[Deesiel678]

I have been admiring the 6th gen Camaro since they came out. I finally bought one on October 18th, 2018.
When I finally decided that I wanted the V6 1LE, I didn’t find many owner reviews on it, so I’m writing my initial thoughts here for the next person looking for one. I’m also going to document my mods and activities throughout my ownership in this owner journal thread.

About me:
I’ve been driving a 2015 Focus ST for a little over 3 years prior to buying the Camaro. It was modified with basic bolt ons, suspension work, and few other things. It was my daily driver and weekend warrior. When I’m not commuting to and from work, I’m usually somewhere hooning around in the mountains of North Georgia, East Tennessee, or West North Carolina; or I’m attending a track event at Atlanta Motorsports Park or Road Atlanta; or I’m attending a local SCCA autox event. These are my weekend hobbies. The Camaro is replacing my Focus; It will be my daily driver and weekend warrior.


Up until now, nearly all of the sporty cars I’ve owned have been front wheel drive sport compacts. I’ve owned a 92 Eagle Talon TSi AWD (the only non-FWD sporty car up until now), 97 Mitsubishi GST, 88 Acura Integra, 05 Acura RSX Type S, and 2015 Focus ST. I thought it was time to try a RWD sports car. I considered 4 other models before I ended up with the V6 1LE: 2018 Mustang GT w/ performance package level 1, 2018 Mustang Ecoboost w/ Ecoboost Performance package, 2018 Camaro SS 1LE, and 2018 Camaro 1SS.

Shopping for cars:
SS 1LE: Of all the cars I considered, I liked this one the most. The power, the styling, the handling, knowing what it is capable of, all of it. So why didn’t I buy it? For the type of high performance driving I do most (hooning in the mountains), it seems this car is too capable for that. I don’t think I could reasonably enjoy this car on a public road without the speeds getting jail-time worthy in a hurry. The old cliché applies here: It’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. As I mentioned, I go to the track occasionally but not often enough to enjoy what this car is capable of.
Best deal found: ~$39k

Mustang Ecoboost: I considered this car since its powered by a Ford ecoboost engine similar to the one in the Focus, but it just wasn’t enjoyable to drive. It felt slow and clumsy, and sounded terrible. It seems this car NEEDS mods to become somewhat enjoyable. I wanted something I could enjoy right away.
Best deal found: ~$24k

Mustang GT: I briefly considered this since the incentives were so good, but I just didn’t like it much. Quicker than the Ecoboost obviously, and sounded better, but still felt too clumsy to me. Plus I was only considering manual transmissions and I’ve heard about shift fork issues with the Getrag MT-82 on the 2018 GTs.
Best deal found: ~$32k

Camaro 1SS: The V6 1LE is essentially a lighter weight SS with the V6 engine; it gets hand-me-down suspension, cooling systems, front brakes, drive modes, and tires from the SS, so why not just get the SS, right? What is there to gain from giving up 2 cylinders and 120hp? Well, it turns out that I prefer the feel of the V6 1LE; you can definitely feel the lighter weight and better front:rear balance when you drive them back to back. The styling helps as well; the V6 1LE (with its satin black hood, front splitter, blade spoiler, and black forged 20” wheels) looks unique compared to a 1SS without accessories. The fact that I bought my V6 1LE for $5k less than the best deal I could find on a new 1SS helps too. That 120hp deficit is apparent though. Acceleration wise, the V6 1LE feels a bit slower than my old modded Focus ST (and a lot slower than the SS obviously), so that part is disappointing. But… it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow, right? I sure hope so.
Best deal found: ~$34k

The magazine reviews and test results of the V6 1LE really sold me on the car. It ran an impressive lap time at Car and Driver’s Lightning Lap at VIR in 2016; it was comparable to (and faster than in many cases) cars that would smoke the V6 in a quarter mile drag race. It was also surprisingly close in MotorTrend’s head-2-head comparison of the BMW M2 and V6 1LE given the huge delta in acceleration between these cars. This indicated to me that the car would be a blast to drive around curvy roads and road courses.
I bought my 1LS w/ V6 1LE package for $28.9k.



Initial Thoughts:
I’ve had a chance to drive it hard on a couple of my favorite roads already and it doesn’t disappoint. I was concerned that it wouldn’t feel as nimble as my Focus given its greater size and weight. My concern has been put to rest; it feels every bit as nimble (more so really), even with all the mods my Focus had, AND more stable too. I can’t wait to take it to Atlanta Motorsports Park and Road Atlanta but that probably won’t happen until 2019 sometime. The last autox event of the season for Atlanta region SCCA is upcoming this weekend; I may try to make it to that one.


My favorite aspects so far are the exhaust, pedal placement, and overall driving feel. The exhaust note sounds amazing, especially high rpm at WOT with sound management in track mode. Even though this is one of Chevy’s run-of-the-mill engines, it sounds like it belongs in a sports car. Active rev matching did not carry over from the SS to the V6 1LE, so I have to rev match the old-fashioned way. Fortunately, the pedal placement is very good in my opinion; I find it very easy to ‘heel-toe’ in this car. Overall, it feels smaller and lighter than it is. I’m used to driving sport compacts, but I feel right at home behind the wheel of this car. It is very enjoyable to drive.

Nearly every review on the Camaro speaks negatively about visibility in this car. I remember the first time I visited a dealership to look at one in person; I sat in it, looked around and said “Nope. The visibility is terrible. I’m not sure how anyone can drive this”, then left the dealership without driving it. Obviously, I went back to the dealership later on and forced myself to test-drive one. I found that the visibility isn’t bad at all; you can see everything you need to see when you drive this car. The issue is that nearly every other car has EXCESS visibility, and that excess has become the standard. You don’t need to see 50ft above the traffic signal while you are sitting across the intersection from it. You don’t need to see planes passing overhead until they are nearly directly above you. All you need to see is the road and traffic ahead of you, beside you, and behind you. With your mirrors properly adjusted (as they should be in ANY car), you can see them in the Camaro.

The features I find most annoying are the keyless access system, small trunk opening, and lack of interior storage space. The keyless access system itself isn’t bad, its Chevy’s implementation of it that irks me. On my old Focus ST, you just place your hand behind the door handle (like you would when you are about to open the door) and the door will unlock. No need to press the button; that’s used for locking the door only. It’s much more intuitive in my opinion. Going from that to the way it works on the Camaro feels like a step backwards. Also, the trunk in this car is surprisingly large but its usefulness is diminished by the size of the trunk opening. The interior storage is small; the door pockets aren’t very useful, and the center console can barely fit more than a wallet. These are all nit-picks though; nothing that would ever become a serious issue. I didn’t buy this car for storage space or innovative technology; I bought it to enjoy driving.

What’s Next:
Like I mentioned before, this car is replacing my Focus ST as my daily driver and weekend warrior, so I plan to do continue doing same things with this that I did with the Focus. Daily drive, mountain runs every chance I get (early Sunday mornings if the weather is cooperating), occasional track days, and occasional autoxes. I aspire to complete an entire points season with my local SCCA region (something I’ve never done; I usually lose interest by the 3rd event of the season…), but this time I will stick with it… maybe.

Like every good enthusiast, I’ve already planned out a list of mods. Nothing too crazy, just maybe an intake and 93oct tune, square wheel and tire setup (19x10 w/ 285/35r19: legal size for SCCA STP and Time Trial Nationals T3 class), and maybe a few zl1 1le bits (ie brakes, flowtie grill, and suspension parts). I love the stock dual mode exhaust as is so that is staying. Probably.

I’ve noticed that the v6 doesn’t get much attention in the aftermarket. I guess they figure most people that care about performance will opt for the v8, and those that care about performance on a tighter budget will opt for the turbo 4. I may have considered a Turbo 1LE if it had been available in the 2018 body style. I don’t care much for the look of the 2019s.

[Deesiel678]

I’ve owned the V6 1LE for a month now.

Complaints:
Occasional throttle response inconsistency
This is a strange phenomenon. I notice that every now and then when I blip the throttle during a downshift, the throttle does not actually blip. The first few times it happened I just thought somehow I must not have heard it. Perhaps the resonance of the exhaust and engine noise together was just right that so that I could not perceive it, but it did happen. I quickly dismissed this thought. The next few times it happened, I thought maybe I didn’t press the accelerator as much as a normally press it, basically not moving it past the dead spot. I dismissed this quickly too; my throttle blipping is pretty much muscle memory at this point; I do it the same every time. I came to the conclusion that there are random moments when the throttle doesn’t respond. Since then, there have been a few moments where I press the accelerator and there is a noticeable delay between tip-in and actual throttle response, confirming my suspicion. It doesn’t seem to matter which drive mode in; I’ve experienced it in all of them.

Rear differential whine when cold
This isn’t really a complaint, more of an observation. I notice the rear diff whining when its cold, particularly when making tight turns, and sometimes some tire skipping around tight turns if the ground is wet/slick. I assume that this means that it uses a clutch/plate/Salisbury-style differential instead of a gear/helical one. Once it warms up, the noise goes away.

I intend to have the dealer look at both of these. I suspect the cold diff whine is probably normal given the type of differential used.

---------------

Thoughts:
I've had a chance to drive the car on a few more of my favorite mountain roads. It’s well balanced: easy to control rotation with the throttle. Overall it's very enjoyable to drive quickly on a curvy road. I’m anxious to get it on a road course but that likely won’t happen until the end of winter / beginning of spring.

A couple of friends and I took a half day to drive up to the Tail of the Dragon and back. Both of them were driving BMWs: One was driving a M235i and the other a M240i. It’s remarkable that the BMWs weigh about the same as the Camaro but are so much smaller dimensionally. For a moment I thought the smaller dimensions would give it an advantage on a tight curvy road like the Tail of the Dragon (and perhaps it does), but they also have narrow wheel wells and would struggle to fit a 265 section tire (stock they come with 225/245 front:rear). That seems like such a narrow tire setup for a car with that much mass. The fact that they are turbocharged definitely gives them a power advantage under the curve; they rocket out of low speed low rpm corners. I think a comparison between the M240i and a 2LT 1LE would have been more appropriate than the M2 vs 2LT 1LE comparison that MotorTrend released. I digress.

Here’s some driving clips from our trip:

[Roostie]

Thanks for the detailed write-ups about the V6 1LE. It's a bit of a rare bird, but a great one I think. I've been loving mine. My past cars are mostly RWD: Miata NA, Porsche 997 Carrera S, E36 M3, Mitsu EVO 8, 4th Gen Camaro Z28 and SN95 Mustang GT-S.

[miatatony]

Great post. I came from a 2017 focus st previously, everything you said rings true with my experience as well, especially the keyless entry part, I miss the Ford's implementation. During my test drive the v6 1le felt slow compared to my tuned ST but a lot of it had to do with gearing and perception of speed, the v6 is surprisingly quick from 40-90mph but the gearing is so damn tall and with the power being up top, it feels sluggish coming out of low speed corners. I also notice the differential whine when cold. I miss my focus for it's utility but my God the stability at high speeds in the Camaro is insane, corners and roads that I felt nervous about taking at speed in the focus feels like nothing in the 1le, so stable.

A friend of mine that I go driving with frequently has a M235i and I love that car for having so much torque everywhere, that thing is a blast to drive through the Twisties but the v61le feels more racecar in stock form. If it wasn't for the funky looks and expensive parts i would have gotton the m235i, but as a no frills out of the box canyon Carver and track day car the v6 1le is hard to beat.

[Deesiel678]

Originally Posted by Roostie

Thanks for the detailed write-ups about the V6 1LE. It's a bit of a rare bird, but a great one I think. I've been loving mine. My past cars are mostly RWD: Miata NA, Porsche 997 Carrera S, E36 M3, Mitsu EVO 8, 4th Gen Camaro Z28 and SN95 Mustang GT-S.

In your opinion, how does the V6 1LE compare to your previous cars?

[Deesiel678]

Originally Posted by miatatony

Great post. I came from a 2017 focus st previously, everything you said rings true with my experience as well, especially the keyless entry part, I miss the Ford's implementation. During my test drive the v6 1le felt slow compared to my tuned ST but a lot of it had to do with gearing and perception of speed, the v6 is surprisingly quick from 40-90mph but the gearing is so damn tall and with the power being up top, it feels sluggish coming out of low speed corners. I also notice the differential whine when cold. I miss my focus for it's utility but my God the stability at high speeds in the Camaro is insane, corners and roads that I felt nervous about taking at speed in the focus feels like nothing in the 1le, so stable.

A friend of mine that I go driving with frequently has a M235i and I love that car for having so much torque everywhere, that thing is a blast to drive through the Twisties but the v61le feels more racecar in stock form. If it wasn't for the funky looks and expensive parts i would have gotton the m235i, but as a no frills out of the box canyon Carver and track day car the v6 1le is hard to beat.

Thanks for sharing. Glad I'm not the only one that thinks these!

[Kstroke]

I don't mean to bring back a old post, but this discussion and subsequently Deesiels and MiataTony's Youtube channels are what lead me to buy my Camaro.
So, I wanted to thank them both for the info they put out and offer a little bit of my own experience after owning my V6 1LE for 9 months as a daily driver and multiple track days.


First off, I too owned a Focus ST prior to my Camaro and agree with all of the positives and negatives stated above. I do miss the visibility I had in the Focus though. I am tall and my visibility seems to be more hampered as I cannot see the traffic lights if I'm the first car in line. I have to duck down which is a pain in the ass. Also, I just fit with a helmet and the seat all the way down. #tallpeopleproblems. The mirrors aren't as big a deal if you set them up right. Where it is a problem is if you're at a stop and making a left onto a road that is angled to the one you are on turning from. It's impossible to see if traffic is coming from the right unless you line up your car perpendicular to the road you're turning on to. Another huge thing I noticed was the build quality difference between the two. Panel gaps, fit and finish and perceived build quality on both the inside and out are leagues better on the Camaro.


One of the main reasons I sold the Focus was because I wanted to start going to the track and didn't want to have to modify my car for it to be able to handle a full track day without overheating or breaking. The additional cooling and even a track warranty were the main appeals of the 1LE package for me.
The car does not disappoint on the track, at least for a novice like myself. It's very composed, very confidence inspiring and I've had no issues running flat out in 90+ degree weather. All I've done is changed the brake fluid to Motul rbf 600.


On the street it's very comfortable. Since it's still a big car, and very well damped, it doesn't bounce around over uneven pavement. I find there is very little compromise in ride quality for the performance it offers, especially compared to the previous gen BRZ/86.
Gas mileage isn't great though. I average 26MPG where I was 30ish with the Focus ST and 32 with a BRZ. I doubt 26 is any better than what the V8's are getting on a mostly highway commute. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to suck it up as nearly as much as the V8s at the track. Of the track days I've done most of the V8 guys are on empty by the end where I'm almost always left with 1/3 of a tank.


One thing that might be undersold is how great the NPP exhaust sounds. It’s a good balance between growl and howl when you accelerate and then nice and quiet in 6th gear on the highway.

Finally I will say that it's probably not as fun as the Focus was for just getting around town. I think this is due to a few things: One is just the nature of the TQ curve of an N/A v6 vs the turbo 4. The super long gears on the Camaro don’t help in this regard. Also the much lower limits of the Focus ST make it feel like you’re going faster than you are. It’s the whole “Slow car fast” thing.

The Camaro comes off as very serious about being a performance car and the V61LE is very serious about punching above it's weight. It's that reason that it excels on the track but what also makes it less fun on the road.
I think if you want a sports car that you can comfortably daily and take to the track right out of the box, I'd take the V61LE over a 370z, any Mustang other than a GT350 and the old BRZ/86 twins. But if you aren't going to go to the track at all, there might be better options for a fun street car.

[Deesiel678]

Originally Posted by Kstroke

I don't mean to bring back a old post, but this discussion and subsequently Deesiels and MiataTony's Youtube channels are what lead me to buy my Camaro.
So, I wanted to thank them both for the info they put out and offer a little bit of my own experience after owning my V6 1LE for 9 months as a daily driver and multiple track days.
...

Thanks for sharing!

I traded in my V6 1LE earlier this year. Re-reading this post and your review makes me miss it so much!

[Kstroke]

Originally Posted by Deesiel678

Thanks for sharing!

I traded in my V6 1LE earlier this year. Re-reading this post and your review makes me miss it so much!

Thanks again for your OP. It's tough finding v61LE content.

You and Tony were some of the few I could find on YT. Seems like you both have moved on.


What kind of car did you buy?

[Deesiel678]

Originally Posted by Kstroke

Thanks again for your OP. It's tough finding v61LE content.

You and Tony were some of the few I could find on YT. Seems like you both have moved on.


What kind of car did you buy?

Back to my sport compact car roots; I have a 2021 Jetta GLI now. My kids didn't like sitting in the back seat of the Camaro lol.

[Kstroke]

Originally Posted by Deesiel678

Back to my sport compact car roots; I have a 2021 Jetta GLI now. My kids didn't like sitting in the back seat of the Camaro lol.

Nice!

Yeah mine have to sit with their legs crossed behind me; they don't like that. But they are very rarely back there so it's been OK.

[Silent_H_]

Originally Posted by Kstroke

Nice!

Yeah mine have to sit with their legs crossed behind me; they don't like that. But they are very rarely back there so it's been OK.

That's what mine do and they don't seem to mind yet! And yeah most of the time we take our other car (a Civic) when the whole family goes anywhere.

V6 1LE gang!

[Malbjey]

Originally Posted by Kstroke

One thing that might be undersold is how great the NPP exhaust sounds. It’s a good balance between growl and howl when you accelerate and then nice and quiet in 6th gear on the highway.

1000% agree with this! I very much believe it's one of the best sounding 6 cylinder exhausts today. It's criminally underrated. I wish my current car could sound as good, but its a turbo V6 and not NA.

Originally Posted by Deesiel678

Thanks for sharing!

I traded in my V6 1LE earlier this year. Re-reading this post and your review makes me miss it so much!

I used to have a base model 2019 V6 with RS package, but I lived vicariously through your Youtube vids. Made me really want to check out Tail of the Dragon as well. I live far enoguh north that it would have to be a planned trip, but maybe I'll see it one day.



Hope the Jetta GLI is treating you well. Did you cross shop any other sport compact cars?

[Deesiel678]

Originally Posted by Malbjey

1000% agree with this! I very much believe it's one of the best sounding 6 cylinder exhausts today. It's criminally underrated. I wish my current car could sound as good, but its a turbo V6 and not NA.

1000% agree also. I used to get so many compliments on the exhaust note of that car.

Originally Posted by Malbjey

I used to have a base model 2019 V6 with RS package, but I lived vicariously through your Youtube vids. Made me really want to check out Tail of the Dragon as well. I live far enoguh north that it would have to be a planned trip, but maybe I'll see it one day.

Worth the trip. Not only for the Tail, but there are many other surrounding roads within a 1-2hr radius that are equally as good, if not better (due to less traffic). Lots of scenic views as well.

Originally Posted by Malbjey

Hope the Jetta GLI is treating you well. Did you cross shop any other sport compact cars?

I was fairly set on VW MQB platform. Before I traded my Focus ST for the Camaro, I actually tried to trade it in for a VW GTI about a year prior but they wouldn't give me the amount I wanted for my trade. I've liked them for awhile. In hindsight I'm glad it didn't work out otherwise I probably wouldn't have ever owned the Camaro.
This time around I considered a used Golf R, used Audi S3, 2021 GTI, and 2021 GLI. All MQB. Went with the GLI due to additional back seat space and slightly more modern technology compared to the others.