New Camaro owner - Rival co-worker is a Mustang owner; need info to defend my car

[Batman's ZL1]

Well Hello to all you awesome Camaro owners out there. I am new to this forum and to owning one of the greatest cars ever built, a Camaro. I am blessed enough to have recently been able to buy my dream car... a 2014 Chevy ZL1 Fully-Loaded with all available options [check out my garage pictures] . I purchased it with 10 miles on it right off the showroom floor. Funny Story, I told myself that if I was ever able to buy a "muscle car" I would buy a Manual transmission. (even though I had never learned how to drive stick) So when I ended up buying the car, my co-worker had to drive it home for me (approx. 400 miles) and it sat in my garage for 3 weeks while I took lessons to learn how to drive stick.

Anyways, this Co-worker is a good guy, he helped me learn how to drive a stick and how to take care of a premium vehicle. However, since he has a 2013 Mustang Shelby GT500 with added mods that give it about a 700+ HP, he constantly gives me a hard time about my car being 'slow'. I love my car and have no regrets, but I'm not a car guy yet. I'm still learning.

Could you real car guys (and girls) out there give me some positive info about ZL1's/Chevy's that I could use to DEFEND my Camaro ZL1 and the Chevy brand name in general against his Ford and his "musty-thang"??

[Ryanbabz71]

Tell him to compare apples to apples as you are stock and not modified. You will definitely be better on a road course

Enjoy the car and friendly banter between each other. I have a few mustang friends at work and we go back and forth but in the end we are car guys.


Ryan

[Mark T]

Sure.

Dont diminish him for his choice firstly.

Just suggest you chose the ZL1 as it fits your desires and you like the progressive technologies in it.

It is better to keep a friend an an ally. Surely he has seen the videos and writeups of the z, zl, and1le. He might be acting defensively on his choice. Although it does sound like he has a sweet car.

[Batman's ZL1]

Originally Posted by Ryanbabz71

Tell him to compare apples to apples as you are stock and not modified. You will definitely be better on a road course

Enjoy the car and friendly banter between each other. I have a few mustang friends at work and we go back and forth but in the end we are car guys.


Ryan

yeah he does compare apples to apples.... what he does is he will text me/ or email me the original stock specs for his car and mine just to show his car has more hp with a smaller engine. Or he will send me numbers from the official track test times of both vehicles. I feel like I got thrust into a college rivalry and I am playing catch-up trying to learn about cars in general.

[Whitefifthgen]

Tell him John Force is going to be driving a camaro instead of a mustang. Lol

[Whos_Drivin]

Send him the magazine comparisons of the two...ZL1 came out ahead in all but one of those.

Sounds like is all in good fun!

[K1SSRSS]

Tell him you'll race him on the drag strip if he races you on the road course.

With pullies, headers and tune, you will be right there with him power wise.

[Batman's ZL1]

Originally Posted by Whos_Drivin

Send him the magazine comparisons of the two...ZL1 came out ahead in all but one of those.

Sounds like is all in good fun!

Which Magazine specifically did you read where they compared the ZL1 and the Shelby, and the ZL1 was rated higher?

[rcandiloro]

Dude, these kinds of things drive me crazy. Compared to a 700hp Mustang it probably does feel slow, but there is so much more to this car than straight line speed. You have better brakes, a better suspension, the car is built with the extra cooling required to go to the track while the GT500 needs "options" to make it track worthy. I thought about getting a GT500, knowing full well that it was faster in a straight line, but that car didn't do it for me like the ZL1. When I looked at the GT500 I thought, "Cool car.", but when I saw the ZL1 I absolutely fell in love with it. I thought it looked so much more badass. Then I read the reviews comparing the two and liked that the ZL1 is generally considered a better road car. I was using mine for a daily driver so it was a win/win. It all depends on your priorities. Be the bigger man and say, "Yep, it's slower, but that's not my priority." If it is your priority then get the mods to make your ZL1 800hp and tell him his car feels slow. Don't let someone bully you into doing something you don't want to do if this is your first muscle car. Are you happy with it? That's all that matters.

[URBAN LEGEND]

How about you don't defend your car. Let it be. Enjoy your car.

[URBAN LEGEND]

Originally Posted by Batman's ZL1

Which Magazine specifically did you read where they compared the ZL1 and the Shelby, and the ZL1 was rated higher?

Uh, every comparo from late 2012 to the present day.

[Batman's ZL1]

Originally Posted by rcandiloro

Dude, these kinds of things drive me crazy. Compared to a 700hp Mustang it probably does feel slow, but there is so much more to this car than straight line speed. You have better brakes, a better suspension, the car is built with the extra cooling required to go to the track while the GT500 needs "options" to make it track worthy. I thought about getting a GT500, knowing full well that it was faster in a straight line, but that car didn't do it for me like the ZL1. When I looked at the GT500 I thought, "Cool car.", but when I saw the ZL1 I absolutely fell in love with it. I thought it looked so much more badass. Then I read the reviews comparing the two and liked that the ZL1 is generally considered a better road car. I was using mine for a daily driver so it was a win/win. It all depends on your priorities. Be the bigger man and say, "Yep, it's slower, but that's not my priority." If it is your priority then get the mods to make your ZL1 800hp and tell him his car feels slow. Don't let someone bully you into doing something you don't want to do if this is your first muscle car. Are you happy with it? That's all that matters.

Thanks, for the specific info "BETTER BRAKES, BETTER SUSPENSION, EXTRA COOLING". I will do my research into that and have something to hit him back with.
I had went to the Chevy website to use the side-by-side comparison, but the only thing that showed as a ZL1 advantage was the 100k warranty as opposed to Ford's 60k warranty. I told him that Ford didn't think his vehicle would last as long as Chevy felt its cars would due to the quality of manufacturing.

[KaBoom1701]

Mag ride and much better braking system....enough said.

[krisprz2010camaross]

Don't forget that the Camaro has an independent rear suspension better for handling and the Shelby has a solid rear axle which is better for the drag strip. But it isn't nearly as good as the zl1s handling on the road especially with that magnetic ride control.