03-06-2018, 01:00 PM | #1 |
Drives: 2018 Camaro SS 1LE Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Ohio
Posts: 51
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SS 1LE, Good All Season Daily Track Car?
I am considering getting a SS 1LE for my daily driver/Track car. I currently drive a Subaru WRX STi that I daily and use for AutoX and HPDE trackdays. The STi is a great car handles great in all conditions and is fun everyday. But it’s not perfect, as the stock tune and pistons can have problems over time. While this is not guaranteed to happen, it’s more likely for some like me who goes wot daily and tracks the car a lot (10+ AutoX & 5+ HPDE a year). I have a warranty for 100K on the car but Subaru would be happy to void it if anything happened on the track. I can go the route of modding as people have worked out all the kinks, but I don’t know enough about tuning to make sure things stay running well.
This leads me to my question. How well would the SS, hold up to daily driving (14K Miles Annually) and track duties? I love to drive and don’t want to worry about modding, I prefer seat time. The 1LE is setup well for the track, and GM is ok with tracking them. Outside of getting extra wheels and tires for racing it’s pretty well setup for race duties. I also like to drive it no matter what the weather is outside without having to baby it. So I live in the Midwest and get plenty of rain and some snow. I’d get a set of A/S tires (I know snow tires are better in snow, but we don’t get enough of it here) for the winter, but I want to make sure it can still get out of its own way when its wet or snowy out. I also would like to know is the LT1 a reliable/durable platform that can do 100k mi, daily and track without having problems (understanding that nothing is perfect)? Lastly is the 2SS worth getting for the backup sensors & blind sport monitoring? TLDR; 1. Is the SS 1LE a good daily, including in the rain and winter? 2. Can it do daily driver and track duties for 60k+ miles reliably? 3. Is the 2SS worth it for blind spot & parking sensors? |
03-06-2018, 01:11 PM | #2 |
Drives: 17 SS 1LE Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Houston
Posts: 1,920
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The 1LE is a one year old car. Hard to say what it will be like in 60k miles because few if any have hit that mileage in a short period of time. I used to have an 06 WRX before getting the 1LE and it was better in inclement weather because of the tires and AWD. If you put tires with deeper tread on the Camaro it should be fine in the rain at least.
I don't miss the driver assistance tech because all I wanted was a backup camera. This is pretty subjective though. |
03-06-2018, 01:31 PM | #3 |
Drives: 2018 Camaro SS 1LE Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Ohio
Posts: 51
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I know the 1LE model itself is new, but mag ride, the LT1 and SS chassis has been out for just over a couple years now. I've not been keyed into the GM performance world to know how reliable those technologies have been.
I know overall the STi will always be better in the snow. But as long as the SS is manageable and not ice skating i'm ok. I've test driven a 1LE already and i recognized the lack of visibility, but it didn't seem like something i couldn't workout. |
03-06-2018, 03:00 PM | #4 |
Drives: 1SS, A8, MRC, NPP, Blade Spoiler Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: MD
Posts: 1,485
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1. The 1LE is great as a daily driver because of the MRC (Magnetic Ride Control), so it's not harsh at all over the bumps. There are visibility issues that some have no problem with (like me) and others do have a problem. You have to see for yourself. It also has a small trunk opening and not very useful back seats. Other than that, there are really no pitfalls to daily driving this car.
2. The reliability is a bit hard to say because it is a fairly new car. The engine (LT1) has been around for a while in the 'vette, and not many issues to speak of. The auto trans has had the shuddering issue that has been present in other GM 8-speed autos have, but the 1LE is manual only. My guess is that you will be just fine. I track (HPDE) and daily drive my non-1LE 1SS, and have had zero issues. 3. It depends on how much the visibility issue bothers you personally. For me, it's not worth it, because the visibility is fine for me. Others may not have the same opinion as me, so you may want to test drive it to see. 4 (additional answer to a question you didn't ask) If you are getting a separate set of wheels to run A/S tires, you might want to consider getting winter tires. I have the Pirelli SottoZero's. They are a high performance winter tire (not necessarily a dedicated snow tire exactly). I am in awe at how well they perform in normal dry (but cold) weather, and in the snow, they are amazing. I run these through the colder months, then just go back to my regular set-up in warmer months. There are other high performance winter tires as well, like Blizaks, so look around. Since you already have a summer tire, you might as well go with winter tires. All seasons are not great in summer or winter, they are just more convenient that switching twice a year. |
03-06-2018, 03:02 PM | #5 | |
Drives: 2016 Camaro 2SS Red Hot Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: San Fernando Valley, CA
Posts: 476
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Quote:
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1989 Iroc-Z Z28 1LE/HP (Sold)
2010 2SS Rally Yellow: Corsa/Vararam (Sold) Current: 2016 Camaro 2SS Red Hot Current: 2016 Tahoe LT Current: 2018 Mini Countryman S |
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03-06-2018, 03:56 PM | #6 | |
Drives: 2018 Camaro SS 1LE Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Ohio
Posts: 51
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Quote:
We don't have snow long enough on the ground to warrant snow tires. So far this year its snowed 4 time, and the streets are cleared before the afternoon. If i had snow tires they'd get worn out quickly, so thats why i wanted to get A/S with a tread warranty. So i'd switch between A/S and Summers on the stock wheels. The extra wheels would be for my race tires. I've known people from Cali and Texas that lived here and said that if it snows they don't leave the house. I've grown up here so i don't have a problem driving in heavy rain or snow. |
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03-06-2018, 06:23 PM | #7 |
Drives: Black 2018 SS 1LE Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Posts: 21
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The 1LE tires are a problem if the temp drops below 20; they can crack. I’m in Texas and haven’t been able to get it out of the garage many mornings because of this. Next fall I’ll probably be investing in a second set of wheels, since properly fitting the stock rear wheels with winters or all-seasons is impossible. Otherwise, I think it’s a pretty good DD, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun.
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03-06-2018, 07:01 PM | #8 |
Drives: 1LEs Join Date: May 2009
Location: DFW - Texas
Posts: 1,319
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I know some GM engineers that had all high performance versions of the Camaro's over the last few winters. When the snow hit, they were on approved snow tires and did fine with them.
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03-06-2018, 08:49 PM | #9 | |
Drives: 2018 Camaro SS 1LE Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Ohio
Posts: 51
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Quote:
Thats good to hear, lord knows that Detroit roads are not the best especially in the winter. |
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03-06-2018, 09:09 PM | #10 | |
Resident Disciple
Drives: 2010 CTS-V 6MN '98 Camaro SS (Sold) Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Roches Point, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 607
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Quote:
Best regards, Elie
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03-06-2018, 11:31 PM | #11 |
Drives: 2SS 1LE Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: AK
Posts: 2,313
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No. But for the heated steering wheel? Hell-yes.
I'm becoming an expert driving this thing in the snow. In short, it sucks, of course i knew it would. I have compacted snow and ice in the neighborhood, but the city streets go between this and periods of being clear when they can plow enough and scrape up the ice. We have long periods where it's just compacted snow and ice. The front wheels traction and braking isn't bad, but pretty much no matter how slight you think you can be with the throttle, you are going to throw the rear end out, or it will just refuse to go anywhere if it's a slight incline. I have winter tires and next winter I may throw two studded rear tires on it just for fun to see what it does, but even then I won't be planning on taking it out much, just a little bit to stretch it's legs in the winter like now. Yes, the traction control and stability control is very good, but on ice and snow the car sucks. You can put 300lbs of sandbags in the trunk and go studded tires, that's about what it'd take to make it somewhat acceptable in my estimation (I only have about 150lbs in there right now). Mostly, I have the winter tires on there for the times when it hasn't snowed in a while and the roads are mostly-clear. We are pretty much dead smack in the snowiest time of the year now, it didn't really snow this winter until mid Feb and now it's much more frequent. More than anything else, that keeps me off the roads.
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2018 2SS 1LE 2023 Colorado ZR2 2022 Stinger GT-line AWD Last edited by JamesNoBrakes; 03-06-2018 at 11:46 PM. |
03-06-2018, 11:38 PM | #12 | |
Drives: 2SS 1LE Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: AK
Posts: 2,313
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Quote:
It's the price we pay for the looks, driving position, etc. People make a bigger deal about it than it needs to be, as if the perfect sports-car is an econo-box or something with upright seating, but the visibility is an issue and it's important to realize what you are getting into. Humans aren't perfect machines and they make errors, something that lacks visibility in this case will make you more prone to those errors, so it's something to be aware of.
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Everything happens for a reason, except when it doesn't, but even then, you can, in hindsight, fabricate a reason that satisfies your belief system.
2018 2SS 1LE 2023 Colorado ZR2 2022 Stinger GT-line AWD |
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03-07-2018, 10:33 AM | #13 | ||
Drives: 2018 Camaro SS 1LE Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Ohio
Posts: 51
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Quote:
In the winter i get excited when it actually snows because i can go have fun. As that is a rarity here that i can do it, i'll be fine not driving the SS during snow storms. I'll plan on running 275/35 A/S during the winter, so i can still take it out when the roads are cleared. Quote:
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03-07-2018, 05:55 PM | #14 |
Drives: 2018 Audi TT RS Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Navarre, Florida
Posts: 1,915
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For some level of perspective, I went from a 2016 2SS to a 2018 1SS 1LE. Some of the amenities are very nice on the 2SS but frankly, since the 2018 cars have Apple CarPlay and likely Android Auto, I don't miss many of the features that are lost on having a 1SS. On top of that, the 1LE has heads up display, as well. Essentially, you lose dual climate control, fancy interior lights, home link buttons, heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel and auto adjusting mirrors.
Given that perspective, I don't miss any of that whatsoever given the sheer performance of the 1LE.
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2018 Audi TT ▊RS
2.4X 0-60, 1.6X 60', 120+mph 1/8th, 4.XX 60-130, 150+mph traps on 255/35/18 R888R tires on the street (unprepped). 2019 Audi RS3 About as fast as the TT RS 2019 Camaro ZL1 1LE Sold 2018 Camaro SS 1LE Sold 2019 Corvette Z06 Sold 2021 Charger Hellcat Redeye Widebody Sold |
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