[bls72]

Team,
I'm an experienced track/HPDE enthusiast. I'm in the middle group whenever I go, about 3-4x a year. I have had some Porsches (997S, 986Boxster, Air Cooled 911) on track, as well as a Mini Cooper S and a 1994 Vette (which was suprisingly capable stock!).

My Porsche Engine exploded at Road America, Turn 3 this year.... they call it "D Chunking"....aka, their fancy German Engines just sometimes blow up for no reason.....

I'm looking for a nice SS Camaro with a 6 Speed for light road use, and some track days. 1LE of course.

WHAT YEARS SHOULD I KEY ON?
I have read here about ICING and ICE MODE in pre 2019s....aka Only get a 2020 or newer.

Open to thoughts and ideas. One other option is just ordering a new one. But a lightly used SS 1LE would be perfect.

THANKS TEAM!


As an example on the same course I put down a 1:56.5 in a stock 1994 6spped Corvette, 300bhp on Goodyear Supercar F3s.

Brainerd International Raceway - Donnybrooke (cut paste from track time thread here- this is NOT ME!)
1. 1:51.18 - Trackpack - '18 ZL1 1LE, 7/24/21, Pirelli 18” take off slicks, GM Recommended Track Alignment

[arpad_m]

to the forums, bls72

If money is not a major consideration and you want a fully track focused car, I'd get the newest available 1SS 1LE I can get, model year 2022 or 2023. These even have a significant chunk of the warranty left, and it applies to track use as well. 2024s will be very difficult to obtain and you would probably be charged extra either in the form of dealer ADM (for new cars) or a "scalper ripoff charge" if you buy a barely used one from a private party.

You can no longer order new Camaros, unfortunately the Camaro was discontinued by GM and the last vehicle was manufactured a few days ago on 12/14.

[N Camarolina]

I second Arpad's recommendations. An SS 1LE should do you fine given the kind of cars you are used to. It has a good thrust to weight ratio and in general will not leave you wanting for more power. A rare exception might be tracks with really long straights (like Road America or VIR), but even then, ZL1 level power is a nice to have, but not essential.

I take the viewpoint that the straights are just a place to relax a bit before I get to the next corner, and my lap time should be reflective of how good I (as the driver) am in the corners, not how much engine I have on the straights.

Good luck in your car hunting!

[bls72]

Thanks for the info fellas. I knew they were stopping production, but you can still go on the GM Website and spec a new car....which is maddening that you can't actually order it, but you can build and price it. I haven't called any dealers yet because once you call one of those guys, it is like opening up the flood gates of phone calls and pestering to 'come see us'.

Are there any issues that seem to pop up with older ones? I'm pretty confident in the Chevy Engine longevity....if I find one out of warranty is there anything that needs to be checked specifically?

Is the ICE Mode issue a real event? Seems to be from what i read on the forum.

I looked at a nice used 2019 a month ago.....it had 9k miles on it....and a wet oil pan....the dealer said it was a 3k fix to re-seal the oil pan leak! As you know, active oil leaks will NOT pass a track tech inspection.....so I passed on that car knowing I'd need to buy it and then fix it! Is that a common issue?

[easttxss]

It takes about 30 min including jacking the car up and getting the tools out of your box to fix the oil leak. After a couple of years the pan bolts get a little loose and all you have to do is snug them back up. Many of us have done it, very rarely is it something else, like an oil cooler o-ring, but it has happened. Mine has been leak free for 3 years since tightening the pan bolts.

[cdrptrks]

Originally Posted by easttxss

Many of us have done it, very rarely is it something else, like an oil cooler o-ring, but it has happened. Mine has been leak free for 3 years since tightening the pan bolts.

Same here; I had to tighten different oil pan bolts that were coming loose 2 separate times but it was a quick easy DIY job.

Originally Posted by bls72

Are there any issues that seem to pop up with older ones? I'm pretty confident in the Chevy Engine longevity....if I find one out of warranty is there anything that needs to be checked specifically?

At 3-4 track days per year I think your odds of making it through the 5yr/60k mile powertrain warranty without engine issues on a new Camaro are good but there seems to be a significant number of people who track a lot (around 8+ events per year) who needed the warranty. In my case a lifter failed and bent pushrods and damaged the cam. You will find others here on the forums who have had the same issue as well as other engine issues under warranty. So I'd say the powertrain is not bulletproof but at least it is designed with track use in mind.

Make sure to pay a Chevy dealership to verify warranty coverage with their computer if buying used (and have them check for over-revs if buying a manual transmission). If the previous owner tuned the car or installed certain modifications then the warranty is likely void.

[cdrptrks]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

1SS 1LE I can get, model year 2022 or 2023. These even have a significant chunk of the warranty left, and it applies to track use as well.

Note that you must keep the car stock and the warranty doesn't apply to racing/competition events: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a1...o-ss-grenaded/

Originally Posted by bls72

Is the ICE Mode issue a real event? Seems to be from what i read on the forum.

I'm one of the few who have experienced ice mode (hard brake pedal) on track. It seems to be more common at autocross events maybe because most people run tires that have more grip than stock and you are throwing the car around more (with more mixed inputs) than you normally do on track. You can swap the ABS computer module from a 2019+ parts car with identical options to get the new calibration that makes ice mode much less likely to happen and much less likely for it to cause you to go off track if it does. It also becomes more likely to happen on the 2017-2018s if you use more agressive brake pads and/or tires but I got it using stock tires and brakes in bumpy braking zones at 3 different tracks, usually when very quickly transitioning from full throttle to hard braking. It never happened at the vast majority of tracks I visited before the ABS module swap and it hasn't happened at all since the swap.
https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showt...0#post11248660

Here's a side by side of ice mode and no ice mode on the same track's bumpy braking zone before and after the ABS module swap: https://youtube.com/watch?&v=TLDWA4nfqX0

[nasbagoat]

In almost 80 track days in my 2017 ive never experienced ice mode.

I second the oil pan thing. My started leaking after 3 years, I snugged the bolts up and it went away.

[Msquared]

Originally Posted by cdrptrks

I'm one of the few who have experienced ice mode (hard brake pedal) on track. It seems to be more common at autocross events maybe because most people run tires that have more grip than stock and you are throwing the car around more (with more mixed inputs) than you normally do on track.

Yep, ice mode is a thing, especially on 2016-2018 cars. It seems that for the 2019 model year GM fixed a lot of it in their ABS calibrations. It's been "a thing" for literally decades: my 96 Corvette would do it. It's way more common at autocross events because you jump from throttle to brakes much more often and much more quickly on a short run, and any slight unloading of a tire or less grippy surface will bring it on. I've even gotten it in my 2020 1LE about three or four times (over four seasons and probably at least 70-80 autocrosses), but it's very rare. I have co-driven a 2017 SS and it exhibited ice mode quite a bit more. I should add that I seem to bring out the ice mode in cars at autocrosses - I must be jumpy on the pedals.

I think it's probably not much of an issue on track because the transitions from gas to brake are more predictable and smoother. But if it were me, I'd still look for a 2019+. I didn't know you could swap a 2019+ ABS module into an older car. That surprises me given the different communication protocols the cars started using in 2019 (going from MOST to ethernet). If true, then it probably means any year SS 1LE is fair game because it terms of performance, they are the same in every other way I know of.

[DaveC113]

Originally Posted by Msquared

Yep, ice mode is a thing, especially on 2016-2018 cars. It seems that for the 2019 model year GM fixed a lot of it in their ABS calibrations. It's been "a thing" for literally decades: my 96 Corvette would do it. It's way more common at autocross events because you jump from throttle to brakes much more often and much more quickly on a short run, and any slight unloading of a tire or less grippy surface will bring it on. I've even gotten it in my 2020 1LE about three or four times (over four seasons and probably at least 70-80 autocrosses), but it's very rare. I have co-driven a 2017 SS and it exhibited ice mode quite a bit more. I should add that I seem to bring out the ice mode in cars at autocrosses - I must be jumpy on the pedals.

I think it's probably not much of an issue on track because the transitions from gas to brake are more predictable and smoother. But if it were me, I'd still look for a 2019+. I didn't know you could swap a 2019+ ABS module into an older car. That surprises me given the different communication protocols the cars started using in 2019 (going from MOST to ethernet). If true, then it probably means any year SS 1LE is fair game because it terms of performance, they are the same in every other way I know of.

I did the '19+ EBCM swap over a year ago now, pretty sure I was the first one to attempt it. So it's definitely possible and they don't cost a lot used, but mfg'ers make many small running changes that aren't made public, so in most cases you're better off buying the newest version of a car you can.