Car: 2023 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
Class: NASA American Iron Xtreme
Cage: 1.75 x .120" DOM fully TIG welded, built to NASA spec with added anti-intrusion bars and FIA bars
Other Goodies: Racetech seats, fuel safe cell, Essex AP brakes, AP pedal box
Gen 6 Camaro Track Build Guide — What Works and Why
After building a handful of 6th-gen Camaros for road racing, we’ve locked in a pretty solid formula. Like most race cars, it all starts with the chassis.
Chassis & Safety
These cars are heavy and fast, so a proper cage isn’t optional, it’s mandatory. The cage keeps you alive, but the seat keeps you in the car.
Racetech is the only seat we trust. Their integrated seat-back reinforcement is exclusive to them, and nothing else on the market even comes close in terms of safety and rigidity.
Suspension
The OEM suspension is surprisingly decent… until you start pushing the car like a real race car. The ZL1 1LE with DSSV dampers gets closer, but they’re still too soft for real track abuse.
Our go-to is the Tractive standalone electronic damper system. It can be adjusted from their controller or through a CAN dial on the steering wheel, so the driver can make live suspension changes in the car huge advantage when conditions change mid-session.
Brakes
Brakes are one of the most critical systems on any road course car. The 1LE comes with massive brakes, but pad options are limited, they’re heavy, and the big pad mass loves to heat soak.
We run AP Racing brake kits the best option out there and as an Essex dealer, that’s all we put on these cars.
Recommended setup:
Front: AP 9660 or 9668 (19mm or 25mm pads)
Rear: AP 9450
Rotors: J-Hook
Pads: Ferodo DS3.12
With that combo, the car stops like it weighs 1,000 lbs less. Throw in an RM Motorsports brake duct kit, and we’ve never seen temps over 450°F no matter how hard we lean on them.
Cooling & Airflow
The Gen 6 Camaro has some real airflow limitations up front. We replace the bulky OEM bumper with our PMF single-tube bar with tow hooks it opens up the nose and lets the car breathe. Paired with AFCO coolers, coolant and oil temps stay in check.
More airflow in more airflow out. Race Louvers hood vents make a massive difference in pressure relief and front lift. We cracked an Anderson Composites hood before adding louvers problem solved immediately after.
One note: removing the front bumper also removes the factory airbox separator. If you don’t install a divider on the driver side of the radiator, you’ll suck in hot air. After adding the separator panel, we dropped intake temps from 160°F to ambient.
Aero
Anderson Composites makes solid canards and a splitter option, but the real centerpiece is the rear wing. Our PMF wing system uses a G-Stream airfoil and a hybrid mount: trunk-mounted for convenience, but fully chassis-linked for true downforce transfer. Best of both worlds.
Weight Reduction
There’s a lot of weight to pull out of these cars if you're committed:
Anti-Gravity battery
Optic Armor front and rear windows
PMF carbon ¼ windows
Anderson Composites doors, decklid, hood
Also, these cars are full of boron steel. You can remove 200–300 lbs of internal structure as long as your cage design replaces that rigidity. Done right, you end up with a safer, lighter car.
The Result
Take care of safety, real suspension, real brakes, airflow, aero, and weight and the Gen 6 Camaro becomes a weapon. When built right, they punch way above their weight class and run door-to-door with cars that cost twice as much to compete.
