby, we fast forward a couple of laps, and Anks has the 2023 Z06 back in his sights. The two-minute stretch of film that follows is fantastic, with the Camaro repeatedly reeling in the Z06 like a 500-pound tuna, only to be mechanically outclassed in the straights. If you aren’t cheering for Steelankles and his $75,000 mount as they battle the twice-as-expensive ‘Vette by the eight-minute mark, there’s something wrong with you. Cue up the video for yourself to see the grand finale; we’ve already spoiled enough of the action!


Source:
steelankles / YouTube

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12 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you for this awesome article and to everyone watching Steelankles’ videos!

  2. Steelankles is an amazing driver… one of the best that HPDEs have to offer! You can see his other videos on his channel, and make sure to subscribe because he releases great content often that is free of annoying banter and full of awesome racing highlights!

  3. Always a hoot to see his videos, even better riding shotgun with him! Mr. Ankles is the real deal! 👍 (I’d say “McCoy” but my Hatfield friends might not like that.😁)

  4. Cool vid, to bad the German and Blue Oval guys are holding up the parade!! But it was nice to see them get left in the dust. Damn that Camaro was hitting 160mph a few times. Chevrolet friggen rules:)

  5. He ought to call himself “steelballs”. Put this dude in a C8 Z06 and he’d really be dangerous!

  7. The Z06 and the ZR1 would have destroyed the Camaro you can see clearly they didn’t want to push there 200,000 dollar cars on a shitty track like that, all in all these are Chevrolet vehicles they are the best hands down.

  8. If I tried that, I’d be the one everybody is passing…multiple times. 🙂

    One of those scenarios were someone has to be the ‘audience’, not the performer… and that person would be me!

    Looks like a blast tho.

  10. Thank you Alex for a great written article. It made me laugh!
    I am steelankles thanks for watching my videos please subscribe

  12. Jay, thanks for chiming in! Keep up the great work out there!

    Also, after scouring their #1 source for Corvette news (us), it looks like GM Authority posted the video yesterday, too. Congrats on the exposure; you and that gorgeous Crush ZLE deserve it!

Comments are closed.