[tomster]

So i have always had Camaro's. When my wife and i met 17 years ago she had a 86 and I had a 88. We bought a 13ZL1 new, I began tracking it and modding it. After mods came cooling problems on track. I sold it and bought a new ZL1 1LE. I thought "this is the perfect car" No mods needed it was the perfect car for what i do. Well almost perfect. I moved and didn't have as easy access to all the tracks i once did. (the car became more of a 3rd daily driver) Also my now 11 year old didn't fit well in the back seat. The suspension while great on track is stiff for daily use (regardless of what all the "tough guys" try to say) and since the car was becoming more of a daily instead of a track beast it was time to sell.

Enter the 18 CTS-V
I bought this one used. Fully loaded this car new was over $106,000 I bought mine for $62,000 with 17k on it. Depreciation hits these cars very hard and frankly I wasn't willing to throw away $44k. Now to that note to buy a new the CTS-V (IMO) just isn't worth the money. Keep your ZL1 live with the tiny back seat. However Used the CTS-V is a bargain that is hard to ignore.

So how is it.
The back seat (the main reason for the switch) is perfect for my 11 year old. He loves that he gets his own climate controls and heated seats. He loves Window shades. Its a huge improvement over the camaro however for full sized humans it is still tight back there.
The tech It's actually very similar! Sure the Caddy has a huge sunroof and trick gauge cluster and lighted door sills but past that they are very similar. The cue system (that everyone hates) doesn't bother me.
Looks The Blue camaro ZLE 1LE grabbed attention almost anywhere i went. At the track everyone expected it to be the fastest thing there. If someone was faster (seldom happen) they would want to come over and brag about their heavily modded car beet the 1LE. The CTS V blends in more, however people who know what it is still get really excited about it. At the track it was more disbelief from the other drivers as I had many come to me asking if it was stock, and had a hard time believing the laps it was turning. I was ask how much it weighs at least 5-6 times. Many people would come over to look at the tires they thought "it must have slicks on it" (Its not known that this car can to be a "track monster")
The Ride No brainier here it is far improved for the ZL1 1LE. Still firm but in a good way. (Very similar to a Standard ZL1) When going from ZL1 to this car you feel almost right at home.
Power? I went from Manual to A8 Auto and i must say i think in a straight line The CTS V is quicker then my M6 ZL1, however I did have the opportunity to Line up against a A10 camaro on the highway and it only slight pulled on the CTS-V from 60 - 140.
Road Handling Im a track rat so this is the most important category for me. On the road the handling is lacking to that of my ZL1 but not for the reason everyone would think. (its not the weight). Its the tires... They don't have the grip and the front tire is far to small. The car PUSHES in the corners, and it does this push snap loose thing that makes it difficult to have confidence pushing the car hard on the road.
On the Track Before Putting the CTS-V on track I made some slight modifications. First was wider wheels and tires. 10.5 apex wheels all around with 305/30R19 Mich Cup 2's, Hawk DTC 70 Front brake pads, and Castrol SRF brake fluid. 305 is by far the widest tire you can put on the front of the CTS-V. I only had 2MM from the strut and 3mm from the fender. (My camaro could run 325 front and 345 rear) On track the weight of this car really started to show. It was harder to get it slowed down after the straights and on the carousel type corners I had to trail brake to get it to turn. However my lap times were not far off from that of my stock ZL1 1LE, and I do believe i can get another second by fixing my entry speeds on a couple of the turns. At over 4200 pounds this car really does hold its own. You can see in the video I am over taking cars that were much lighter, and many of which were on slicks. It is much harder to drive at the edge than the ZL1 1LE. and I found myself more tired after the day was over. One cool thing to note is the chassis on both the ZL1 and CTS-V are almost the some and many parts can be interchanged. I will be adding the ZL1 1le rear sway bar and some camber plates to the front of my CTS V. I will post the improvements once I have them!

Lap times Mid-Ohio
Modded 13 ZL1 1:39
Stock Zl1 1LE 1:36.9
CTS-V w/ wheels and tires 1:40

All in all I am happy with my choice. If i was still doing track days every other weekend I would still own the ZL1 1LE, however this car is the perfect compromise car for where my life is going right now!

18 ctsv on track


18 ZL1 1LE on track


13 ZL1 with Mods

[tomster]

[SCCAForums]

Great write up Tomster, and thanks for sharing! I have often considered the CTS-V as a potential dual purpose beast! Congrats!

Best regards,
Dave

[Revalot]

I wished they had made it in a 6 speed manual, I know the blackwing is coming in a 6 speed, but once I pay mine off, I'm done. Nice right up !

[ZRacerLE]

Originally Posted by tomster

So i have always had Camaro's. When my wife and i met 17 years ago she had a 86 and I had a 88. We bought a 13ZL1 new, I began tracking it and modding it. After mods came cooling problems on track. I sold it and bought a new ZL1 1LE. I thought "this is the perfect car" No mods needed it was the perfect car for what i do. Well almost perfect. I moved and didn't have as easy access to all the tracks i once did. (the car became more of a 3rd daily driver) Also my now 11 year old didn't fit well in the back seat. The suspension while great on track is stiff for daily use (regardless of what all the "tough guys" try to say) and since the car was becoming more of a daily instead of a track beast it was time to sell.

Enter the 18 CTS-V
I bought this one used. Fully loaded this car new was over $106,000 I bought mine for $62,000 with 17k on it. Depreciation hits these cars very hard and frankly I wasn't willing to throw away $44k. Now to that note to buy a new the CTS-V (IMO) just isn't worth the money. Keep your ZL1 live with the tiny back seat. However Used the CTS-V is a bargain that is hard to ignore.

So how is it.
The back seat (the main reason for the switch) is perfect for my 11 year old. He loves that he gets his own climate controls and heated seats. He loves Window shades. Its a huge improvement over the camaro however for full sized humans it is still tight back there.
The tech It's actually very similar! Sure the Caddy has a huge sunroof and trick gauge cluster and lighted door sills but past that they are very similar. The cue system (that everyone hates) doesn't bother me.
Looks The Blue camaro ZLE 1LE grabbed attention almost anywhere i went. At the track everyone expected it to be the fastest thing there. If someone was faster (seldom happen) they would want to come over and brag about their heavily modded car beet the 1LE. The CTS V blends in more, however people who know what it is still get really excited about it. At the track it was more disbelief from the other drivers as I had many come to me asking if it was stock, and had a hard time believing the laps it was turning. I was ask how much it weighs at least 5-6 times. Many people would come over to look at the tires they thought "it must have slicks on it" (Its not known that this car can to be a "track monster")
The Ride No brainier here it is far improved for the ZL1 1LE. Still firm but in a good way. (Very similar to a Standard ZL1) When going from ZL1 to this car you feel almost right at home.
Power? I went from Manual to A8 Auto and i must say i think in a straight line The CTS V is quicker then my M6 ZL1, however I did have the opportunity to Line up against a A10 camaro on the highway and it only slight pulled on the CTS-V from 60 - 140.
Road Handling Im a track rat so this is the most important category for me. On the road the handling is lacking to that of my ZL1 but not for the reason everyone would think. (its not the weight). Its the tires... They don't have the grip and the front tire is far to small. The car PUSHES in the corners, and it does this push snap loose thing that makes it difficult to have confidence pushing the car hard on the road.
On the Track Before Putting the CTS-V on track I made some slight modifications. First was wider wheels and tires. 10.5 apex wheels all around with 305/30R19 Mich Cup 2's, Hawk DTC 70 Front brake pads, and Castrol SRF brake fluid. 305 is by far the widest tire you can put on the front of the CTS-V. I only had 2MM from the strut and 3mm from the fender. (My camaro could run 325 front and 345 rear) On track the weight of this car really started to show. It was harder to get it slowed down after the straights and on the carousel type corners I had to trail brake to get it to turn. However my lap times were not far off from that of my stock ZL1 1LE, and I do believe i can get another second by fixing my entry speeds on a couple of the turns. At over 4200 pounds this car really does hold its own. You can see in the video I am over taking cars that were much lighter, and many of which were on slicks. It is much harder to drive at the edge than the ZL1 1LE. and I found myself more tired after the day was over. One cool thing to note is the chassis on both the ZL1 and CTS-V are almost the some and many parts can be interchanged. I will be adding the ZL1 1le rear sway bar and some camber plates to the front of my CTS V. I will post the improvements once I have them!

Lap times Mid-Ohio
Modded 13 ZL1 1:39
Stock Zl1 1LE 1:36.9
CTS-V w/ wheels and tires 1:40

All in all I am happy with my choice. If i was still doing track days every other weekend I would still own the ZL1 1LE, however this car is the perfect compromise car for where my life is going right now!

18 ctsv on track


18 ZL1 1LE on track


13 ZL1 with Mods

You have great taste in vehicles.

[closs2sx]

Not a tough guy and neither is my wife thank god lol and both of us have no issues with the zl1 1le suspension and we live in NH. That being said if the Ctsv was awd and manual I would own one so the wife could daily drive it and I would have another weekend toy.

[Scottyz]

That’s an excellent write up.
Also I’m no tough guy but I do love the ride of my ZLE. To me it’s hardcore.
I looked at the CTS-V. They are absolutely deadly!!!!!
I was also looking at the Z06.
But I gotta admit I couldn’t bring myself to buy either and so the ZLE I was.
Again great write up and it’s great to see they are that capable.
Friggin awesome car you have there. Enjoy my friend. We live in good automotive times

[TheRealJA105]

Originally Posted by tomster

One cool thing to note is the chassis on both the ZL1 and CTS-V are almost the some and many parts can be interchanged. I will be adding the ZL1 1le rear sway bar and some camber plates to the front of my CTS V. I will post the improvements once I have them!

Lap times Mid-Ohio
Modded 13 ZL1 1:39
Stock Zl1 1LE 1:36.9
CTS-V w/ wheels and tires 1:40

All in all I am happy with my choice. If i was still doing track days every other weekend I would still own the ZL1 1LE, however this car is the perfect compromise car for where my life is going right now!

Awesome to hear! I love when people come over to look at the slicks on your car and you are on street tires
Curious as to why you are adding the ZLE rear bar to fix understeer though? The ZLE rear bar is relatively soft. The middle setting is about equal to an SS bar. I'd recommend going to the regular ZL1 bar or getting a BMR bar.
ZLE front bar is softer than an SS bar also FYI.

And lolz when the cars and coffee guys chime in that they aren't being tough guys on the suspension

[tomster]

Originally Posted by TheRealJA105

Awesome to hear! I love when people come over to look at the slicks on your car and you are on street tires
Curious as to why you are adding the ZLE rear bar to fix understeer though? The ZLE rear bar is relatively soft. The middle setting is about equal to an SS bar. I'd recommend going to the regular ZL1 bar or getting a BMR bar.
ZLE front bar is softer than an SS bar also FYI.

And lolz when the cars and coffee guys chime in that they aren't being tough guys on the suspension

Only data i have is I ran the rear bar on my ZLE and thought in the stiff setting the car felt very neutral. I do know the bar on the V is very soft (Softer than the camaro ss) in comparison. I realize that is with a much stiffer spring rate. I don't want to go too stiff and cause a bunch of oversteer. I would also consider a BMR or PFADT. I want to make sure i have some adjustability. Looks like BMR on the softest setting is still alot stiffer than a stock SS 1le bar.

[TheRealJA105]

ZLE bar might be just perfect for what you are thinking then. You can always go stiffer with another bar later if you need to.

[Mountain]

Camaro Recaro's vs. CTS Recaros:
-Do they feel similar?
-Which do you prefer?

[tomster]

Originally Posted by Mountain

Camaro Recaro's vs. CTS Recaros:
-Do they feel similar?
-Which do you prefer?

ZL1 recaros are better for tracking the car. the sides bolsters stuck out further to hold you in. I'm 6'4 240 and the were snug but not to tight. My wife hated the ZL1 recaro's she is 5'0 110 and the sides bolster stuck out so far on her it interfere with her arms particularly while shifting.

CTS recaros side bolsters are smaller and they use air to adjust them tighter and looser. (Fits more people) The adjustability is nice but not perfect they still hold you well however not like the ZL1. CTS seats look nicer and are better for long drives. I do miss the ventilated seats, CTS have heat but no air with the recaro.

[TheRealJA105]

Wow i can't believe the Caddy doesn't have ventilated seats. On that note, i hate how high up in trim (LTZ) on a GM truck you have to go to get the ventilated seats. Why can't that be an option on lower trims?

[tomster]

Originally Posted by TheRealJA105

Wow i can't believe the Caddy doesn't have ventilated seats. On that note, i hate how high up in trim (LTZ) on a GM truck you have to go to get the ventilated seats. Why can't that be an option on lower trims?

I have ventilated seats on my 2018 GMC 2500 SLE

If you opt for non recaro seats in the caddy they are Ventilated...