[R3ctivision]

I've been a lurker for about a year, soaking up as much info on the 1LE as possible ever since they were announced. After much waiting and agonizing deliberation over my next car, I pulled the trigger two weeks ago on a new 2017 SS 1LE in Summit White!

My previous car was a 2008 BMW 135i coupe in Montego Blue with the 6-speed manual and few frills. I bought it used with 60,000 miles in 2012 from Austin and drove it back to LA on an epic road trip. It was just sold with almost 100,000 miles. I miss it already, but the Camaro is a far better car in nearly every way.

I only have 3 gripes versus my old BMW:
- Back seat utility is laughable, despite the Camaro being a much bigger car than the E82. But I knew that coming in.
- Fuel economy is terrible with the LT1, especially in city traffic. I'm lucky to average 14 MPG, although nearly all of my Camaro driving so far has been hustling back roads or being stuck in traffic. Then again, I averaged 18 MPG in my BMW, so I guess that wasn't great either.
- Interior visibility is... not good. But I already got used to it. Wish these cars came standard with blind spot monitoring though.

My biggest complaint with the 1 series was its rear subframe. It was all over the place. It felt really unsettled over bumps and I felt like it would step out and hop whenever I tried to put power down in a curve with even moderate bumps. On smooth roads and when I was driving under 6/10ths, the car felt pretty confidence-inspiring but when pushing harder it was nervous and not very rewarding.

I was primarily in the market for a new car that was track capable out of the box. I've done about 30 track days spanning a E36 328i, E46 M3, Porsche 991.1 GTS, and NA Spec Miata. All of them -- aside from the Miata -- were bone stock except for basic track prep. I've done the 3-day Skip Barber racing school at PBIR and am a regular iRacer so I consider myself to be an advanced track day driver, albeit one with pretty limited time and budget. I'm aiming to do 4-6 events per year with my new car, and I am really adverse to the headache of having a dedicated track car or doing excessive modifications at this time in my life.

So I don't plan to do any mods except basic track prep: DOT4 fluid, alignment, brake pads, and probably dedicated wheels with slicks. Once I had tracked the Spec Miata a few times, I got addicted to the grip of slicks, which were far beyond the grip offered by even the Cup 2s on the GTS I've driven.

I had installed double-adjustable TCKline coilovers in my 135i, Vorshlag camber plates, stainless brake lines, and race pads. But I only ever did one track day because I realized the car needed a lot more to be bulletproof and rewarding on the track: better engine, transmission, differential, and brake cooling; stiffer mounts and bushings; LSD, etc.

I cross-shopped the SS 1LE with a few other cars. Here was my reasoning for my choice of the 1LE.

GT350: Awesome car, but I refuse to ever pay ADM, so it was ruled out pretty quickly. Besides, I really wanted in my heart, the GT350R which is totally unobtainable for me. The GT350 doesn't have the Camaro's level of differential and PTM sophistication either.

Corvette Grand Sport 1LT: A stripped GS with bucket seats, PDR, and Z07 package was my dream, but was priced out of my range. I did, however, consider waiting 2 more years to save up, but at the end of the day I wasn't comfortable with the idea of owning a car this expensive and exotic looking. Not to mention the cost of brake maintenance. I want to keep my life simple with just one car, and the Corvette can't do it for me even if I could afford it. I don't want to spend all my time worrying about a machine.

Porsche 718 Cayman: Having driven the 991.1 GTS on road and track, it is hands down the best machine I have ever and may ever drive. There is no question about that. I've always loved small and nimble cars, and the Cayman is probably the ideal all-around sports car with its light weight and nimble handling. The problem, like the Corvette, is the reality of owning a car like that for me, even if I could afford it in a couple of years. Besides, I am not convinced a base 718 is really ready for the track. It doesn't come standard with an LSD, for example.

ND Miata: This was actually the top contender for me versus the 1LE. It was really close. Although the Miata and the Camaro are total opposites in almost every way, I am really passionate about the little sports cars from Mazda. Tracking a Spec Miata was magical. Yes, it was hilariously slow on the straights, but it felt so confidence inspiring that I learned a lot and expanded my driving boundaries tremendously. I easily kept up with an average C7 Z06/Z07 driver at Thunder Hill. In theory, the Z06 should have been faster everywhere, but the driver was clearly not confident driving the car hard enough. In the corners it felt like he was parked on the apex and I practically dive-bombed him while carrying momentum into the corner. So the ND Miata seemed like the perfect car: affordable, amazing driving dynamics, beautifully and purposefully designed, cheap consumables, good on the environment, open air experience, and "driving a slow car fast is more fun than driving a fast car slow." I can attest to the last point. On the street in traffic, my test drive of the NC and ND were actually more fun than the Camaro. On a back road, however, the Camaro is strikingly awesome. Someone compared it to a Miata on steroids. Yes, it's about 1500 lbs heavier and much larger, so it is not quite as home on tight twisties. But it is VERY confidence inspiring, which is what makes both the Miata and Camaro so much fun to drive, and is the issue that left me dissatisfied with my 1 series.

There were two dealbreakers with the ND Miata for me. First, it is definitely not track-ready from the factory. It at minimum needs an oil cooler, completely revised suspension (coilovers, etc.), roll bar, potentially racing seats, and more. If I was to go that route, why not just mod my BMW? The main attraction was that the Miata is WAY more fun on the street. But I worried that modifying it for the track would take some of that street fun away, yet still be a relatively slow car on the track. And the cost of a new ND plus modifications is about the same as a new 1LE.

The second ND dealbreaker was the wind noise. It is god-awful, top up or down. Folks at miata.net are either: (a) used to it (b) don't drive it anytime but on the weekend on pleasant roads, or (c) use earplugs. For me, as an only car, the tiny amount of space was still tolerable because my wife has a practical car for herself, but the noise was not acceptable to me. Maybe I would consider the ND as a second car to complement the 1LE if that time comes.

Current plans: I'm at 750 miles on my SS 1LE now. I'd like to do some track days in SoCal with Speed Ventures in May and June so am thinking about the necessary prep. I've ordered jack pads from ZL1Addons and some mud guards. Fortunately, I don't have any rock chips on my quarter panels yet. Not sure of the conditions people were driving in that got so many chips. Possibly in the rain or with sand and salt on the road? These tires could certainly wreck paint in those conditions. Fortunately, I live in California. Rainy days are few enough that I could probably avoid driving the car then!

Before my first track day, I plan to swap to Valvoline 5W-40 oil (cannot find a single Dexos2 5W-40, any pointers?), change the manual trans. fluid, LSD gear oil, Motul DOT4 brake fluid, and get an alignment with max front camber. I doubt -2deg will be enough to manage front tire wear, though. Anyone know if a vendor will have camber plates available? My first event will either be at Sonoma Raceway (which I am very familiar with in several different cars) or my first time at Auto Club Speedway. I was planning to use stock brake pads for my first event, but burnished properly on back roads before showing up. I'm quite skeptical they will be enough for Auto Club Speedway, however. Does anyone know the specific Ferodo pad used as OE, and what track/race pads may be compatible to use on the same rotor? Also curious where I can get high-temperature brake marking paint. I'd like to keep a log on tire and brake wear and temperature at my track days, and it seems using an IR gun on rotors is not a very accurate way to go.

Finally, anyone have pointers on a good dealer or shop in LA that can track prep my car with the right fluids, etc? I also have the NPP exhaust rattle so need that fixed competently..

Excited to finally introduce myself on this forum. It's a great community and an invaluable resource.

Without further ado, pics of the new car!

[WILWAXU]

Congrats! Welcome to the club!

[FlowForm_Wheels]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new car!

If you're new to track days you should try and come out with us to Auto Club Speedway, we're trying to get a group together - http://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=490304

[Zepp]

Congrats on your new ride, the 1LE has amazing handling, you will be happy with your purchase. Enjoy!

[glamcem]

congrats, it sounds like the track minds think the same (considered/owned same cars before I pulled the trigger on the 1LE). It's just great for track use and with tons of potential for the money for sure.

Make sure you read the stickies and "Issues/Warranty" section for TSBs and common fixes (like the wiring harness and front driver side clunks threads that I posted in there) enjoy the new car

[Rockmonstir]

Congrats, best color IMO

[NBR IPD]

Damper setting on the 135i seems off; it shouldn't do that over bumps. I haven't had that happen driving 135i's over bumps on Angeles Crest or Forest Hwy's. It was either the stock dampers worn out or the aftermarket ones turned up to 11 that didn't handle the bumps very well. It's not the subframe since that is bolted to the body and doesn't move. The car does have a lot of understeer, so if pushing hard on winding roads, big understeer leads to big oversteer when especially when the rear isn't in contact with the road very well.

I'm not of a fan of the 991.1 S or GT3 on track. Can really feel the weight wanting to come around (nervous feeling) on the S if not braking completely in a straight line; not so much a problem on the GT3 because of the in-phase rear steer feature. But the GT3 doesn't have enough bump or rebound stroke to handle undulations (can get sketchy easily on a bumpy surface such as Nurburgring).

Anyway, congratulations on the new purchase. The MR dampers by BWI with GM's tuning does quite well over bumpy winding roads and on circuit courses during track days. And the e-Diff, chassis setting, and tires make the car incredibly balanced front to rear for phasing and cornering power. Slides are smooth and progressive at either axle and it responds to weight transfer quite well to get the car to do what you want. I find this 1LE chassis setting quite ideal for everyday, spirited winding roads, and track driving. Enjoy!

[Tomiboy]

Welcome and GREAT first post.

https://www.carid.com/motul-usa/x-cl...pn-102051.html

[hvysoul]

So your the one!...I was a day late buying that car...I test drove it the night before you got it...
had to go to palmdale for mine...in silver

[Sleeks]

For tracking, I run Dexos2 Motul X-Clean C3 5W-40. I'll switch back to regular 5w-30 for winter.

[Hipoporay]

Great post. Thanks for sharing your experience and future plans.
I'm coming off M3 (E90) and can only attest for the Camaro being more of E46 clone than E9x in terms of nimbleness in street driving. Can't wait to get mine and compare to the bimmer on a track!

[WhyUMad1LE]

Congrats.

I agree about the ND Miata, a lot of people don't take it seriously but it's about as fun as you can get on public roads. However, the 1LE has a relatively greater breadth of ability while still being very engaging to drive.

The E9X generation BMW was a departure from E36/E46 gen cars in terms of road isolation and luxury "feel". They did this deliberately to increase overall sales and had the 1-series come in to fill the vacated spot.

[Timbo-1LE]

You live Lompoc?

Lived in Orcutt for two years, miss that area of CA...

[SS 1LE]

Congrats, good choice buying the fastest color too...