The 2016 Camaro SS Runs the Quarter in 12.2 seconds

The folks at Hot Rod recently got their hands on a pair of 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS coupes – one with the 6-speed manual and one with the 8-speed automatic – and they took them to the drag strip with the results being very impressive.

The 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS is lighter and more powerful than the previous models and that should lead to a new Camaro SS that is quicker than the previous models – but how much quicker? The folks at Hot Rod took a pair of new Camaro SS coupes to Wild Horse Pass Raceway in Arizona to see how much quicker Camaro Six is than Camaro Five and the results are very impressive; both in how much quicker the new model is than the old model and in the simple fact that the new Camaro gets down the quarter mile so well.

Hot Rodding the 2016 Camaro SS
First off, the bad news here is that we currently don’t have any videos of the dueling 2016 Camaro SS coupes racing down the quarter mile. We don’t even have any details on the run, but thanks to an Instagram image posted by Brandan Gillogly, Staff Editor at HOT ROD magazine, we know that the cars ran a 12.21 and a 12.40. We also know that Hot Rod had one fully loaded 2016 Camaro 2SS with the 8-speed automatic transmission and one 2016 Camaro 1SS with the 6-speed automatic transmission, but we don’t know which car ran which time.

Based on the quarter mile results of the new Corvette with the 8-speed automatic and even the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat with the 8-speed automatic, we know that these performance cars in self-shifting form are a bit quicker (and more consistent) than the same cars with manual transmissions – so I would guess that the 12.21 was run by the 2SS with the automatic transmission while the 12.40 may have been run by the 1SS with the clutch pedal. However, we will have to wait until Hot Rod publishes the full details to get a better look at which car ran which times, along with getting more information on the timing of those runs (trap speed, 60 foot time, etc).

Much Quicker than the 5th Gen
While we might not have any details on the quarter mile runs, we know that the 2016 Camaro SS is capable of running a 12.21 in the quarter mile with one transmission and a 12.40 with the other.

In hunting around the internet, I have found stock 5th gen Camaro SS quarter mile times ranging from the low 13s down to 12.50s, but it seems that the vast majority of professionally tested Camaro SS models from the last generation ran in the 12.7-12.9 range. Many of those figures were for the manual transmission, since the 5th gen Camaro SS with the automatic transmission came with less power than the manual models, so for an automatic 5th gen Camaro SS racer, high 12s is a solid goal with low 13s being more common.

Based on those times and provided that I am correct that the 12.21 was turned by the 2016 Camaro SS with the 8-speed automatic transmission, the self-shifting Camaro Six should be close to a second quicker than the 2015 Camaro SS with the automatic. Even if 12.40 proves to be the automatic transmission time, it is still more than a half second quicker than the LS3-powered Camaro SS from the previous era.

In short, while we are waiting for details, the 2016 Camaro SS appears to get down the quarter mile at least a half second quicker than the outgoing models and it looks like the automatic 2016 Camaro will be close to a second quicker in the quarter mile thanks to the quick-shifting 8-speed, the lighter platform and the 455hp LT1.

Source: Hot Rod via CamaroNews.com