In a wild video that surfaced yesterday you’ll see what is purported to be a 2017 Z/28 Camaro prototype being run and actually crashing on the Nurburgring in Germany during what may be pre-production testing. The car sounds pretty awesome and we’re digging the big gnarly front end on it which kind of reminds us a little of the early 1980s (late second gen) Z/28s that had the big nose on ’em. No one seems to be hurt in the scuffle with the wall and the car itself doesn’t even look to be that badly damaged. The guys who were in the car got out and quickly inspected the damage and then got the cover on the thing. We’re not sure if it is because of the camouflage or if the thing just held up well, but the passenger side is far less mangled looking than we expected it to be.
So what happened? We watched it multiple times and to us it seems like it could be a brake bias issue. If you frame by frame this sucker you will see that the rear brakes lock instantly when they are applied and the the front brakes are not locked until about a second or so into the trip off the track. The tire smoke illustrates this point very clearly as it is rolling off the back tires noticeably before the fronts join the party.
The guy who was sitting on the passenger side surely had to have been puckered up pretty good for the fact that all of the action was happening on his side. The car hits hard enough to lift the driver’s side a couple of feet into the air and the landing sounds about as nasty as you’d expect.
We’re guessing they’ll look at the data, figure out what happened, and be back out on the track as soon as that car is fixed.
Sounded great. Looked pretty quick though no basis for comparison. LIKE
Strange that the tires locked up at all with today’s ABS systems on these cars.
Unless he had all the traction control and ABS features turned off for the track?
What caused the crash?
A Ford owner in the bushes with an RPG…….
What engine is in there? I think I heard a supercharger. Idk if putting a LT4 is best for the Z28. The Z28 needs a N/A engine simply because it isn’t a one lap car.. I hope the LT4 isn’t in there. I hope it’s GM’s Ultra DOHC TTV8. But I heard no bov..
Not that I have onboard telemetry here, but dimes to doughnuts they had the brake bias off and when the driver got into the corner too hot and pounded the binders the car started to come around. Do I get a keychain if I’m right?