My 2018 1SS 1LE

camaroras · 03-17-2018, 05:20 PM

Hello everyone!

Background and thoughts so far for those interested: I came from a 2016 BRZ, a car that I thought would itch my scratch for fun driving, while being economical. While it is a great car, I found myself a bit bored because it just felt so tame. I looked into forced induction but I just couldn't pull the trigger since for that amount of money (with supporting mods), I felt I would prefer to just put that towards a different car that is more in line with what I want from the factory, as well as the risk of blowing the engine. I was back and forth on that for a while, and when choosing a rental car on vacation, I saw that they had a Camaro 1SS A8 and jumped right in. Now, I did check out a mustang gt before I bought the BRZ, but I was not impressed at all, so I did not expect much from another muscle car, just a fun rental. However, I immediately fell hard for it, the automatic felt great (I normally would not even consider buying an auto), driving dynamics felt great, sound was great in stock form, power was great (butt dyno says it pulls harder from 80 than the BRZ from first gear lol). I immediately started searching for Camaros for sale. Looking at used 17's, they all seemed to be prior short term rentals, and those that weren't were too close to new price for me to consider it worth it. Until I found a dealer that had several Camaros marked way down, including a 1LE. I drove down shortly after and checked it out, and just when I thought that rental was amazing, I was once again surprised with the 1LE. Holy cow! The bang for your buck on this car just seems unreal. So I ended up getting the 1LE and I couldn't be happier. Everything feels great, power, gearbox, handling, the steering wheel and shifter materials, overall touch and finish, rev match feature, I could go on and on. I may have woken up at 3 AM this morning, and just wandered aimlessly on country roads for a few hours...

Roostie · 03-17-2018, 05:29 PM

Sounds like you are in car heaven. Congratulations. I think you made the right choice to get the Camaro instead of supercharging the BRZ. It is really hard to get aftermarket FI to be reliable. Look at the stories that Mr. Goose has about his supercharged BRZ on his "savagegeese" channel on YouTube.

dekee · 03-18-2018, 12:04 AM

Nice ride. I'm in the bay area and looking for a 1le as well. What dealer did you go to? Did you get a good deal on the car? What options did you get?

camaroras · 03-18-2018, 03:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dekee

Nice ride. I'm in the bay area and looking for a 1le as well. What dealer did you go to? Did you get a good deal on the car? What options did you get?

I went to Koons in Tysons corner, and paid 38.5 (39.5 if you include the bs destination charge) w/out pdr (I think all the other options on the 1LE are standard?). I read about some poor experiences with this dealer, but I didn't think it was too bad, apart from some atrocious interest rates.

Ryephile · 03-18-2018, 08:53 AM

Congrats! I had a deposit on the very first BRZ at my local dealer back in early 2012. I was thrilled that *finally* an affordable sports coupe was coming back to the USA. After I test drove it though, I realized it wasn't a sports car at all, but a blank canvas to DIY whatever you wanted. Like you found, the total package just wasn't there. At the time I was looking for a fun DD, not a 2nd project car, so I got my deposit back.

Looking back on it now, the 86 twins are going to go down as "teetering on greatness" as a victim of its own philosophy.

As you're finding out, the SS 1LE is greater than the sum of its parts. It's the complete package. It's an amazing track car and chill but still fun grand tourer.

Ryephile · 03-18-2018, 09:11 AM

Also, here's how you embed your imgur pic:

camaroras · 03-18-2018, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roostie

Sounds like you are in car heaven. Congratulations. I think you made the right choice to get the Camaro instead of supercharging the BRZ. It is really hard to get aftermarket FI to be reliable. Look at the stories that Mr. Goose has about his supercharged BRZ on his "savagegeese" channel on YouTube.

Thanks! What made it worse is that I know several people who even blew their naturally aspirated BRZ engine while at the track.

camaroras · 03-18-2018, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryephile

Congrats! I had a deposit on the very first BRZ at my local dealer back in early 2012. I was thrilled that *finally* an affordable sports coupe was coming back to the USA. After I test drove it though, I realized it wasn't a sports car at all, but a blank canvas to DIY whatever you wanted. Like you found, the total package just wasn't there. At the time I was looking for a fun DD, not a 2nd project car, so I got my deposit back.

Looking back on it now, the 86 twins are going to go down as "teetering on greatness" as a victim of its own philosophy.

As you're finding out, the SS 1LE is greater than the sum of its parts. It's the complete package. It's an amazing track car and chill but still fun grand tourer.

Thanks! I completely agree on the blank canvas. Some people turn them into amazing machines, however I personally rather have a car that is close to, if not exactly, what I want from the factory. I purchased the BRZ with the intention of tracking it, however reliability, mods required to track it, mods desired to have fun with it at the track, etc killed that desire for me. I can't wait to get the SS on the track!

For the picture embed, did you just plug in the imgur link in the insert image popup? It kept showing a broken image icon for me for some reason. I was able to just copy and paste the image in your post into the OP.

4mulafastech · 03-18-2018, 10:43 AM

Congrats! Nice color choice.

FNxR3DNECK · 03-18-2018, 08:33 PM

Hey man congrats on the new 1LE!!! Where are you located in MD?!?! I live in Odenton, hopefully I will see you around, and if you are game you should bring that beast out to some of the local Autocross events!

camaroras · 03-19-2018, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FNxR3DNECK

Hey man congrats on the new 1LE!!! Where are you located in MD?!?! I live in Odenton, hopefully I will see you around, and if you are game you should bring that beast out to some of the local Autocross events!

Thanks! I live in ellicott city, and I am definitely interested in participating in some of the local auto cross events! what are the recommended organizations/venues for autocross around here?

nasbagoat · 03-19-2018, 07:38 AM

Congrats, there are a few of us 1LE owners hanging about MD. If you ever want to talk tracking at Summit Point just shoot me a PM, my first event of the season is April 7-8 if you wanna take a drive and see what its all about.

Ryephile · 03-19-2018, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camaroras

Thanks! I completely agree on the blank canvas. Some people turn them into amazing machines, however I personally rather have a car that is close to, if not exactly, what I want from the factory. I purchased the BRZ with the intention of tracking it, however reliability, mods required to track it, mods desired to have fun with it at the track, etc killed that desire for me. I can't wait to get the SS on the track!

For the picture embed, did you just plug in the imgur link in the insert image popup? It kept showing a broken image icon for me for some reason. I was able to just copy and paste the image in your post into the OP.

You'll love the 1LE on-track after an acclimatisation session. Be sure to get all the settings dialed in. Track mode, then push-push the stability button to get to PTM, then start with Sport 1 or Sport 2 to feel out the car.

For Imgur, I just clicked on the picture itself within Imgur's site and then right clicked "copy image address" and then checked it was a static address. "https://i.imgur.com/a0EWVf7.jpg"

whiteboyblues2001 · 03-19-2018, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camaroras

Thanks! I live in ellicott city, and I am definitely interested in participating in some of the local auto cross events! what are the recommended organizations/venues for autocross around here?

I'm in Ellicott City too! I have run some autocross a while back (with a different car) up at Hershey Park. My cousin runs up there, so I did a few with him. The Susquehanna chapter of the SCCA runs the events, and it was a good time. Here is a link for them: http://www.scca-susq.com/

There is also a Washington DC Chapter of the SCCA that includes DC and VA. I have never run with them, but they run autocross at FedEx Field. I have never been with this group since my cousin runs up at Hershey. Here is there link: https://www.wdcr-scca.org/

Since I got my 2016 SS (non-1LE), I have been doing HPDE's out at Summit Point. I just went this past Friday at their "Friday at the Track" series. Great for getting into HPDE's. Let me know if you are interested in going, as I will be signing up for more events soon. They do fill up quickly for the season, especially for group 1 (beginners). I am in group 3 now, so I have a little more flexibility with schedule. Since I did this HPDE, I probably won't go back to autocross. This is so much more fun! Here is their link: http://summitpoint-raceway.com/

03-17-2018, 05:20 PM	#1
camaroras Drives: 2018 Camaro 1SS 1LE Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Maryland Posts: 67	My 2018 1SS 1LE Hello everyone! Background and thoughts so far for those interested: I came from a 2016 BRZ, a car that I thought would itch my scratch for fun driving, while being economical. While it is a great car, I found myself a bit bored because it just felt so tame. I looked into forced induction but I just couldn't pull the trigger since for that amount of money (with supporting mods), I felt I would prefer to just put that towards a different car that is more in line with what I want from the factory, as well as the risk of blowing the engine. I was back and forth on that for a while, and when choosing a rental car on vacation, I saw that they had a Camaro 1SS A8 and jumped right in. Now, I did check out a mustang gt before I bought the BRZ, but I was not impressed at all, so I did not expect much from another muscle car, just a fun rental. However, I immediately fell hard for it, the automatic felt great (I normally would not even consider buying an auto), driving dynamics felt great, sound was great in stock form, power was great (butt dyno says it pulls harder from 80 than the BRZ from first gear lol). I immediately started searching for Camaros for sale. Looking at used 17's, they all seemed to be prior short term rentals, and those that weren't were too close to new price for me to consider it worth it. Until I found a dealer that had several Camaros marked way down, including a 1LE. I drove down shortly after and checked it out, and just when I thought that rental was amazing, I was once again surprised with the 1LE. Holy cow! The bang for your buck on this car just seems unreal. So I ended up getting the 1LE and I couldn't be happier. Everything feels great, power, gearbox, handling, the steering wheel and shifter materials, overall touch and finish, rev match feature, I could go on and on. I may have woken up at 3 AM this morning, and just wandered aimlessly on country roads for a few hours... Last edited by camaroras; 03-18-2018 at 10:31 AM.

03-18-2018, 08:53 AM	#5
Ryephile Hot Dog Drives: '17 1SS 1LE Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Metro Detroit Posts: 1,937	Congrats! I had a deposit on the very first BRZ at my local dealer back in early 2012. I was thrilled that finally an affordable sports coupe was coming back to the USA. After I test drove it though, I realized it wasn't a sports car at all, but a blank canvas to DIY whatever you wanted. Like you found, the total package just wasn't there. At the time I was looking for a fun DD, not a 2nd project car, so I got my deposit back. Looking back on it now, the 86 twins are going to go down as "teetering on greatness" as a victim of its own philosophy. As you're finding out, the SS 1LE is greater than the sum of its parts. It's the complete package. It's an amazing track car and chill but still fun grand tourer. __________________ 2017 "M1SS1LE" in Hyper Blue w/PDR

03-18-2018, 09:11 AM	#6
Ryephile Hot Dog Drives: '17 1SS 1LE Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Metro Detroit Posts: 1,937	Also, here's how you embed your imgur pic: __________________ 2017 "M1SS1LE" in Hyper Blue w/PDR

03-18-2018, 10:43 AM	#9
4mulafastech Drives: 2018 1SS 1LE Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Washington, MO Posts: 208	Congrats! Nice color choice. __________________

03-18-2018, 08:33 PM	#10
FNxR3DNECK Drives: 2017 SS 1LE Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Monterey, CA Posts: 2,474	Hey man congrats on the new 1LE!!! Where are you located in MD?!?! I live in Odenton, hopefully I will see you around, and if you are game you should bring that beast out to some of the local Autocross events! __________________ IG: @NC_M1SS1LE

03-17-2018, 05:29 PM	#2
Roostie all it takes is cash Drives: 2018 LS V6 1LE; E350 wagon; Model3 Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: San Diego Posts: 372	Sounds like you are in car heaven. Congratulations. I think you made the right choice to get the Camaro instead of supercharging the BRZ. It is really hard to get aftermarket FI to be reliable. Look at the stories that Mr. Goose has about his supercharged BRZ on his "savagegeese" channel on YouTube.

03-18-2018, 12:04 AM	#3
dekee Drives: none Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Georgia Posts: 20	Nice ride. I'm in the bay area and looking for a 1le as well. What dealer did you go to? Did you get a good deal on the car? What options did you get?

03-19-2018, 07:38 AM	#12
nasbagoat Drives: 17 SW 1LE Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: ROCKVILLE MD Posts: 290	Congrats, there are a few of us 1LE owners hanging about MD. If you ever want to talk tracking at Summit Point just shoot me a PM, my first event of the season is April 7-8 if you wanna take a drive and see what its all about.

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