[Pollock]

Originally Posted by Provoste

The only problem is when your backup track car is faster than your track car.

[TrackClub]

Originally Posted by Provoste

The only problem is when your backup track car is faster than your track car.

Very good point

[TrackClub]

Originally Posted by Rich J

Haha...yes, I know what that's like, kind of. I bought a low mileage stock 2009 CTS-V a few years ago. It rolled into my garage stock (around 470 whp) and rolled out and made 640 to the tire after one round of mods (cam, blower pully, full length headers, etc.). It made the rest of my cars, including my track car, feel pathetically slow. That was sad. But I got tired of it and sold it, though I was not tired of my track car. Since the V has been gone awhile, the Evo feels fast again.

Perhaps that's a reason NOT to get a ZL1!!

I bet zl1 wont feel like a cts v at all. If u can afford it go for it! WHY on earth would one NOT want 650hp/tq???

[R3ctivision]

I'll play devil's advocate.. after seeing you have a V6 1LE, a Cayman, and a dedicated Evo track car, I'd stick with what you have. It sounds like the V6 1LE is a kickass backup track car already and would be a ton of fun on the roads. The FE4 suspension is definitely harsher, and although I haven't driven the ZLE, I wouldn't even consider that as a primary car.

I also think you may get more enjoyment out of having two very different cars (V6LE and Cayman) to drive on the street and track as your "backups." Keeps life interesting to have variety. I'd love to own a Cayman or a Miata as my daily and keep my SS 1LE for the track. But I don't have any space :(

[Matos1LE]

Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes

As far as driving the ZL-1 1LE on rough roads: It’s like the guy that claims they drive a rwd sports car on racing tires all winter long in Michigan or the friend who heard from a friend of someone’s cousin that killed a bear with a .22LR.

With the SS 1LE and some pretty rough roads, I have to call BS.

Have you not seen kids daily driving Civics with bootleg ebay shocks that may as well be made of concrete and wheels cambered so bad they ride on the inner wheel lips? You seriously think a ZL1 1LE is harsh compared to that? I daily drove my truck on QA1 coilovers, ploy bushings, and upgraded sways from 2010 till September 2017, when I bought my SS1LE. I promise you it's twice as harsh as a ZL1 1LE. Competition clutch and aluminum flywheel to boot, in Miami traffic, I have the left knee wear to prove it. My SS1LE rides like a Buick by comparison, I love it! Not all 1LE guys seem to come from quiet, spacious cars with pillow soft suspensions lol.

[devnull]

Originally Posted by Matos1LE

Have you not seen kids daily driving Civics with bootleg ebay shocks that may as well be made of concrete and wheels cambered so bad they ride on the inner wheel lips? You seriously think a ZL1 1LE is harsh compared to that? I daily drove my truck on QA1 coilovers, ploy bushings, and upgraded sways from 2010 till September 2017, when I bought my SS1LE. I promise you it's twice as harsh as a ZL1 1LE. Competition clutch and aluminum flywheel to boot, in Miami traffic, I have the left knee wear to prove it. My SS1LE rides like a Buick by comparison, I love it! Not all 1LE guys seem to come from quiet, spacious cars with pillow soft suspensions lol.

BINGO!

[Rich J]

Originally Posted by R3ctivision

I'll play devil's advocate.. after seeing you have a V6 1LE, a Cayman, and a dedicated Evo track car, I'd stick with what you have. It sounds like the V6 1LE is a kickass backup track car already and would be a ton of fun on the roads. The FE4 suspension is definitely harsher, and although I haven't driven the ZLE, I wouldn't even consider that as a primary car.

I also think you may get more enjoyment out of having two very different cars (V6LE and Cayman) to drive on the street and track as your "backups." Keeps life interesting to have variety. I'd love to own a Cayman or a Miata as my daily and keep my SS 1LE for the track. But I don't have any space :(

It’s a little more complicated than that. I also have a 95 Z28 that has a half cage, coilover conversion, heads/cam/headers, etc. It was a fast car 10 years ago, and even 20 years ago when I bought it stock, but has fallen into disuse because it’s not a great track car or street car by today’s standards. But, I still love to drive it occasionally because of the V8 rumble and the aggressive looks. It also is my first fast car. I just don’t have the bandwidth to maintain it anymore and it needs a lot of wrenching to keep it running 100%, especially if I were to want to track it again. The V6 1LE really showed me how much better Camaros have gotten and surpassed my expectations. It was originally supposed to be a winter beater for the Porsche. Only issue is it lacks the V8 persona and straightline speed on track. Since I got it, I actually prefer it in many ways to the Porsche. So, I’m consolidating 3 cars into 1. That will also give me room to eventually get a truck again, which I sold to get the Cayman, which I don’t drive much any more because the gen 6 is so good.

These are 1st world problems...

[Rich J]

Originally Posted by Matos1LE

Have you not seen kids daily driving Civics with bootleg ebay shocks that may as well be made of concrete and wheels cambered so bad they ride on the inner wheel lips? You seriously think a ZL1 1LE is harsh compared to that? I daily drove my truck on QA1 coilovers, ploy bushings, and upgraded sways from 2010 till September 2017, when I bought my SS1LE. I promise you it's twice as harsh as a ZL1 1LE. Competition clutch and aluminum flywheel to boot, in Miami traffic, I have the left knee wear to prove it. My SS1LE rides like a Buick by comparison, I love it! Not all 1LE guys seem to come from quiet, spacious cars with pillow soft suspensions lol.

To me, the real problem with an overly stiff suspension is that most cars will develop rattles if the impacts are too harsh and not absorbed by the suspension. I can deal with a stiff suspension (my Evo coilovers are more than triple the stock rates), but I can’t deal with a brand new $60k car loosening up in a year or two because I’m abusing it on the expressway. Speaking from experience, solid mounts and spherical linkages don’t like rough roads and will develop play and rattles much quicker than softer bushings. I really doubt the Chevy dealer would be too receptive if you brought your 2 year old 20k mile ZL1 1LE in for a warranty repair to fix a rattling dashboard, window or suspension linkage.

[Rich J]

Getting back to the original focus of this thread, Johnny Lieberman of Motor Trend on the SS 1LE vs ZL1 handling:

“There’s a strong temptation to think of the ZL1 as merely a 1LE with an extra 195 horsepower. However, all that auxiliary cooling and the addition of nearly 200 pounds from the engine saps the ZL1 of the 1LE’s grace and fluidity. As a result, the ZL1 does not dance like a ballerina. Instead, it hits like a heavyweight boxer’s fist with a horseshoe hidden inside the glove. There might not be a whole lot of feel, connection, subtlety, or whatever other sparkly words scribes such as me use to wax poetic about the ineffable. You’re not dancing with the road; you’re beating it to death.“

And

“That big lump of a supercharged V-8—while potent—puts way too much weight in exactly the wrong spot. For reference, the SS 1LE weighs in at 3,735 pounds. I will also go on record stating that I preferred the way the SS 1LE handled compared to the ZL1—and also to the GT350R.”

[Provoste]

Originally Posted by Rich J

Getting back to the original focus of this thread, Johnny Lieberman of Motor Trend on the SS 1LE vs ZL1 handling:

“There’s a strong temptation to think of the ZL1 as merely a 1LE with an extra 195 horsepower. However, all that auxiliary cooling and the addition of nearly 200 pounds from the engine saps the ZL1 of the 1LE’s grace and fluidity. As a result, the ZL1 does not dance like a ballerina. Instead, it hits like a heavyweight boxer’s fist with a horseshoe hidden inside the glove. There might not be a whole lot of feel, connection, subtlety, or whatever other sparkly words scribes such as me use to wax poetic about the ineffable. You’re not dancing with the road; you’re beating it to death.“

And

“That big lump of a supercharged V-8—while potent—puts way too much weight in exactly the wrong spot. For reference, the SS 1LE weighs in at 3,735 pounds. I will also go on record stating that I preferred the way the SS 1LE handled compared to the ZL1—and also to the GT350R.”

FYI- just did setup on my dad's ZL1 1LE last Friday. Its weight with a 1/2 tank of gas was 3775. Oh, and that was with a 6 pack of beer sitting on the passenger seat!

[Pollock]

I see more plus in 200 more HP and Ftlb torque then hitting like a heavyweight boxer’s fist with a horseshoe hidden inside the glove.

I am curious if the 2020 model with have the LT5.

[closs2sx]

I don't understand why people think the zl1 1le is "extremely rough". I have a 2015 z06 and a 2018 zl1 1le. My wife does occasionally ride in the cars with me and based on all the crazy claims on here about the zl1 1le i told here she probably wouldn't like the zl1 1le. She has never complained about the z06 and the 1st thing she said was the zl1 1le isn't any worse then the z06 in fact it might be a little better. people must have glass butts and backs. Sure its stiff but I would much rather daily my zl1 1le over my 2500 duramax but it rains and snows here in NH so the duramax it is for daily use

[TrackClub]

Originally Posted by Provoste

FYI- just did setup on my dad's ZL1 1LE last Friday. Its weight with a 1/2 tank of gas was 3775. Oh, and that was with a 6 pack of beer sitting on the passenger seat!

You bad boy, you: six pack of beer

But seriously, that seems way too light doesnt it?
ZL1 is about 150lb heavier than SS so where did that extra weight go?

I think any car with a ridiculous weight to power ratio of 6.0 will feel "different" as corner entry and exit speeds will be vastly different. And hence transitions will feel different and certainly will challenge a driver more.
Lest we forget MT says this thing is faster in qtr mile than a Hellcat!

No matter how it does it, the car is faster - by a good margin- than a Vette GS and beats many exotics *and* posts one of the best ever figure 8 time. So it may feel different but it sure handles with the very best of them incl stopping distance.

[Provoste]

Originally Posted by TrackClub

You bad boy, you: six pack of beer

But seriously, that seems way too light doesnt it?
ZL1 is about 150lb heavier than SS so where did that extra weight go?

I think any car with a ridiculous weight to power ratio of 6.0 will feel "different" as corner entry and exit speeds will be vastly different. And hence transitions will feel different and certainly will challenge a driver more.
Lest we forget MT says this thing is faster in qtr mile than a Hellcat!

No matter how it does it, the car is faster - by a good margin- than a Vette GS and beats many exotics *and* posts one of the best ever figure 8 time. So it may feel different but it sure handles with the very best of them incl stopping distance.

Agreed, I was shocked it was sub 3800 lbs. This is a shop that does tons of setup for NASA competition cars, so their scales are 100% accurate and tested annually. This was with the OE SS 1LE wheels mounted with RE71R, which in total are 20lbs heavier (I weighed them before mountinig on same scale) than the ZL1 1LE wheels. so 3777lbs technically speaking. I dig how the SS 1LE wheels look on the ZL1 1LE... aside from the sunk in fronts with -3.2 camber.