[glamcem]

Great pictures and information Glad you had a chance to enjoy the 1LE.

I was seriously considering a Miata also but decided to keep the 1LE for a while as I have some plans for the next season. With some weight reduction ( It looks like 200 lbs is very possible without losing any street-ability ) and addressing the brake/rotor heat issues as you mentioned this car would be a stellar performance that should e very close to prepped Corvette.

[RXtacy]

Originally Posted by Ryephile

Night and Day. The Cosworth telemetry was showing about a 1/4g improvement with the ST-43's, so braking points had to shift accordingly. The Power Stop Track Day are, IMO, great for Beginner and early Intermediate drivers that aren't yet putting a ton of heat into their brakes lap after lap. Frankly I only see them being relevant if you're swapping into Z26's for DD pads and want to keep the same compound base for clean/easy bedding while swapping pads. The ST-43's are "good ole days" brakes that throw out the anchor at the expense of some pedal feel, and they appear to also have very low wear rate. Their plain backing plates do put more heat into the caliper though.

Overall, I'll be keeping the ST-43's as track pads. They're excellent.

Thanks for the feedback. The ST-43's were the direction I've been leading. Killed a stock set of pads this season.

[Ryephile]

Originally Posted by glamcem

Great pictures and information Glad you had a chance to enjoy the 1LE.

I was seriously considering a Miata also but decided to keep the 1LE for a while as I have some plans for the next season. With some weight reduction ( It looks like 200 lbs is very possible without losing any street-ability ) and addressing the brake/rotor heat issues as you mentioned this car would be a stellar performance that should e very close to prepped Corvette.

For sure, the 1LE is very satisfying in all venues. It's special enough feeling to keep the daily grind interesting, but in Touring mode not rough enough to be tiring. During that fall color tour in the curvy roads of upstate Michigan it's thoroughly entertaining in Sport mode, and then in Track mode on the circuit it shrinks around you and knocks out quick lap times. I really love it's multi-faceted experience.

Originally Posted by RXtacy

Thanks for the feedback. The ST-43's were the direction I've been leading. Killed a stock set of pads this season.

I went into more detail in the braking thread, but just know that it'll take some adaptation to not over-brake with the higher mu pad. Once you get the hang of it and get the corner entry speed right, your lap times will improve noticeably.

[Ryephile]

I sifted through all my PDR's from the year and found my best stint. Fairly clear traffic, and I was able to click off some consistent laps. This is at Grattan with 3 Balls. 1:26.37 was my best, with 1:26.41 and 1:26.47's to back it up. The air temps were nice, so the coolant maxed at only 214F, meaning minimal ignition timing pull.

Here's the data dump:

1LE_beststint1 by Ryephile, on Flickr

1LE_beststint3 by Ryephile, on Flickr

1LE_beststint2 by Ryephile, on Flickr

And the video is coming shortly, uploading.

[Ryephile]

Here's the video:

[Ryephile]

You guys might get a kick out of this. In the autumn I went to a car show over on the west side of Michigan, stayed at a friends' weekend place. Here's in front of the house; Two Bentley, one Rolls-Royce, an old Lincoln, and a Camaro. My 1LE ended up with a "Best Muscle Car" popular vote!

IMG_2874.jpg by Ryephile, on Flickr


Also, a note about the headlights. It seems that the HID output is lacking. Even when the car was new the headlights were always "OK". I'm on my 2nd set of headlights because of the crash, but this 2nd set seem just as lackluster. I dropped in a pair of Osram D3S Cool Blue bulbs, which are currently a poster child over on HIDplanet, and I must say the output is significantly better than OEM. The projector pattern isn't the problem, as our headlights use good projectors. It just appears the OEM bulbs aren't that good. Anyway, two thumbs up for these bulbs.

Untitled by Ryephile, on Flickr


I spent New Years Eve way up in the northern part of Michigan. The Camaro absolutely acquitted itself as a brilliant "snow rally stage" weapon. The chassis balance is excellent in the fluffy stuff. The temperature dipped to -22°F on the 30th, which was a new daily record low where I was. I'm fairly certain the ECU has either an oil pressure or intake temp trigger during cranking before the engine is allowed to fire. It definitely took longer to start than a normal, let's say 32°F cold-start crank time. The oil pressure theory seems logical to me, and is smart tuning. I just wish it was disclosed. Perhaps an "Ask Al" about crank times?

Untitled by Ryephile, on Flickr

Untitled by Ryephile, on Flickr


The 1LE now has over 11k miles on it. No issues, knock on wood.

[travislambert]

The extended crank times are usually due to the time it takes for fuel pressure to build (high pressure side). I've watched it on the laptop before, and the injectors simply won't pulse until the fuel pressure gets to a certain threshold (I forget the #).

Obviously there's more to it than just fuel pressure, but from my experience that's usually the hold-up on the slow starts.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by Ryephile

Here's the video:

That is one bad ****ing ass car.

[Ryephile]

Originally Posted by travislambert

The extended crank times are usually due to the time it takes for fuel pressure to build (high pressure side). I've watched it on the laptop before, and the injectors simply won't pulse until the fuel pressure gets to a certain threshold (I forget the #).

Obviously there's more to it than just fuel pressure, but from my experience that's usually the hold-up on the slow starts.

I appreciate for the info. Even at -22°F, the crank time was maybe 3 seconds. I'm wondering if that chart is for a bone-dry system.

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

That is one bad ****ing ass car.

Thank you!

[Ryephile]

Some of the upgrades for the 2018 season are trickling in. This is the "ZL1 1LE-Spec Suspension Upgrade System (P/N 84352119)".

ZL1 1LE-spec suspension upgrade system. AKA the FEA bushing and arm kit. by Ryephile, on Flickr

ZL1 1LE-spec suspension upgrade system. AKA the FEA bushing and arm kit. by Ryephile, on Flickr

ZL1 1LE-spec suspension upgrade system. AKA the FEA bushing and arm kit. by Ryephile, on Flickr

The kit contains 8 of the 12 control links, both rear knuckles, with bushings/bearings installed, and *all* the hardware you'll touch during the install. Within the rear knuckle, 3 of the 4 pivots are solid rubber bushings, and the lower control arm lcoation is a booted spherical bearing, just like the front lower control arm [pictured above also with booted sphercial bearing]. The radius arm or whatever GM calls it has a big multi-piece rubber bushing, the "inserts" are filling the holes by the main bushing.

The hope is that this kit gives an incremental improvement in dynamic alignment fidelity. I'm thrilled the front LCA is a bearing, that combined with the Moreno camber plates will improve steering precision markedly. We'll see how long they last; the fact they're very nicely booted and safety wired means they should last for a couple years.

[Mountain]

Originally Posted by Ryephile

Some of the upgrades for the 2018 season are trickling in. This is the "ZL1 1LE-Spec Suspension Upgrade System (P/N 84352119)".

ZL1 1LE-spec suspension upgrade system. AKA the FEA bushing and arm kit. by Ryephile, on Flickr

ZL1 1LE-spec suspension upgrade system. AKA the FEA bushing and arm kit. by Ryephile, on Flickr

ZL1 1LE-spec suspension upgrade system. AKA the FEA bushing and arm kit. by Ryephile, on Flickr

The kit contains 8 of the 12 control links, both rear knuckles, with bushings/bearings installed, and *all* the hardware you'll touch during the install. Within the rear knuckle, 3 of the 4 pivots are solid rubber bushings, and the lower control arm lcoation is a booted spherical bearing, just like the front lower control arm [pictured above also with booted sphercial bearing]. The radius arm or whatever GM calls it has a big multi-piece rubber bushing, the "inserts" are filling the holes by the main bushing.

The hope is that this kit gives an incremental improvement in dynamic alignment fidelity. I'm thrilled the front LCA is a bearing, that combined with the Moreno camber plates will improve steering precision markedly. We'll see how long they last; the fact they're very nicely booted and safety wired means they should last for a couple years.

I thought the FE4 suspension already had most of this?

[Ryephile]

Originally Posted by Mountain

I thought the FE4 suspension already had most of this?

The castings are all the same, the entire point is bushing changes. FE4 bushings are stiffer than FE2/3, but the FEA's are stiffer yet.

As an example There are 3 sets of part numbers for both front control arms, since you cannot buy the bushings separately.

Here, I found an FE4 front "trailing" arm on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2016-2017-C...-/282760176103

And here's the picture of the bushing. Clearly different than the FEA bushing, which has a much larger bushing ID and thus cannot deflect as much regardless of rubber durometer.

The FE4 suspension also has no spherical bearings, the FEA has 4 (one in each lateral lower control arm, front and rear), 6 if you include the strut mounts.


All of this combines to improve the dynamic alignment of the FEA over the FE4.

[Mountain]

Originally Posted by Ryephile

The castings are all the same, the entire point is bushing changes. FE4 bushings are stiffer than FE2/3, but the FEA's are stiffer yet.

As an example There are 3 sets of part numbers for both front control arms, since you cannot buy the bushings separately.

Here, I found an FE4 front "trailing" arm on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2016-2017-C...-/282760176103

And here's the picture of the bushing. Clearly different than the FEA bushing, which has a much larger bushing ID and thus cannot deflect as much regardless of rubber durometer.

The FE4 suspension also has no spherical bearings, the FEA has 4 (one in each lateral lower control arm, front and rear), 6 if you include the strut mounts.


All of this combines to improve the dynamic alignment of the FEA over the FE4.

See, I'm thinking more about the sphericals. I thought the FE4 had the added sphericals. Case in point, if you buy the 1LE suspension upgrade package or the sway bar package from GM PP, it comes with the front, lateral (or "rear") link that has the sperical. These kits, and that link, have been stated by GM to be the same as on the SS 1LE and ZL1. That, plus GM states the bushings in the SS 1LE and ZL1 to be stiffer than the SS, but I don't recall GM specifically saying the ZL1 1LE suspension bushings being upgraded over the ZL1 (obviously from that picture, they are). Only the solid mounted rear cradle and solid top mounts for the front coil overs.

[Mountain]

OK, so something is up. I have a list of parts to potentially upgrade on my SS. Of which, are the OEM FE4 suspension links. In example, the front, lower radius arm, the one you have pictured, for the left on a'17 SS 1LE is service part number 84051641. Take a look at this: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...=505806&page=4
A few pictures look to have the more solid bushing, like the "ZL1 1LE" kit has, but the others have what you posted. Unless, according to the guys comments, the initial pictures are some "standard SS" ones he got a hold of?