Quote:
Originally Posted by Can'tHave2MuchHP
But...The stiffness of the 5th Z28 didn't seem to stop it from winning BDC in 2014 I believe it was. Furthermore the Z28 was stripped out, loud road noise, uncomfortable and no where near as fast (Down on power + lots of downforce + drag from wide tires).
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The Z/28 did not face as tough a field - no Cayman, no Ferrari, no McClaren - only the 911 Turbo S that finished 3rd that year also. Had the Ferrari 458 been there, it likely would have prevailed. The field the ZL1 1LE faced was tough and the fact that is was 4th is a true testament to how good it is. But in the end the harshness of the suspension on the street held it back. Its a great track car, but it is not a great street car.
It is true GM made the Z/28 as light as possible, gave it big wide sticky tires, a 6 speed, a NA LS7 and focused handling that no other car there could match - and they did it for $76K - it was such a leap for a Camaro they were stunned - for the Camaro the Gen 6 Chassis was a leap forward and they have tested the SS 1LE, then ZL1 and now the ZL1 1LE, so sometimes its good to be the first of a great line of cars, Z got that benefit as well. In spite of its shortcomings the Z came out on top.
If you go back and read what they said about the Z they did not complain about the ride quality, it was stiff but not harsh, or the comfort, in fact they loved the seat. Their main complaint was about visibility and sheer size - but that all seemed to fade away once they started driving it as the car inspired such confidence.
Here is their final summary:
Yes, it’s a Camaro and still hard to see out of, and, yes, more than one editor complained about keeping such a big, wide car between the lines, but these issues become easy to forgive at the first turn of a great road. The Camaro Z/28 is the revered, old-school formula for speed writ large: big motor, bigger brakes, manual transmission, and a chassis tuned to race without any digital help. Greater than the sum of its parts, though, the Z/28 is a car in which how hard you smile is directly correlated to how hard you’re driving it, and for that, it’s Motor Trend’s 2014 Best Driver’s Car.
Good time to be a car enthusiast - so many great choices!