The Garage

WHEN THE GTS-R W1 sold out and signalled the Commodore's time at HSV was up, it revealed something remarkable about Aussie buying habits. Specifically, we'd hand over significant sums of cash ($169K) when an HSV is cranking out 474kW and 815Nm.

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Of course, earth-turning power wasn't everything to it - those last-of-the-line serial numbers were pretty important too. But a GM-bred LS9 engine bolted into a rear- driver guaranteed a lot of appeal.

So it seemed good sense that when HSV secured the rights to re-engineer Chevrolet Camaros from left- to right-hand drive, it tried its best to nab something with close to the same grunt. Something like our newest long-termer, the Camaro ZL1.

What's a ZL1? Simply put, it’s the most powerful and fastest Camaro sold in the United States. It relies on an LT4 V8 for firepower, a 6.2-litre small-block that spins a 1.4-litre supercharger to produce 477kW and 881Nm.

Matched to GM's 10-speed automatic transmission that, ironically, was co-developed with Ford, grunt is channelled to the rear wheels. There’s an electronic differential up back as well, along with fat 305mm tyres.

Chevrolet claims accelerating from zero to 97km/h takes just 3.4sec and the quarter-mile is dusted in 11.4sec. We haven't come anywhere near that in our first few weeks together, but we look forward to trying.