[12SilverBulletSS]

Well after compiling a large amount of parts for my 2012 2SS, I traded it in for my new-to-me garnet red 2017 SS 1LE! I love this car and really missed the feeling of driving a manual.

I paid $39,900 which I am sure some of you will say "you could have bought new for near that" or "I would not pay above $$,$$$ for a used one". Maybe the market is better for some of you but I was willing to pay for the color. Around here the few used I could find were this price and above. New Ones were close until the 1st when some of the incentives went away and I was out of the country. This color is the best color for the car and I am happy.

I bought the car for open track days at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi so it will be used for its purpose. So first impression is this is a significant leap in tech, comfort, performance, and driveability coming directly from my 2012 auto. I do have a few complaints but they are easily livable.

-The electric parking brake is odd and my ability to retain switch function has not set in so I keep hitting the switch the wrong way.
-The clutch is not as forgiving or linear as my T56 swapped 83 Z28 and I thought that clutch was unforgiving. My long legs and enguagement area have not yet gotten in sync.
-Sight lines did degrade to the rear, but side and front are nearly the same as my 5th gen.
-The seats are good for me (6', 3"; 180lbs)' but pretty much everyone else it is tight. I have a hard time getting in and out of the seats and can see some future accelerated rub wear as a result on the bolsters. I also see that around the 4 hour mark in the seat they begin to be a little uncomfortable. I would have liked to have lumbar adjustment as well.
-Road noise on some of these Texas roads is pretty bad. Smooth pavement is great, but rough surfaces it sounds worse than my old LJ jeep on 37" TSL swampers.
-The trim rings on the dash indeed glare when the sun is high in the sky. I may look at pulling this off and wrapping it or something.
-I have owned a 2nd gen, own a third gen, own a 4th gen, owned a 5th gen, and the rear seat in the back of this car is the least usable out of all of them. Behind me, the only thing fitting is someone who has no legs. He passenger seat, as long as the two folks are under 5'11", they will fit front and back.

Pluses:

-The car sounds amazing!
-The car sticks like glue and is super controllable in the corners that I have been able to throw down on.
-Shifting the car driving fast is super smooth, I find hammering down and rowing gears the car gets better.
-Despite the complaints about the looks, I love the way this car looks and it strikes up conversations every time I drive it somewhere.
-the car does feel smaller inside, but I rather enjoy that feeling. If I want space I would buy a truck. Speaking of space, I have a ton of head room compared to my 5thgen. I had to lean the seat back to keep from hitting my head.
-I have no desire to modify. It works great as it is. People really aren't gaining much moving to aftermarket stuff N/A and the cost per horsepower dollar is not what it was with the 4th and 5th gen cars.
-The apple car play is great. I love using my phone for navigation. The stereo might suck, but the tune coming out of the pipes is way better.
-Did I mention is sounds great?

Well here is the obligatory picture.

[Joe's_cool_1le]

I love that color. I think you got it at a great price. Enjoy!

[FNxR3DNECK]

I think Garnet Red and Hyper Blue are definitely the best two colors for the 1LE!!! Hell if I had seen one in Garnet Red before I ordered mine that's probably what I would have got haha Glad to hear you like it and I gotta say I'm pretty jealous that you will get to take it to track days at Yas Marina! Have fun whipping up on those rich dudes and their Ferrari's and all those other cars the 1LE can smoke!

[Dhunckyn]

Congrats on your purchase! Great looking car.

[12SilverBulletSS]

Yeah, everyone loves the color on this car! I am looking forward to learning to drive this on the track.

[slowman]

Nice purchase and wow track days at Yas Marina? That's pretty cool! Enjoy

[nancygrl]

Congrats....That's a killer color combo for sure. jelly on Yas Marina track days...As for the electronic e-brake.... Pull up to engage the e-brake and push down to turn off e-brake, it's the same directions as a regular hand e-brake; except you're using only a finger instead of whole hand/arm Took me a little while to get used to it too, but now don't even think about it.

[glamcem]

congrats, Garnet Red is very beautiful and unique. At some point, I was very close to purchase one but it was sold.

[Jastone]

Congrats on the car man! Beautiful! I too like that color (similar to my wife's XT5 red passion tint coat) and would've been open to buying one too if white wasn't readily available. The color has a lot of depth and richness. Maybe just a little too beautiful for such a mean machine. But absolutely brilliant!! Hope you enjoy it!! And honestly I think that's a very fair price!

[Zepp]

Congrats on your ride, you bought the fastest color too I think the Garnet Red tint coat looks the best, especially with the 1LE package and all the black parts of it. It's also the rarest color to see out there. Good choice!

[Subcool]

Holy crap I had to check the garage to see if my car was still there. Congrats

[12SilverBulletSS]

Yeah, it is a head turned. It is classic, sexy, and says performance at the same time. I have also found it is not the clutch I have a problem with, it is the throttle. The throttle is touchy and my right foot is not learning it well.

Zepp, my car is at least 2/10's faster because of the garnet red color.

I am excited about Yas Marina! This car really holds in corners on the street, I can only imagine what the limits are ina controlled environment and a surface for racing.

[ckahsen]

Congrats! We are garnet def 1LE brothers! I was originally after a hyper blue, but there were none available local to me and it would have been 5k more to bring one in. After finding the Garnet red I left the lot with that one and never looked back. As for rarity, I am in northern VA / DC and I have never seen another GR 1LE. Conversation starter every time!

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

[TrackClub]

Congrats! It is a beautiful color for sure and fits the car very well. I got what I could but still love it in white. If you find the throttle too touchy then try Sport mode then set it up they way you like it via Infotainment Settings. I don't mind Track mode but keep my steering in Sport.
See my recent thread on Drive Modes (read my OP it is all there) on how to set up what you like.
Congrats again and enjoy!