[Gatorac]

So the 1LE has intrigued me since I first heard about it. I've owned a couple of Camaro's but must admit I've had a lot more Mustangs. The 1LE looked like a GT350 without the high strung motor or ADM's. I finally got serious enough and found one close enough to go test drive it. Much to my dismay, I really liked it. It would have been much easier if I didn't like it. I wound up running into fellow Chin Track Days driver Mike who works in fleet sales at the dealership. Mike is on his 2nd 1LE (5th gen and now 6th gen). The fleet guys are are always the best salesman to deal with. True professionals. I like to work with professionals.

Mike emails me a couple of days later to follow up on my experience with the retail salesman. Again, another sign of a true professional. We start talking and I convince him to bring his 1LE out to our Sebring event. The reality is it didn't take that much convincing as Mike is a track guy and, well, it's Sebring.... I was just hoping for a ride in one to see how it performed against my GTPP.

Fast forward to Saturday and Mike says, "when do you want to drive it?" Seeing as how I'm also a closer, I say without hesitation, "1:30."

Now as I'm getting ready to drive his car, he was fully prepared to let me drive without even riding with me. This is his first day on track with his new car!! I made him strap in as I don't drive other peoples car any different without them then I would with them riding. I've never crashed a car I don't intend on crashing a car I don't own. I drive it accordingly. My checkbook could cover the cost but not without pain.

So on to the test drive. I was pretty quickly impressed with how well the car handled. I've got 1,000's of laps at Sebring. I'm no pro but I've been a chief instructor for years and Sebring is my home track. I know the track well. I've driven GT350, 350R and Viper ACR at Sebring. I was impressed. The car made me very comfortable pushing it in the corners quickly. It didn't take 2 laps and I had the car up on the edge of the tire without any worry about anything unexpected happening. I was a bit disappointed with the kick from the power exiting the corners. I own a 16 GTPP with some suspension mods and that was the car I was comparing it to. What I realized is the 1LE has such great grip, you can jump back to full throttle like you are driving a Miata or BRZ. I have to moderate the throttle in my GTPP so adding throttle is more "dramatic".

I got out of Mike's 1LE and opted to jump into my car to give it a direct comparison. I need something to make me still be in love with my Mustang. So Mike and I go out for a lead follow session. I notice pretty quickly that my Mustang is not so much a 1LE.... Mike has far less experience than I do. I pointed him by and he dropped my ass by over 4 seconds the first lap. I'm a believer.

These cars are the real deal. Obviously the tires make a huge difference. But there is more going on then just ultimate grip. I want one.

[Uncle Sam]

What settings on the suspension were you running?

When you stated that you could jump on the throttle like a Miata/BRZ is that because of the differential parameters? Just curious on what the suspension settings were.

[RXtacy]

Originally Posted by Gatorac

So the 1LE has intrigued me since I first heard about it. I've owned a couple of Camaro's but must admit I've had a lot more Mustangs. The 1LE looked like a GT350 without the high strung motor or ADM's. I finally got serious enough and found one close enough to go test drive it. Much to my dismay, I really liked it. It would have been much easier if I didn't like it. I wound up running into fellow Chin Track Days driver Mike who works in fleet sales at the dealership. Mike is on his 2nd 1LE (5th gen and now 6th gen). The fleet guys are are always the best salesman to deal with. True professionals. I like to work with professionals.

Mike emails me a couple of days later to follow up on my experience with the retail salesman. Again, another sign of a true professional. We start talking and I convince him to bring his 1LE out to our Sebring event. The reality is it didn't take that much convincing as Mike is a track guy and, well, it's Sebring.... I was just hoping for a ride in one to see how it performed against my GTPP.

Fast forward to Saturday and Mike says, "when do you want to drive it?" Seeing as how I'm also a closer, I say without hesitation, "1:30."

Now as I'm getting ready to drive his car, he was fully prepared to let me drive without even riding with me. This is his first day on track with his new car!! I made him strap in as I don't drive other peoples car any different without them then I would with them riding. I've never crashed a car I don't intend on crashing a car I don't own. I drive it accordingly. My checkbook could cover the cost but not without pain.

So on to the test drive. I was pretty quickly impressed with how well the car handled. I've got 1,000's of laps at Sebring. I'm no pro but I've been a chief instructor for years and Sebring is my home track. I know the track well. I've driven GT350, 350R and Viper ACR at Sebring. I was impressed. The car made me very comfortable pushing it in the corners quickly. It didn't take 2 laps and I had the car up on the edge of the tire without any worry about anything unexpected happening. I was a bit disappointed with the kick from the power exiting the corners. I own a 16 GTPP with some suspension mods and that was the car I was comparing it to. What I realized is the 1LE has such great grip, you can jump back to full throttle like you are driving a Miata or BRZ. I have to moderate the throttle in my GTPP so adding throttle is more "dramatic".

I got out of Mike's 1LE and opted to jump into my car to give it a direct comparison. I need something to make me still be in love with my Mustang. So Mike and I go out for a lead follow session. I notice pretty quickly that my Mustang is not so much a 1LE.... Mike has far less experience than I do. I pointed him by and he dropped my ass by over 4 seconds the first lap. I'm a believer.

These cars are the real deal. Obviously the tires make a huge difference. But there is more going on then just ultimate grip. I want one.

Unless you had traction control completely off it will modulate torque to some degree (even in PTM Race mode) so you may not have been getting full power on corner exit.

If interested in reading more about the driving modes
http://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=496996

Glad you enjoyed it, that's a great way to test a car

[JBones81]

I recently had a 2016 Mustang GT (auto, non PP) and was not impressed...I know the PP ones are a big improvement, but interesting to read your comparo

[Gatorac]

I went with his suggestion on settings. Track-Sport 2.

[Gatorac]

Originally Posted by RXtacy

Unless you had traction control completely off it will modulate torque to some degree (even in PTM Race mode) so you may not have been getting full power on corner exit.

If interested in reading more about the driving modes
http://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=496996

Glad you enjoyed it, that's a great way to test a car

Great resource there. Thanks.

This may have been what I was feeling as well.

We find that the calibration settings that achieve the fastest lap times often result in expert drivers feeling like they are being held back slightly on corner exit. Most of the time that extra little bit of slip that an expert driver wants is over the traction peak of the tire and may feel good but is wasting forward acceleration. The restrictive feeling is not there as a safety net, rather, it’s as close as we can operate to the peak capability of the tire in a robust way.

[TrackClub]

Originally Posted by Gatorac

Great resource there. Thanks.

This may have been what I was feeling as well.

Some (GM) believe Race mode will yield fastest laps. Others prefer all off.
The only difference is on exits, as Race may modulate TC, where in all off it is up to one's R foot.

There is no question the car gets faster (less restricted) as one progresses through PTM modes. Sport 2 is the same as Race in terms of stability control being off (Sport 1 is the last one that retains it), but the TC management on exits pulls the exits back a tiny bit.

GM did a fine job programming the PTM Modes (as well as the "old" non PTM "Competitive Mode"). Going thru the PTM mode choices one can actually easily feel the car become less and less restricted and hence faster.


PS Congrats on your ultimate test drive - wow!!!

[Gatorac]

So I ended up buying one. Took delivery of it yesterday. I'm even more impressed now after putting some street miles on it. Mike at Ferman in Brandon took great care of me.

[Ryephile]

Congrats! Let's see some pics.

[Cldgin2]

Great story!! Congrats on the new car! Pictures please

[RXtacy]

Originally Posted by Gatorac

So I ended up buying one. Took delivery of it yesterday. I'm even more impressed now after putting some street miles on it. Mike at Ferman in Brandon took great care of me.

Awesome, congrats! What color?

[Gen5er]

Welcome to the family. Please make all expended rubber deposits before leaving. Thank you.

[Gatorac]

Here's a pic.

[Gatorac]

Another one.