Quote:
Originally Posted by khcoaching
I have "some" time in a Boss 302, not a ton, (all on track) but enough to get a sense of it. The 6th Gen 1LE is a huge step up from that car. The Boss for its time was great and certainly started the new pony wars - it was good, but not great on the track.
- Engine powerbands are opposite..the Boss is all up top and the LT1 is pretty much all below 5k.
- The Boss gets really hot on track and can overherat, the Camaro doesn't.
- The 1LE brakes are much stronger with better feel. (Especially after fluid and pads)
- The transmission is light years better with the Camaro
- The Mustang has better side visibility, but I think the Camaro is better out the front.
- The Mustang might turn in a bit better, stock. (This gets fixed with 19" wheels and a square setup with the Camaro
That's all I can think of for now!
Ken
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I disagree with much of this.
The BOSS was amazingly fast for a solid rear end car and very track capable. This isn't a Mustang GT nor does it drive like one. It may require higher skills to get the most out of, but with some decent wide tires, it does not suck and it's a lot closer than a lot of people would think or admit.
The LT1 engine is most alive between 4000 and 6000 IME. When I punch it at 3-4K and take it to redline, THAT is where the fun is. Sure, it has torque around 1000rpm, but it doesn't accelerate fast at those speeds, it just pulls out of whatever situation it is. Some people talk about turbo lag, but this engine in a high gear and low RPM isn't going to leap either. The difference is the drivability at lower RPM, the LT1 is a lot more drivable at lower RPM...but if you are tracking or on a course, the engine punches much better at that higher RPM range. The torque curve is pretty flat, but the torque is still higher in that range, where you also get to max HP.
But I agree on the transmission, that's a known weak point of the BOSS.
Camaro visibility is not great by any measure. You do adapt to it and you do figure out where the edges are. You can't do stupid stuff like ram your tire into parking stops because you have a sports-car with low facia and aerodynamic stuff, but again, you adapt and get to understand it. I won my class in autoX this season and you don't do that if you are hitting cones. It did surprise me in many situations when I didn't hit cones, thinking that I was so close there is no way I couldn't have hit the cone, but that just goes to the adaptation stuff, you do adapt and you do figure it out. I like the aspect that you aren't riding in an econo-box car all upright with the world looking into your car.
The SS 1LE IS a generation better than a BOSS, but the BOSS was very good to start with in many ways and can be driven very fast. The 1LE is better in about almost every way, but in some of these areas is not by a huge margin IME.