[Heartbreaker]

Originally Posted by pauly1119

This much fun is probably bad for your health, be careful.

"There is one thing that I've never done. I've never had too much fun"

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

[Checkmate1]

Originally Posted by hammerdahn

A bit of background, I work at a luxury car dealer and drive 20+ different vehicles a day. I've been dailying my 19 zl1 1le for about 2000 miles and 2 months now on bad Pittsburgh roads. Previous cars 16 WRX, 16 Focus RS, 18 BMW M2.

The good: It's firm but not harsh. You feel everything but rarely anything upsets you or the car. Most modern cars with adjustable suspension ride much harsher in their stiffest mode and don't provide nearly as much feedback. I was prepared for the worst but coming from a Focus RS just about any car rides better lol.. The car does exactly what you it to, which is actually very rare these days with all the tech in cars now. Its completely refreshing and rewarding. It feels like bigger more capable Miata in all the right ways.

The bad: At medium speeds 40-80 it can be "bouncy". The shocks essentially have 2 different "modes" or calibrations that are completely mechanically controlled with the spool valves. At lower speeds it keeps the body roll in check and at higher speeds it prevents just about anything from upsetting the chassis. At medium speeds it seems to be in the middle of those two calibrations and relies on the springs a bit too much which can cause the bounciness. So if the road is bouncy in a normal vehicle it will be even more bouncy the zl1 1le.

This man speaks the truth. What I was going to describe exactly.

Oh and BTW - I wouldn't own the ZL1 1LE if I lived in Michigan. The absolute worst state (next to Rhode Island) on road quality.

[Ebbsnflows]

To the OP, Ride quality - like sound, beauty, flavor, and other subjective qualities - is in the eye (or seat) of the beholder. Everyone will have differing opinions on those things (as illustrated by this post and every previous post like it).

Having said that - Your intentions with the car sound exactly like mine. My 1LE is not my daily driver. It is a weekend/sunny day car that will never rain/snow (or the track). I do occasionally drive mine to work - but primarily it's driven on the many, AWESOME twisty back-roads that we are blessed with here in the mountains of Western NC. For that purpose, I LOVE my 1LE and have nothing but positive reviews. If I had to do it over again, I would buy the 1LE again in a heartbeat. There are zero regrets.

Now...Would I have this as my only car and daily drive it? LOL...No, I wouldn't even consider it. But frankly, I would not daily drive a regular ZL1 either. It has nothing to do with the ride quality of the 1LE. I actually think the ride-quality is perfectly acceptable on public roads - at least on the roads we have here. My issue is the low clearance, the limited visibility, the difficulty of ingress/egress, the lack of meaningful storage, the limited passenger room, etc. But again, I knew all of this going in. I bought the 1LE for the exact purpose that I use it for - a "No holds barred" beast on the street.

In the end - only you can decide what you like - but for a weekend car, you can't go wrong with the 1LE.

[1hprush]

Yes the ride is firm, but this is what I expected, driving a track based car. My Gen3 Viper and Lingenfelter C6 corvette rode much more harsh than my ZLE. However, the seats are more comfortable in the Z.

[Jason18ZL1LE]

17,600 miles on my 2018 ZL1 1LE in the description. Many track miles, driven it to 3 different states and its been 17,600 worth of TRUE driving passion goodness.

People whop complain about the ride simply dont understand (or care) about what the DSSVs are capable of on track or a good canyon even. If its too stiff, get a V

[Vtor_ZL1]

Says the guy in SoCal who never seen a northeast street where potholes have potholes


Cute.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by Vtor_ZL1

Says the guy in SoCal who never seen a northeast street where potholes have potholes


Cute.

Eh having driven a Focus RS both in Florida and Cali.. Cali roads suck. Not Michigan.. or Pennsylvania.. or New Jersey.. Or New york levels of suck. But they aren't good.

[Jason18ZL1LE]

Originally Posted by Vtor_ZL1

Says the guy in SoCal who never seen a northeast street where potholes have potholes


Cute.

LA Roads are pretty fricken bad... second, if your area sucks so bad then dont buy a sports car.

[Checkmate1]

Fact - Ride is firm #becauseracecar

Fact - The ZL1 1LE only has 1 suspension mode as it is a proper coilover NOT Magride.

Fact - The different 'drive' modes - Tour, Sport and Track only affect Traction settings NOT the ride comfort.

Fact - Your 'ride' experience is dictated by the quality of roads where you live. (Michigan - Good Luck, Tennessee - Party like it's 1999)

You want soft? Get a Lexus.

You want the looks but no pain? - Plenty of Chinese knockoffs where you can create a ZL1 1LE look alike using aftermarket parts. Benefit of that - get a base ZL1 and go nuts. You get Magride. What you will NOT get is the ZL1 1LE Kinematic calibration or DSSV.

[Crawdog450]

Originally Posted by Jason18ZL1LE

LA Roads are pretty fricken bad... second, if your area sucks so bad then dont buy a sports car.

AMEN!!!!!!

LA roads are pretty bad. England's roads are pretty bad too. I am sure we all have bad roads. All that stuff being said I broke mine in and don't drive it on the street any longer. Its a track car only now. Just sayin for the dudes really looking for a street car..... consider a ZL1. If you want a track machine... add the 1LE.

[keystonemedical]

I have somewhere around 1000 miles on my 19 LE. It does ride stiff and likes to follow the seams and creases in the blacktop. Its really more bouncy than anything. I havent had time to really mess with any of the suspension settings as of yet , but come Spring, Ill tinker some and maybe look into other tire options. I came from a 2013 GT500 with the live axle and stock springs and would say the rides are similar. Ive found the LE is in its element the harder and faster you drive it. The firm suspension gives you a ton of confidence once the speedo hits triple digits. Where as my GT500 would make you crap your pants once you started to try to throw it around some at that speed. The LE handles great in the twistys at any speed as long as your pushing the car hard enough that the suspension is actually working.

[Checkmate1]

Originally Posted by keystonemedical

I have somewhere around 1000 miles on my 19 LE. It does ride stiff and likes to follow the seams and creases in the blacktop. Its really more bouncy than anything. I havent had time to really mess with any of the suspension settings as of yet , but come Spring, Ill tinker some and maybe look into other tire options. I came from a 2013 GT500 with the live axle and stock springs and would say the rides are similar. Ive found the LE is in its element the harder and faster you drive it. The firm suspension gives you a ton of confidence once the speedo hits triple digits. Where as my GT500 would make you crap your pants once you started to try to throw it around some at that speed. The LE handles great in the twistys at any speed as long as your pushing the car hard enough that the suspension is actually working.

Get the PS4S tires for the street and relegate the stock GYers for the track only.

You can thank me later.

[Checkmate1]

The other issue on the table is how much Magride has made people forget about how true sport's cars used to ride.

If you owned an E46 M3 or 997 GT3 or at least driven those cars, you would know how those stiff those cars were...yet folks hammer on about how stiff the ride is on the ZL1 1LE.

[keystonemedical]

Originally Posted by Checkmate1

The other issue on the table is how much Magride has made people forget about how true sport's cars used to ride.

If you owned an E46 M3 or 997 GT3 or at lease driven those cars, you would know how those stiff those cars were...yet folks hammer on about how stiff the ride is on the ZL1 1LE.

good point ............