Owner Takes His Chevy Camaro ZL1 to a Tuner, Drives Home With a Monster Under the Hood

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Photo: Late Model Racecraft | YouTube

Some car owners don't do stock. They just can't accept factory ratings. Take the owner of this Chevy Camaro ZL1, who considered that he wanted to blow up the ordinary and go for the extraordinary. What does "extraordinary" actually mean? That would be a 1,200-horsepower tuning package.

Mr. Knighton took his Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to a tuner because he wanted it to be an absolute monster. His weekend toy rolled off the production line of the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant in Michigan with the 6.2-liter supercharged LT4 V8, pumping out 650 horsepower (659 metric horsepower) and 650 pound-feet (881 Newton meters) of torque.

The numbers pushed it from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 kph) in 3.4 seconds when equipped with the ten-speed automatic transmission, and it needed 3.7 seconds for the run when the six-speed manual box was involved.

The muscle car ran the quarter mile in 11.4 seconds with a trap speed of 124 mph (200 kph) and maxed out at 198 mph (318 kph). Those were the official figures that GM bragged about when it came to the car it chose to discontinue back in 2023.

But the maximum track testing speed was 202 mph (325 kph), achieved on an oval test track at the Papenburg High-Speed Oval in Germany. So, the Chevy Camaro ZL1 is by no means a car that would embarrass you at the stoplight.

Still, Mr. Knighton wasn't satisfied. He needed more of everything. So he asked the tuning experts at Late Model Racecraft to do what had to be done to turn his car into a beast, and beast they did. They came up with the full LMR 1200HP.

So, a 2650 supercharger replaced the factory unit. The tuners also installed CNC cylinder heads, a custom camshaft, an upgraded fuel system with supplemental port injection, and a larger throttle body. They upgraded the heat exchanger and brought in American Racing headers and an ATI balancer.

When they dynoed the Camaro, it returned 1,020 rear-wheel horsepower on E85. Because at that sort of oomph, the driver needs all the grip he can get, LMR also installed Weld wheels with Mickey Thompson ET Street R tires. They also upgraded the suspension and installed a Corsa exhaust to let the V8 from under the hood roar its drama out, without being too loud.

Steven Fereday of Late Model Racecraft hits the street in a new build to make sure he would be handing a reliable car back to its owner. The Camaro ZL1 handles the extra power without breaking a sweat. It rips through back-to-back pulls and shifts at the right time and at the right RPMs.

Now, Mr. Knighton will go home in a car he won’t recognize when he puts his foot down. Steven expects him to come back for more in six months.