[RamAir02]

Hey y'all. I'm a GM motorhead, but have been out of the game for a bit. My first car was a '99 Trans AM followed by a '00 WS6, '05 CTS-V and a '10 Camaro SS/RS (so every car I've ever owned has been LS-series GM powered) I was previously an active member of fbody.com, ls1tech & camaro5. Happy to be here at camaro6!

The reason I've been out of the game is I've been living in NYC for the last six years. I had my Camaro for a year there, but it wasn't fair to the car (nor my pocket thanks to parking tickets). So, I sold her in 2014. I'm now back in the suburbs and ready for my next camaro.

I'm looking at a 2019 ZL1 1LE M6 at a fairly local dealership. It's fully loaded (MSRP of $74k and change) and I can snag it tomorrow for $69,800 (may even be able to haggle down another few hundred bucks). Is that a good deal? I've been looking around for a couple of weeks now and that seems like my best bet.

One thing I was not liking about the 6th gen camaros and that I miss from my 5th gen is the four rectangular taillights... I love how the 5th gens look from the rear, even better when the taillight rings are black instead of chrome The 2019 refresh is sitting with me a bit better since they've distinguished the four taillights a bit better, but I'm not sure I'm crazy about the clear lights. Is there a simple fix here, e.g. replacement taillights that are red or blacked out?

Also, what performance mods are people gravitating to right off the bat? I assume cold air intake, headers, etc. How is the throw on the M6 shifter? Any need for a short throw in this car? And is there skip shift in the new Camaros? I'd need to bypass that for sure. What about pulley upgrades and how does that affect reliability / longevity?

Sorry for the n00b questions. I'll get back into the swing of things quickly and reading the forums will bring me up to speed quickly, but any initial knowledge you are willing to share would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much. Looking forward to joining the gang again.

EDIT: haha! even my old sig transferred over to camaro6. very cool

[19Nasty1le]

The 1LE taillights are smoked

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by 19Nasty1le

The 1LE taillights are smoked

You are correct. My bad. Smoked, not clear! However, I still think they'd look better in red or completely blacked out. Any aftermarket options like that available?

[Cleancoupe]

It’s not that bad of a price, but I have seen some advertised around me for mid 60s. I’m not sure what incentives that includes & where that price is actually achievable. If you can find an 18 lying around somewhere, you can save some serious money.

An air intake will let the beast breath some more & give you some more of that supercharger whine. The shifter is pretty short. I’m not sure if that’s worth changing out. The 1st to 4th gear is still a thing. The LT4 is a strong motor & will play nicely with mods, but it depends on if you want to keep your warranty intact or not.

Good luck with making a deal on a hell of a car. It will put many smiles on your face!

[Sakudog]

If you want to go fast, get a 10 speed car. If you want to enjoy the shifting/driving, get an M6. Either way, you can't go wrong, the car is an incredible platform. I also, come from a 4th gen and 5th gen (twin turbo) platform.

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by Sakudog

If you want to go fast, get a 10 speed car. If you want to enjoy the shifting/driving, get an M6. Either way, you can't go wrong, the car is an incredible platform. I also, come from a 4th gen and 5th gen (twin turbo) platform.

Thanks. Yeah, I'm set on an M6. The 10 speed auto sounds amazing and I know it's *faster*, but there's nothing like rowing through the gears (for me at least).

[Sakudog]

Originally Posted by RamAir02

Thanks. Yeah, I'm set on an M6. The 10 speed auto sounds amazing and I know it's *faster*, but there's nothing like rowing through the gears (for me at least).

100% feel you and I love the fact that you "get that", you're going to love the ZL1.

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by Cleancoupe

It’s not that bad of a price, but I have seen some advertised around me for mid 60s. I’m not sure what incentives that includes & where that price is actually achievable. If you can find an 18 lying around somewhere, you can save some serious money.

An air intake will let the beast breath some more & give you some more of that supercharger whine. The shifter is pretty short. I’m not sure if that’s worth changing out. The 1st to 4th gear is still a thing. The LT4 is a strong motor & will play nicely with mods, but it depends on if you want to keep your warranty intact or not.

Good luck with making a deal on a hell of a car. It will put many smiles on your face!

Appreciate the info. Damn, I thought this price was pretty great given the options / MSRP. I'm gonna go back to the dealer tomorrow, so we'll see if I can find more wiggle room. I've seen some better prices online, but when I go to the dealer websites, I realize they're including all of the offers / incentives...like for mustang owners and military vets, neither which apply to me.

I hear ya on the mods. They wouldn't let me drive the car today since it has 4 miles on it, lol. But the shifter feels solid & positive. The throw seems alright too...much better than my previous cars were stock! CAI is easy so I'm sure I'll go there first. Then headers probably

[Sakudog]

Originally Posted by RamAir02

Appreciate the info. Damn, I thought this price was pretty great given the options / MSRP. I'm gonna go back to the dealer tomorrow, so we'll see if I can find more wiggle room. I've seen some better prices online, but when I go to the dealer websites, I realize they're including all of the offers / incentives...like for mustang owners and military vets, neither which apply to me.

I hear ya on the mods. They wouldn't let me drive the car today since it has 4 miles on it, lol. But the shifter feels solid & positive. The throw seems alright too...much better than my previous cars were stock! CAI is easy so I'm sure I'll go there first. Then headers probably

Headers don't do shit on these cars dynowise. If you're going to keep your warranty, do a Ported TB, CAI and if you want more noise catback.

If you don't care about warranty, which, I think you should until the car has atleast 30k miles on it as there are some LT4s with bad oils pumps (ask me how I know) I'd suggest a ported blower, big TB and 5" intake with a tune.

Good luck!

[bobby35ny]

Fellow ex NYer here, word of advice, and do what you want with it.
I don't know how you drive, if you think this car will launch like your 2010 did. far from it.
Hard launch is bog city. I sold my M6 ZL1 because of it. If that wont bother you go ahead and get your M6. That price is way high, you can do much better buying out of state, save thousands.

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by Sakudog

Headers don't do shit on these cars dynowise. If you're going to keep your warranty, do a Ported TB, CAI and if you want more noise catback.

If you don't are about warranty, which, I think you should until the car has atleast 30k miles on it as there are some LT4s with bad oils pumps (ask me how I know) I'd suggest a ported blower, big TB and 5" intake with a tune.

Good luck!

Ok good info! Thanks. Headers aren't worth it? I thought that'd be an easy 25+ rwhp. I was just reading about the Jannetty 125 rwhp package but I guess a lot of that power came from the tune. I gotta read up on the TB...the Jannetty package had an LT5 tb... Ported blower sounds nice. Ported over pulley change?

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by bobby35ny

Fellow ex NYer here, word of advice, and do what you want with it.
I don't know how you drive, if you think this car will launch like your 2010 did. far from it.
Hard launch is bog city. I sold my M6 ZL1 because of it. If that wont bother you go ahead and get your M6. That price is way high, you can do much better buying out of state, save thousands.

Bog city why? Hmm... Can you point me to a thread discussing this? News to me so thanks for the heads up

[Gunkk]

Originally Posted by RamAir02

Bog city why? Hmm... Can you point me to a thread discussing this? News to me so thanks for the heads up

Do a google search for Camaro6 ZL1 m6 bog and you'll get dozens of threads. The primary issue is that the Torque Management nanny that will protect the drive train from the driver. There's also a clutch over temp nanny that will protect itself from you too.

These nannies are so aggressive that you will have a very hard time driving the car in 1st gear from a dead stop without thinking you're stalling the car. Let the clutch out too fast and TM nanny will cut throttle to keep you from torque-spiking the drive train. Let it out too slow, and the clutch over temp nanny will cut throttle to keep you from burning it up. There's an infinitesimally small window where you can do it just right that Al speaks of in the ask-Al response (copy/pasted from the last link below).



https://www.google.com/search?q=cama...ro6+zl1+m6+bog


https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=519546

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=498180

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=505106

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=520373

Al's Answer:

With respect to “bogging” on high traction surfaces, due to the stickiness of the tires and the tall first gear ratio, we drag the engine down once clutch is fully engaged. Currently we only use throttle and spark during pre-launch phase to control to requested engine speed which limits how quickly we can recover boost. We understand that a particular launch may result in a “bogging” condition, but much of that can be eliminated by practicing different styles of clutch ‘dumping’. See the answer below on how we achieve our quarter mile times to see the effects of different launch styles. One thing to note, that may not be obvious to the customer, is that the clutch release is still fairly quick - too slow of a clutch release will result in exiting of launch control and the engine reducing torque for clutch protection.

So Al basically says: Learn to Drive. Good luck hitting it just right.

[DANACO]

Originally Posted by 19Nasty1le

The 1LE taillights are smoked

That is one fancy trailer, what brand is it ?