2018 Camaro ZL1 running sluggish?

slowwhite711 · 03-21-2021, 11:21 PM

Hey guys new to the forums here and I am in need of some help. Just picked up a 2018 Camaro ZL1 and the dealership filled the gas up with 87 gas. Car has been running sluggish and I made sure not to drive crazy on this gas till it was empty. Now that the car was empty I filled it up with 91 and have been driving around with it but the car still seems to be under performing and running bad, to the point I even got a few runs with some friends and they all legit gave me a beating where as my 2019 E85/header 10r80 mustang would beat them by a car length. I am going for my second 91 fill up tomorrow so I’m hoping this will help but I’m not sure what else to do.

gtfoxy · 03-22-2021, 01:51 AM

First off congrats on the ZL1.

As for performance wise it sucks the dealer did that. I personally would have made them drain all the fuel & put high octane in before I took delivery, but that’s just me.

How many miles on the car?

Mods?

Any maintenance records?

Make sure the exhaust setting (via the infotainment system) is set to track as well as your main performance selector. You should also make sure your PTM settings are not on wet, but dry or Sport 1 or 2 is a good all around setting. Race mode will require you to be more regulative of the throttle, but not as bad as turning TCS off completely. I personally have mine set to Sport 2 99% of the time.

91 is really the bare minimum, but that’s what I personally have ready access to, so I understand.

Do you have any way of monitoring or logging data? If not at a minimum download the Torque Pro app & get an approved ElmScan interface & monitor RPM, knock retard, Manifold temp, manifold pressure, MAF. That will give you a pretty good idea of what’s happening.

I would also recommend making sure the blower coolant circuit is properly bled. Air in the circuit will cause a pretty drastic drop in power.

d15b7 · 03-22-2021, 08:13 AM

hey there and welcome! everything GTfoxy said is pretty spot on. I'll add that I guess I'm lucky in that 93 is the 'normal' Premium grade fuel that we get here in the northeast so that's what I use (I prefer Shell). mine is stock and I can say that 'sluggish' is in no way a descriptor that I'd use in reference to when you press the go pedal; it's insanely fast!

running the 87 oct would have most likely not have hurt it assuming you weren't romping on it; but I'm sure it would have radically retarded the ignition timing trying to protect the engine from knocking. i'm assuming you ran it totally down to complete empty and then filled up with a full tank of 91? if you mixed the 87 and 91 you're still going to be way low on octane and it might still be really retarded. can you go to a VP racing distributor and buy 5 gals of GT260 100 octane unleaded and toss it in there and go for an extended drive? see if it 'relearns' and gets back to running the way it should, which I like to describe as 'crazy fast'. good luck and enjoy her!

zx9rmal · 03-22-2021, 08:32 AM

Did you drive the car prior to the 87 octane? If so, how did it run?

LT4Greg · 03-22-2021, 09:08 AM

Congratulations and maybe it will straighten out with another tank of 91. I would also put a bottle of injection cleaner in the tank when you fill up. Btw, your Mustang was not as heavy as your Camaro which would make it faster especially since it was modded. If you keep having problems with it, I would find a good dealership to take it to get checked out if it is stock with no mods done.

19Nasty1le · 03-22-2021, 09:26 AM

Your computer is going to take time making sure the octane levels are correct before returning the timing to normal levels, it might take a tank of high grade gas to even get there, if by the end of a 2nd tank of high octane gas (with some more aggressive driving to see if it picks up) I’d return to the dealer as maybe the issue is also the vacuum that some cars have had with the supercharges

03-21-2021, 11:21 PM	#1
slowwhite711 Drives: 2017 1lt Camaro V6 Join Date: May 2017 Location: Bakersfield Posts: 21	2018 Camaro ZL1 running sluggish? Hey guys new to the forums here and I am in need of some help. Just picked up a 2018 Camaro ZL1 and the dealership filled the gas up with 87 gas. Car has been running sluggish and I made sure not to drive crazy on this gas till it was empty. Now that the car was empty I filled it up with 91 and have been driving around with it but the car still seems to be under performing and running bad, to the point I even got a few runs with some friends and they all legit gave me a beating where as my 2019 E85/header 10r80 mustang would beat them by a car length. I am going for my second 91 fill up tomorrow so I’m hoping this will help but I’m not sure what else to do.

03-22-2021, 08:32 AM	#4
zx9rmal Drives: '20 ZL1 M6 Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: FT. Lauderdale, FL Posts: 731	Did you drive the car prior to the 87 octane? If so, how did it run? __________________ Mal Ft. Lauderdale, FL '20 Camaro ZL1 M6 '22 Kawasaki ZX-14R

03-22-2021, 09:08 AM	#5
LT4Greg Drives: 2017 Camaro ZL1 Coupe Join Date: May 2016 Location: Georgia Posts: 5,872	Congratulations and maybe it will straighten out with another tank of 91. I would also put a bottle of injection cleaner in the tank when you fill up. Btw, your Mustang was not as heavy as your Camaro which would make it faster especially since it was modded. If you keep having problems with it, I would find a good dealership to take it to get checked out if it is stock with no mods done. __________________ ZL1 Coupe, PDR, Exposed carbon fiber hood insert, My Link with Nav, M6 6 speed and Silver Ice Metallic. Mods done: ceramic window tint, GM Accessories Camaro floor mats and Roto-Fab CAI.

03-22-2021, 09:26 AM	#6
19Nasty1le Craig Drives: 2019 ZL1 1LE Join Date: Jan 2019 Location: Peterborough, ON Canada Posts: 443	Your computer is going to take time making sure the octane levels are correct before returning the timing to normal levels, it might take a tank of high grade gas to even get there, if by the end of a 2nd tank of high octane gas (with some more aggressive driving to see if it picks up) I’d return to the dealer as maybe the issue is also the vacuum that some cars have had with the supercharges __________________

03-22-2021, 01:51 AM	#2
gtfoxy Account Suspended Drives: '21 Wild Cherry ZL1 Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: WI Posts: 2,082	First off congrats on the ZL1. As for performance wise it sucks the dealer did that. I personally would have made them drain all the fuel & put high octane in before I took delivery, but that’s just me. How many miles on the car? Mods? Any maintenance records? Make sure the exhaust setting (via the infotainment system) is set to track as well as your main performance selector. You should also make sure your PTM settings are not on wet, but dry or Sport 1 or 2 is a good all around setting. Race mode will require you to be more regulative of the throttle, but not as bad as turning TCS off completely. I personally have mine set to Sport 2 99% of the time. 91 is really the bare minimum, but that’s what I personally have ready access to, so I understand. Do you have any way of monitoring or logging data? If not at a minimum download the Torque Pro app & get an approved ElmScan interface & monitor RPM, knock retard, Manifold temp, manifold pressure, MAF. That will give you a pretty good idea of what’s happening. I would also recommend making sure the blower coolant circuit is properly bled. Air in the circuit will cause a pretty drastic drop in power.

03-22-2021, 08:13 AM	#3
d15b7 Drives: 2020 Camaro ZL1 1 LE Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: MD Posts: 94	hey there and welcome! everything GTfoxy said is pretty spot on. I'll add that I guess I'm lucky in that 93 is the 'normal' Premium grade fuel that we get here in the northeast so that's what I use (I prefer Shell). mine is stock and I can say that 'sluggish' is in no way a descriptor that I'd use in reference to when you press the go pedal; it's insanely fast! running the 87 oct would have most likely not have hurt it assuming you weren't romping on it; but I'm sure it would have radically retarded the ignition timing trying to protect the engine from knocking. i'm assuming you ran it totally down to complete empty and then filled up with a full tank of 91? if you mixed the 87 and 91 you're still going to be way low on octane and it might still be really retarded. can you go to a VP racing distributor and buy 5 gals of GT260 100 octane unleaded and toss it in there and go for an extended drive? see if it 'relearns' and gets back to running the way it should, which I like to describe as 'crazy fast'. good luck and enjoy her!

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