[JBones81]

Originally Posted by TRZ06

Thanks man. I'm in the San Jose area. Are there are meets around here?

Yea, check out the Norcal Camaro and 1LE groups on Facebook

[Redlinez]

That makes sense being 15 years ago. I drove one just 4 years ago and remember quite well liking my Mustang better. I have never driven a C6, might be time to go test one with the Z51 package.

[Cgocifer]

Concur with your assessment of the acceleration. I too wish the car had more oomph and throw you back in your seat goodness.

It feels heavy and sluggish to me when accelerating in a straight line, but fantastic in the twisties.

[Redlinez]

Funny how folks find a low 12 second car to be slow!!

[Laststandard]

Guess I'm lucky, the Camaro is the fastest car I've ever owned, so I have no complaints about it feeling slow!

My motorcycle is faster but it doesn't have the punch of a 6.2L V8

[TRZ06]

Originally Posted by Redlinez

Funny how folks find a low 12 second car to be slow!!

Yeah, for sure.

It is all relative though to your experiences.

I have had a TTRS with a stage 1 tune and that was about a 3.6 second car to 60.

The M3 (which I drove last night for the first time since I got the 1LE, puts you in the seat much harder than the 1LE does. The magazines say the numbers on them are close, but it feels a lot faster, again some of this is the power delivery and low end TQ of the twin turbo 6.

My C6 Z06 was about a 3.6 second car to 60, and the C5 Z06's were advertised at 3.9.

The truth is unless you get a good launch, the 1LE is more along the lines of a 4.2 to 4.3ish 0-60 car.

If you take away the launch and do a rolling start to 60-70MPH, there is a bigger gap as you take the hole shot out of it and you are left with just the forward acceleration G's.

I am not dissing the 1LE at all though, it is a complete and balanced car that is very capable, I just miss that forward acceleration, push in your seat feeling.

I was starting to get used to it and it was starting to feel a bit faster, then I got into the M3 last night, mistake, lol

I have another month before my lease turn in on the M3, and I really don't want to drive it because it resets my butt-o-meter, lol.

[TRZ06]

Originally Posted by protovack

Expect to see a significant increase in power and acceleration once you get into the 10-20k mile range. People will deny it, but I notice a significant bump in power once an engine is broken in. You can't judge a car until it has 10k miles on it. I've driven dozens of cars over the years, it happens with every single one of them down to the Chevrolet Trax I drive daily. Off the lot is was so stiff and slow. 15k miles later and it feels zippy. Second, you definitely have not gotten into the performance modes yet. You have to be in track mode, and even then, in the performance traction modes to actually get full torque. All the other modes, including tour, and sport, do not give you full access to all the engine's power. And in track mode, the throttle response is very linear. It does not artificially inflate the throttle input. This is intentional, so that you can modulate the throttle on the track. So to a novice who doesn't know, he might think the throttle response is "sluggish" in track mode. They would be wrong, its intentional, and actually if you really get into the throttle with the nannies off, you'll get full torque.

You have to remember that a car like the M3 is tuned to "feel" fast. Along with most european sports coupes and sedans, the throttle is calibrated to give you a "rush" on first press, and possibly cause you to chirp the tires coming away from a stop light. Laypersons will assume it is the faster car, but get out on an open track and the 1LE will simply dominate.

GM engineers could have tuned the car to feel faster off the line, but there are many good reasons not to do that. If you really feel like the throttle response isn't too your liking, there are several throttle controller voltage boosters on the market that will amplify the throttle signal and give you that intense response.

I have gotten everything out of this car that it has. I babied it for the first 500 miles, then I let loose.

I have had it in every mode, had it full throttle, had it red-lined, and used no lift shift, tried comp. mode. I have done it all.

I just need to reset my acceleration calibration. The 1LE just has a little too much weight and gearing to really give you that G force forward acceleration.

It is however a complete package that is very balanced. I have heard people say that about the Porsche GT4 as well, not the fastest and leaves a little to be desired for straight line power, but it is a very balanced and complete package car. I believe that is what the 1LE is as well.

The issue is it needs an open twisty road to exploit the best from it and chugging along in commute traffic on a daily basis isn't the most fun, lol

[jeep_junkie]

Originally Posted by TRZ06

Thanks man. I'm in the San Jose area. Are there are meets around here?

Dublin here. I saw a bunch of Camaros at the monthly cars and coffee in Danville but I haven't heard of any Camaro meets as such. I believe there was one in Sacramento but that's too much of a drive given the lousy traffic over here.

[Apex_Missing_Ape]

The car doesn't feel slow at all to me, and I've got an 11-second G8. I also just sold my Focus RS (tuned) that would rip to 60 MPH in 3.8 secs but still like the Camaro's power delivery more.

This is the first car I've owned that I don't feel I need to add power mods to. I hope that feeling lasts.

[1LE Red Dragon]

The LT1 power band is deceptively fast. The speed sneaks up on you. I find the LT1 to be a torquey motor of the initial hit, then is lack luster until about 4500 to 4800 RPM, then it really goes. I was surprised at how peaky the big power is. If you never take the car over 4000 RPM, it will seem slow. At least it did to me. So the magazine published numbers will show a WOT acceleration number. Once you go thru the gears to redline, and shift, you never fall below 4500 RPM again, so the numbers are faster than how the car feels.

Also, you are correct, the torque curve of a modern day twin turbo car is straight up around 2k rpms, hold relatively flat, then tapers off. The seat of the pants feeling comes from the somewhat straight up torque curve of the turbo motor. The torque curve is more linear on the NA big V8. Which is not as fast feeling, but gets it down the road just as fast.

If you want the through you back in seat feeling, add a PD blower, then have a table top flat torque curve till you let of the GO pedal.

[dotfiles]

Originally Posted by TRZ06

Thanks man. I'm in the San Jose area. Are there are meets around here?

I'm in San Mateo area

[tmalaquin]

Originally Posted by TRZ06

Please note that all comparisons are to my current (yet outgoing) 2016 F80 M3 with DCT, base leather interior package, Ohlin coilovers, and Advan Neovo 08r tires.

ACCELERATION:

Here is where the M3 wins out, I know the numbers say they are just about even on paper, but in real world driving the M3 feels quite a bit quicker. Part of it I am sure is the DCT, the other part is the power delivery of a turbo motor over a N/A motor. The M3 (for a turbo motor) is amazing, it revs to 7500 and is strong all the way up, in addition the M3 has a feature that keeps the turbos spooled. While the 1LE feels a little lethargic. I even tried starting out at 4,500 RPM (the beginning of the max TQ curve) and it still feels a little weak, I remember my C5 06 feeling a little stronger even than this. I am sure weight is at play here, but I am slightly dissapointed in the lack of "throw you back in the seat" acceleration feel.

I agree with you on the acceleration. I was following an M4 last sunday during my OTD. Drivier's skills apart, the M4 was faster on the straight line, creating a gap from me (from 40mph in 2nd to 110 ich mph in 4th) but I was faster in corners with the 1LE

cheers
TM

[TRZ06]

Originally Posted by tmalaquin

I agree with you on the acceleration. I was following an M4 last sunday during my OTD. Drivier's skills apart, the M4 was faster on the straight line, creating a gap from me (from 40mph in 2nd to 110 ich mph in 4th) but I was faster in corners with the 1LE

cheers
TM

Yeah, its a trade off for sure.

The 1LE is the better handler, the M3 the better straight line car. Pick your poison. Funny, their roles have reversed from the old school days

The price difference is huge though.

Unfortunately for me, I spend most of my driving time commuting to work, where the M3 attributes shine on a daily basis and I am only on curvy mountain roads and seeking out "fun" roads on occasion where the 1LE will shine best.

When you start really pushing them though to 9/10th 10/10th, the M3 falls apart. The chassis can't handle the awesome motor and drivetrain. This is where the 1LE shines.

Until I can afford a Porsche GT3 RS (which does it all), I will "settle" for my $44K 1LE.

[1LE Red Dragon]

Or save some money and buy the BIG brother 1LE

https://youtu.be/CqoTN0nBcQo