[BMWM.D.]

Originally Posted by mdmoore23

You actually do need to still pull the exhaust fuse if you truly want the valve open 100% of the time. There's still programming in track mode that closes them during certain rpm ranges and engine load points.

Yep, this is true. I ended up installing an exhaust controller so I could go from truly open (i.e. fuse pulled) to Stealth mode with a press of my garage door opener. There would be no need if GM had programmed Track mode this way, but they didn’t for whatever reason.

[dmwtech]

Tony Mamo lied to me about the throttle body I ordered! He said it would ship today when I placed my order. Well they actually shipped it two days ago and I received it today! Talk about exceeding a customer's expectations! I can't say enough good things about Tony! The TB looks great and it was packaged very nicely.

I'm going to go install it after I post this, but it will be a couple more days until the roads are dry enough around here to test it out.

[hashtag]

Originally Posted by dmwtech

Well I've officially converted over to the dark side. Exactly a year ago today, I bought my Lightning Blue GT350 and decided a couple of weeks ago that it was time for something a little easier and comfortable to drive. I had considered buying a ZL1 when I bought the GT350, but I still have no regrets. The GT350 was a phenomenal car!

I started searching for a used ZL1 in the Northern California area. I happened across a 10k mile 2017 Hyper Blue ZL1, PDR, A10, Exposed Carbon about 100 miles away in the Bay Area. I got it for what I felt was a fair price and I added the GM endorsed Ally 7 year, 100k $0 deductible platinum service contract to the vehicle. Thanks to the internet, I got a nice price match on that. I have no doubt the prior owner probably frequents this forum or others, because it was pretty well cared for with some mods being completed. It has the carbon dash, ZL1 on the steering wheel (instead of "Fifty"), along with the ZL1 tail lights and third brake light. The windows were already tinted as well. It also had a CAI on it, but was returned to stock prior to sale. The car is nearly pristine with just over 10k miles on it. I found maybe two small rock chips and one 3mm nick on one of the wheels which I touched up. The trip computer says it averaged 18MPG over 10.2k miles, which was pretty good IMO. On my 105 mile drive home, I averaged almost 24 MPG. Pretty impressive for a car with this much power.

I know many have traded their GT350 for a ZL1 and I can say that for an everyday driver, the ZL1 is much easier to drive, especially with the A10. While the visibility is not as good, I've gotten used to that within a couple hundred miles. It's more comfortable, rides better and handles good enough. I love the low end torque and the A10 is really, really good. I will say that I preferred the ergonomics in the GT350 better, along with the brakes (far superior in feel) and the exhaust note (hard to beat that noise at 8k RPM). However, I always felt nervous driving the GT350. It had a lot of tramline and the lack of low end torque made it hard to drive smoothly in normal traffic. It was like you could never just relax and enjoy the drive if that makes sense. I also was never a big fan of the forged piston slap in that engine. I'll also be honest that I've always been more of an automatic guy than a manual one. That said, I've owned a lot of manual cars over the years but prefer the automatics of today, such as the 10L90 and the ZF 8 speeds.

After having the ZL1 for about five days now, I can say that driving it is far less stressful. I just hop in and go. It's nice to have remote start again on my "toy". I like the tech in the car and there are only a couple of things which I don't like. The first is the active exhaust, which seems to have a mind of it's own and sounds odd at times. I know pulling the fuse in the engine compartment can leave the flappers open at all times and I'm probably going to do that. The second is that the brake feel just isn't that good IMO. The first time I had to stop quickly, I puckered up a bit. I've had AMG's and the GT350, where those seemed to have a really good brake feel with excellent stopping power, while I'd rate the ZL1 as no better than "good". The prior owner may have swapped pads, I'm not sure. I'll check it out over the next few weeks. I've gotten used to the brakes now, but it was a very noticeable change going from the GT350 to the ZL1.

As for 10k miles, hardly a squeak or rattle in the interior. No clunking from the suspension, though it does have the "wheel clicking" issue on both front wheels. I already torqued the wheels to 140 ft.lb, but the noise persists. Otherwise, I have not detected any other issues with the car. I will say it is a lot of fun to drive and it draws just about as much attention as my GT350. The second night i had it, a little boy and his mom ran up to the car at a gas station. He thought it was a "Transformer". haha. It was funny and I had to break the bad news to him that it wasn't. Any car guy seems to drool over it as well. I've found myself having to answer a lot of questions about the car, which is no problem at all. That's part of the experience!

Up next will be a new set of rear tires, a CAI and maybe a TM ported throttle body. I also ordered a ZL1 Addons front plate holder, splash guards and the magnetic jack pad/puck, along with a set of Husky liners.

The Old:


The New:











Richard - if you're out there, PM me. I'd love to chat with you about your prior car.

That is my old 2017 ZL1

[hashtag]

Originally Posted by dmwtech

I have a Roto-Fab CAI on the way, along with a Tony Mamo ported throttle body. In chatting with Tony, he'd like me to try out the TB first without the CAI for a bit and then add the CAI. He wanted to see what my thoughts were by doing it in a phased approach. I'm cool with that. Speaking of Tony, what a friendly and responsive, down to earth guy! Looks like the TB will ship out Monday, so I should have it around the middle of next week.

Next up to decide what I want to do about tires. I'm debating if I'll just order another set of GY's or if I'll go with a set of Pilot 4S's. Leaning towards the GY's at this point, though the front tires on my car were just replaced with Pilot Super Sport ZP's, so I only have the GY's on the back with 3/32nd remaining.

That 2017 ZL1 had a Tony Mamo T-Body & a RotoFab fab “CAI.” Had to remove the parts when I traded it in. I switched the parts over to my 2018 A10. That car was not abused & religious oil changes as I am a Dealership Employee (:

Can I have my old Carbon Fiber dash insert ? J/K

[ZL1 1LE]

Originally Posted by hashtag

That 2017 ZL1 had a Tony Mamo T-Body & a RotoFab fab “CAI.” Had to remove the parts when I traded it in. I switched the parts over to my 2018 A10. That car was not abused & religious oil changes as I am a Dealership Employee (:

Can I have my old Carbon Fiber dash insert ? J/K

Why the change, if I may ask? Color?

[JB'sZL1]

Originally Posted by ZL1 1LE

Why the change, if I may ask? Color?

Yeah, I was wondering that also. Maybe he can drive them for a year and flip them at no cost as he works at a dealership.

[hashtag]

Originally Posted by ZL1 1LE

Why the change, if I may ask? Color?

I had this bright idea of getting a ZL1 1LE. After a month I could not stand the 1LE ride quality & drive ability. Traded it in for a a loaded Red Hot A10. That was the only choice as it was the only car that was in inventory. Rough life I know.

[hashtag]

Originally Posted by JB'sZL1

Yeah, I was wondering that also. Maybe he can drive them for a year and flip them at no cost as he works at a dealership.

Unfortunately I lost a lot of money on the trades

[JB'sZL1]

Originally Posted by hashtag

I had this bright idea of getting a ZL1 1LE. After a month I could not stand the 1LE ride quality & drive ability. Traded it in for a a loaded Red Hot A10. That was the only choice as it was the only car that was in inventory. Rough life I know.

Truly first world problems.

Originally Posted by hashtag

Unfortunately I lost a lot of money on the trades

That a bummage. At least you know what you want, and you have it now.

Jfyi hashtag: your sig reads Hyperblue, but you have red.

[dmwtech]

Well it's good that we've finally connected. I'll shoot you a PM one of these days, as I have a few questions about the car. I wondered why the stock TB was so clean.

It will be back to the way you had it in a couple of weeks. TM throttle body has been installed and I have a Roto-Fab on the way.

Sorry to hear about the car swapping. I actually was surprised in the Bay Area that someone would trade an A10 for a 6-Speed 1LE. I knew you used the car to accumulate 10k miles in around 6 months time, so I was like... no way I'd want that in Bay Area commute traffic. haha. I figured it was true that you went to a 1LE, since you left the blacked out tail lights on the 17. Sometimes you never know what to believe when you're buying a car. Thanks for taking good care of it while you had it.

[hashtag]

Originally Posted by dmwtech

Well it's good that we've finally connected. I'll shoot you a PM one of these days, as I have a few questions about the car. I wondered why the stock TB was so clean.

It will be back to the way you had it in a couple of weeks. TM throttle body has been installed and I have a Roto-Fab on the way.

Sorry to hear about the car swapping. I actually was surprised in the Bay Area that someone would trade an A10 for a 6-Speed 1LE. I knew you used the car to accumulate 10k miles in around 6 months time, so I was like... no way I'd want that in Bay Area commute traffic. haha. I figured it was true that you went to a 1LE, since you left the blacked out tail lights on the 17. Sometimes you never know what to believe when you're buying a car. Thanks for taking good care of it while you had it.

Fremont is owned by the company I work for.

Only one Corvette tech worked on my car. The front suspension steering was replaced @ 500 miles because the steering was built incorrectly from GM supplier. It was missing bushings, not even kidding. Oil was changed every 2000 miles. The Carfax would not reflect it because I had a tech do it on the side. Also have the DIF fluid changed as well at 1500 miles. Could never get rid of that clicking noise coming from the rotor. Had the TSB done twice. Tires were not due. Service likes reconditioning is all. Trade-in was 55K & you bought it for $56,000 I think. Good deal.

I think I have the owners manual’s for your car.

[dmwtech]

Yup. That's cool. Did you do the front spring replacement? It seems to sit at just about 27.5" in the front.

It actually does show on the Carfax all of the oil changes. If figured that, plus the condition, plus the average of 18MPG over the 10k miles showed you didn't beat the shit out of it. The front tires were replaced after you traded it though. The rears will be due in a month or two.

The car didn't have the owners manual or the front plate holder included, or the window sticker (wish I did though). I did find an allen wrench in the driver side seat track, so if you're missing one, I have it.

[JB'sZL1]

Originally Posted by dmwtech

The front tires were replaced after you traded it though. The rears will be due in a month or two.

That's odd. With the hp these cars have, usually the rears wear faster...unless there's misalignment.

[dmwtech]

I think the average life of the stock GY's without track time is around 10-12k - at least from what I've seen on here. The car tracks straight and doesn't pull. I'll check the replacement tires this weekend, as I'm most likely going to remove the SuperSport ZP's they installed and go with a new set of GY's or install Pilot Sport 4S's on all four corners.