ZL1 Seems Slower Than SS

[eLeSthree]

Originally Posted by Camaro23$$

Ok, so would this be similar to doing the fuse pull I always read about when the computer adjusts to lower octane gas to prevent damage to the motor? With 17K on the car I wouldn’t think it would need new plugs but again I’m far from an expert. But I have thought, with it being such low miles and how much its probably sat over the years being its a 2013, of the computer adjusting and needed to do the fuse pull.



It’s an Auto. 10-40 with the build on the SS? Well that would make more sense. I didn’t realize the Auto was less HP than a Stick. I’m in Loon Lake WA. I drove the ZL1 for the first time yesterday and it was 65-70 degrees.

I drove the SS today since I had driven the ZL1 yesterday and it feels like a total difference driving the two. It’s frustrating.

The fuse pull trick is just a faster way of getting the car back onto the High Octane table, once it has been exposed to low octane fuel and reverted to the Low Octane table. This only works if you now have good fuel in the tank.

I was just pointing out that little things can make a big difference. Her plugs were soaked in oil (we added a catch can and fresh plugs), her fuel was crappy (we put fresh fuel and octane booster), her maf tune was slightly off ( we fixed that), and the car picked up all its timing and was happy again.

Without putting a laptop on it, we would have never known.

[Happy_Dan]

You are aware that the ZL1 is only 580 at the crank, right? If you take 15% loss for driveline, you are not far off the modded SS. The potential is there for a lot more but if you are stock in the ZL1 it's pretty close to that SS.

Agree on getting good gas, checking plugs, etc. Maybe it had 87 octane or something in there.

[Royal Tiger]

The ZL1 will come alive even more with some small mods while you need to make bigger (and more expensive) ones to the SS. I’m happy I went the route I did as I wanted a SS (nostalgia) and I have a better supercharger (2.9L Whipple vs 1.9L LSA). Make one a road course car and the other a drag machine. You have one of each so enjoy.

[Chris49066SS]

The big draw with the ZL1 is you already have a lot of fixins and a solid foundation to start with. You have a beefed up rearend, and like said, you can pulley down. Where guys like me with a 2010 SS and 1.5x 60' times start to worry about how much more that poor little SS diff and axles are going to take at the hit on good tires and a good track prep.

[Little Walter]

My ZL1 brand new only made 443 rwhp before doing anything to it. It is a auto tranny which was about 40 hp lower than some of the other auto's.

[Scotavo]

Stange comparison in some ways, like a 0-60 for both compared with a Tesla 3 that's 0-60 is 3 seconds, or less. Top speed? Or even 30-120? Three cars with very different missions.

[silversleeper]

https://dragymotorsports.com/
You can check 0-60 or other times more consistantly and safer than trying to drive and stopwatch at the same time. It's on sale now. I got one but haven't used it yet. Check both cars with a few runs to get a good average or best times and see where they are. Might be the noise and high end surge in the SS makes it seem faster. If the ZL1 isn't faster something is wrong with it.
One common thing is about half of them don't have their supercharger coolant fluid topped off. It runs off a different path than the radiator coolant. You have to find the check/fill port hiding under the red cover.
With some mods the ZL1 becomes much more fun. The same thing can be said for the SS as you point out. You can add just a 10% lower pulley to the ZL1 and not go into the motor or retune.
To me with some mods and good tires the ZL1 is a monster.


There are half dozen posts a year saying the same thing as OP. "I had a supercharged 3rd or 4th gen Camaro (lighter weight too) and it was faster than this"..."My cammed Z06 was as fast"..."My turbo 5th SS was faster".
That's all just not doing your homework. A heavy 5th gen, even heavier with heavyduty rear differential etc on the loaded with options ZL1, is not going to be faster than another 480 rear wheel hp lighter car. Or a lighter car with 600 rwhp.
It is fast as is, and responds to mods without losing reliability up to adding a few hundred hp to the ZL1 for a few thousand bucks.
For you not wanting to mod the ZL1, and it doesn't add any more smiles than the SS you already have all sorted out. I'd sell the ZL1 if you double check that nothing is wrong with it via dyno or draggy. Makes sense to me.

[SSkat]

Thats because your SS is probably a good bit fast than your Zl1. My cam only auto kept up with bolt on Ctsv so I imgaine a stock one would get walked pretty good.

[Camaro23$$]

I appreciate it guys. I just wanted to make sure that there wasn’t something wrong with the ZL1. Sounds like I had to high of expectations.

[Camaro23$$]

Originally Posted by eLeSthree

The fuse pull trick is just a faster way of getting the car back onto the High Octane table, once it has been exposed to low octane fuel and reverted to the Low Octane table. This only works if you now have good fuel in the tank.

I was just pointing out that little things can make a big difference. Her plugs were soaked in oil (we added a catch can and fresh plugs), her fuel was crappy (we put fresh fuel and octane booster), her maf tune was slightly off ( we fixed that), and the car picked up all its timing and was happy again.

Without putting a laptop on it, we would have never known.

That makes sense. I appreciate the feedback. I will run this tank of gas out that the dealer put in and I will put in some 92 or 93 if I can find it and pull the fuse. That may help hopefully! Might was well check plugs just to be safe.

Originally Posted by Happy_Dan

You are aware that the ZL1 is only 580 at the crank, right? If you take 15% loss for driveline, you are not far off the modded SS. The potential is there for a lot more but if you are stock in the ZL1 it's pretty close to that SS.

Agree on getting good gas, checking plugs, etc. Maybe it had 87 octane or something in there.

Ya the dealer may have put 87 in or the last owner. Who knows. I didn’t realize they were that close honestly. I thought the ZL1 was still a nice chunk more in HP. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Little Walter

My ZL1 brand new only made 443 rwhp before doing anything to it. It is a auto tranny which was about 40 hp lower than some of the other auto's.

Gotcha!

Originally Posted by silversleeper

https://dragymotorsports.com/
You can check 0-60 or other times more consistantly and safer than trying to drive and stopwatch at the same time. It's on sale now. I got one but haven't used it yet. Check both cars with a few runs to get a good average or best times and see where they are. Might be the noise and high end surge in the SS makes it seem faster. If the ZL1 isn't faster something is wrong with it.
One common thing is about half of them don't have their supercharger coolant fluid topped off. It runs off a different path than the radiator coolant. You have to find the check/fill port hiding under the red cover.
With some mods the ZL1 becomes much more fun. The same thing can be said for the SS as you point out. You can add just a 10% lower pulley to the ZL1 and not go into the motor or retune.
To me with some mods and good tires the ZL1 is a monster.


There are half dozen posts a year saying the same thing as OP. "I had a supercharged 3rd or 4th gen Camaro (lighter weight too) and it was faster than this"..."My cammed Z06 was as fast"..."My turbo 5th SS was faster".
That's all just not doing your homework. A heavy 5th gen, even heavier with heavyduty rear differential etc on the loaded with options ZL1, is not going to be faster than another 480 rear wheel hp lighter car. Or a lighter car with 600 rwhp.
It is fast as is, and responds to mods without losing reliability up to adding a few hundred hp to the ZL1 for a few thousand bucks.
For you not wanting to mod the ZL1, and it doesn't add any more smiles than the SS you already have all sorted out. I'd sell the ZL1 if you double check that nothing is wrong with it via dyno or draggy. Makes sense to me.

I will check the coolant. I would think the dealer would have done that before I left when they did their check when I bought it from them. But maybe not? The main reason I dont want to mod is the dealer gave me a 5 year warranty with the car since it had such low miles. So I figured I would drive this one as is and go play with the SS. Just thought the ZL1 would be faster and just wanted to make sure it didn’t have something wrong with it. That is my main concern. Definitely do not want to sell it. I love that car! Just want to make sure I wasn’t missing something or something was wrong with it. I may just through so bolt ons on it if I decide to bail on the warranty.

[Royal Tiger]

Simple bolt ons won’t void the warranty.

[Camaro23$$]

Originally Posted by Royal Tiger

Simple bolt ons won’t void the warranty.

Are you sure about that? I was under the impression once you touched a specific thing and changed it, that the warranty will not cover that whole part of the engine etc? Could be wrong. If thats the case and it wont void then ill mod away! Problem is if I do lets say headers and or CAI then I have to get a tune which would definitely void the warranty I would think?

[JB'sZL1]

5 year warranty on a 10 year old Z?

Insofar as voiding your warranty, you'll have to read it to know. Simple bolt ons is an obtuse phrase, as it could include pulleys, cat delete, etc.

[ChuckZL1]

Get a buddy line them up and you will find out which is faster.

Just do it.