2018 ZL1 Wants to look like a 1LE
 

Hello everyone. I bought a new ZL1 a few weeks ago on impulse after seeing it on the showroom - such an awesome car, I just couldn't resist! :wub: Actually, I personally prefer the look of the 1LE but also prefer the daily drivability/comfort of the regular ZL1. So the first mod I want to do is the killer Carbon Fiber wing. Get a quote from the stealership for $4300.00! Do a little online research and picked one up for $2,650.00, then see that I need the black out tails to make everything match. Now, by chance, I've found myself transitioning my brand new car into the look of a 1LE. Here's what happened...

About two days after purchasing my car, and was trying to put as many miles on it as possible (breaking in the motor as per GM specs...gently) so I could stomp on it ASAP, but just couldn't wait that long. I had about 800 miles on it and took her to a remote highway to see what she can do from a dead stop. Car takes off like a rocket ship, but around 90mph the front end gets squirrely, almost feeling like the front tires aren't in full contact with the road...very uneasy feeling when accelerating that fast. So I do a little more research and find out that wing adds around another 80lbs of down force on the rear end and realize the front Canards are probably necessary with the Wing to balance everything out, so I order them from the Chevy dealer.

In the interim of all this, I apparently drove through some highway debris that some jagoff spilled out of their truck. Anyway, on day 4 I was watching some vids of mods a guy had done to his ZL1 and saw he had added a clear bra. Since I've been a GM truck owner my entire life, it never even entered my mind to protect the front but thought it would be a good idea for this car. So I bring it in, get a quote on some Xpel, drop it off two days later to have it installed and get a call from them telling me they don't recommend installing the bra due to all the rock chips on my front Facia! ...$900.00 to re-paint the front Facia, grilles, splitter. So I drop it off at the body shop, grab the Canards from the parts dept. and find out the Canards are not recommended to be painted. Meanwhile, they just wouldn't look correct with the black mosaic paint that's currently on my front end. Do a little more research and find out the 1LE requires an entire new front end to make the car look correct!

So that's where I'm at now. Car's in the body shop for one week now, just ordered my parts this morning from GM and will hopefully be up and running again within the next two weeks.

Here's some pics so far...

Pics aren't showing up. But you might as well do wheel spacers and lowering springs at this point. The aero looks weird with the big wheelgaps.

I figured I may have to do a tweek here and there to make it look good. I can see adding the wheel spacers, but since my car has 20's and the 1LE only has 19's, why is the gap larger?
Sorry, I'm a newbie here and haven't figured out the pic posting yet...using photobucket and for some reason won't let me post all my pics

Also, if there are any other pitfalls when doing this mod, any help would be appreciated. Thanks

The 1LE suspension is lower and the wheels are wider so they are flush with the fender openings. You can upload pics using the manage attachments button on the post reply page.

Thanks! :thumb:

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Just sayin...
 

What’s with all this Michael Jackson Syndrome???
:emoticon1:

Not that I owe anyone one, but my explanation is posted. Fortunately, most of us live here in America and those of us who can afford it, usually spend their money on things they want and in ways that make them happy. Those of us who can't afford the things they want :cry: or sometimes tend to spend their time criticizing others about their decisions .

I did not want a 1LE for the reason explained above and because I wanted the 10 speed trans. Not to mention that I'll probably never take the car to a road course type of track but will be at my local 1/4 mile from time to time where I believe the 10 speed is faster than manual.

If you don't like it, don't look at it Sir :flame:

How does it require a new front end to look correct? It’s the same.

The LED area beneath the headlights is different between the ZL1 and ZL1/1LE.

No not the same.

The differences are subtle, but they're there. Originally, I had thought the only difference was the dive planes or Canards and the hood wrap. After I ordered the Canards and saw that the fascia on mine needed to be cut and modified in order for them to be installed,(there are two tabs that insert into the Fascia) I started researching the difference and found out the Splitter is different, both Grilles are different, etc.

Also, I think the 1LE is about 1” wider, so I also had to purchase two new fenders as well. Basically the only thing that stays the same is the hood, that is unless I choose to do the flat black wrap to make everything match exactly, but that’s not my goal here. I most probably won’t wrap the hood because I like the contrast of the carbon fiber and surrounding Hyper Blue, but that’s just me.

Why did you need new fenders?
There are differences, but aesthetically, it's a bunch of stuff added to a ZL1. Both grills, splitter, cannards. I see no reason for needing different fenders.

Correct. Fenders on both ZL1s are the same. Supposedly the SS fenders are not as wide. I think the difference between the SS and ZL1 fender is in the mounts and not the outer skin, but not 100% on that.

The front fascias are the same except a tab slot for the ZL1 1LE grille. They are sculpted identically.