Riding in the new 2014 Chevy Camaro Z/28, a factory-bred street racer

After its shock reveal at the New York auto show, the 2014 Chevy Camaro Z/28 stands as one of the most anticipated machines of the year. GM promised new heights of performance, and an unrelenting dedication to make the car worthy of its legendary name, and challenge some of the world's best. We got the chance to take a Z/28 deep dive at GM's Milford Proving Grounds, and ride shotgun in one of its development mules on the venue's test track. Is it everything that was promised?

Let's start with the "shotgun" part: Chevy wouldn't let us drive the machines because the engineers haven't finished all the final calibrations. Our time behind the wheel will occur nearer to the proposed sale date, late in the first quarter of next year. So I'll start by saying that riding in the passenger seat does not give you a clear perspective. You cannot make a definitive judgement, nor should you when the car's still being worked on. But it does gives us a sense of what the car can do, and if that sense is correct, Camaro fans are in for something quite special.

I've spent plenty of time tracking the Camaro ZL1 and 1LE, as well as Ford's muscular competitors like the GT500 and Boss 302 Laguna Seca, including in a back-to-back comparison test. From a handling perspective, the Camaros are far superior, and faster. So it goes without saying that Chevy has a rather incredible platform to create the Z/28. But don't for one moment think that this car has only a few mechanical changes from the plain Camaro

No, the Z/28 is different. It's completely reinvented, featuring Multimatic DSSV shocks (the very same Multimatic that supplies Red Bull's dominating F1 team), monster Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes as standard, Pirelli Trofeo R tires that were originally developed for use in one of Porsche's amateur racing series in Europe, and front-splitter, side sills and rear wing that produce 440 lbs. more downforce than the Camaro SS. The engine, GM's naturally-aspirated LS7 featuring 505 hp and 481 lb.-ft. of torque, comes meshed to a Torsen limited-slip differential. It's lowered 33mm and close to 100 lbs. lighter

It doesn't even come with air conditioning.