BE CAREFUL - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

2012ZL1 · 06-04-2012, 01:26 PM

Just saying...These cars are very deceiving. Other vehicles around you may be on the ragged edge of handling and/ or operator ability. This car is effortless to drive, and as such you tend to forget that regular cars around you are at a disadvantage, and may be dangerous as a result.

I took my car for a cruise yesterday on a nice 4 lane twisty oceanside road. By myself except for 1 car behind me.
I had a guy in a 1978 Impala who figured he's like to keep up to me around some corners. uh..not so much. The guy just about flipped himself trying to keep up and I wasn't pushing the ZL1 too much, just cruising.. albeit at a comfortable speed for the Z, maybe not most regular vehicles. I slowed down so he would not kill himself or anyone else. He went past.

Next, I'm in a set of lanes that goes 2-lane for a distance, then 4 lane for a distance so people can pass and not get stuck behind slow drivers or sight see-ers.
I went for 3 of these with the same two cars putting along in the passing lane and they refused to budge. The guy in the slow lane sees this and backs off a bit so I can get in front of him and go around them. I pullover to go around them when first car in line swings over in front of me into the slow lane without signalling or looking. Had to jam on the brakes very hard to avoid a collision.

Now I'm not saying that I am not at fault at all here, because my car calls for spirited driving, and it handles it with ease and safety, it tends to make you forget that the cars and drivers around you are not good drivers to start with, and have crappy vehicles.Normal driving in a ZL1 isn't really "normal"..

Yes, I admit I wanted to go, and I wanted to drive a little quicker than 60km on a 90 km highway...but man..I learned an important lesson yesterday. steer completely clear of other vehicles on the road, because they cannot handle or stop as good as the ZL1. In any other car I would have been toast when that guy cut me off, but because of the awesome brakes and handling of the Z, It didn't turn out bad, but it could have.

Be careful out there. Pay attention to drivers around you becasue the crappy ones are even crappier when you are driving such a capable vehicle. Also various idiots will try to prove stuff where they have no hope of doing so.
Don't fall into the trap..trust me its easy to do.

HumanWiki · 06-04-2012, 01:31 PM

I get that a lot in my SS.. Especially out on curvy roads.. People see me taking corners and such quickly and w/o brake lights, so they try to do the same.. I love seeing the cars nose diving in my rear view mirror.. I've seen a couple stock looking Camaros try to do the same thing... Didn't work to well for them either.

affox83 · 06-04-2012, 01:37 PM

So far most of my experiences have been someone flying to get up on my rear end for whatever reason and then slowly backing off, like they don't want to wake the sleeping dragon.

Other than the one guy in a van who almost merged into my lane, meaning the side of my car. He almost lost it on the interstate trying to recover from that one. Watch out for the crazies...they are everywhere.

SlingShot · 06-04-2012, 01:43 PM

I find this car very hard to drive slow. The way it rides and handles, it throws off the speed perception.

P.S. I love this car !!!

Tally Ho · 06-04-2012, 01:48 PM

I've been driving Corvettes since 1985 so I understand what you mean. I have to remind myself that I'm not in the Vette when I'm in the Avalanche.

KLR ZL1 · 06-04-2012, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlingShot

I find this car very hard to drive slow. The way it rides and handles, it throws off the speed perception.

P.S. I love this car !!!

Yes I totally agree that this car is very comfortable at speeds. It is very easy to handle. Even just yesterday when my wife and I were going to cars and coffers and I let her drive there and I was explaining about the breakin specs. She all of a sudden says OH iI am doing 82mph and she never drives fast. The speed is very smooth and if your not watching it can creep up on you real fast.

DangerZL1 · 06-04-2012, 03:18 PM

I took a driver's class years ago to get out of a ticket and one thing I remember is that you need extra distance between you and a vehicle in front of you that can brake better than you. In this example, it was a motorcycle. Looking at this reverse, I try to brake as early as possible to give the car behind me to react and slow down. This is probably more apparent in the ZL1, which can easily stop shorter than most other cars.

HumanWiki · 06-04-2012, 03:24 PM

The extra distance thing, while great in theory, rarely works anywhere near decent sized traffic areas.. Here in Chicago, it's pretty much impossible to do unless it's very early or very late.. Open gaps in traffic flow get you the horn, the finger or a car cutting in front...

I hate it.. because, I know I'm going to end up rear-ending someone and it'll be my fault.

htron50 · 06-04-2012, 07:00 PM

thats called DEFENSIVE DRIVING!

This is a good site, and there may be others.

http://www.youtube.com/user/defensivedriving1

Silverguardrail · 06-04-2012, 07:15 PM

I am all too aware of the limited mentality that a lot of motorists have today. I witness / experience it everyday I drive.
When I took Driver ED as a teenager my instructor said " Assume all drivers are assholes and leave yourself an out, if you do, you will NEVER have an accident". He's right.
Defensive driving is a priority and a responsibility we all should work at.

2010SLVRBULIT · 06-04-2012, 07:27 PM

alot of bad drivers on the road, regardless of what you drive.

2012ZL1 · 06-04-2012, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2010SLVRBULIT

alot of bad drivers on the road, regardless of what you drive.

Yes but as I was saying its more apparent in the ZL1.
The car just "wants to go" its like holding back a wild horse sometimes..

06-04-2012, 01:26 PM	#1
2012ZL1 CaRaHoLiC Drives: '12 ZL1,67 Cam,68 Biscayne 427 4 sp Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: B.C. Canada Posts: 1,701	BE CAREFUL Just saying...These cars are very deceiving. Other vehicles around you may be on the ragged edge of handling and/ or operator ability. This car is effortless to drive, and as such you tend to forget that regular cars around you are at a disadvantage, and may be dangerous as a result. I took my car for a cruise yesterday on a nice 4 lane twisty oceanside road. By myself except for 1 car behind me. I had a guy in a 1978 Impala who figured he's like to keep up to me around some corners. uh..not so much. The guy just about flipped himself trying to keep up and I wasn't pushing the ZL1 too much, just cruising.. albeit at a comfortable speed for the Z, maybe not most regular vehicles. I slowed down so he would not kill himself or anyone else. He went past. Next, I'm in a set of lanes that goes 2-lane for a distance, then 4 lane for a distance so people can pass and not get stuck behind slow drivers or sight see-ers. I went for 3 of these with the same two cars putting along in the passing lane and they refused to budge. The guy in the slow lane sees this and backs off a bit so I can get in front of him and go around them. I pullover to go around them when first car in line swings over in front of me into the slow lane without signalling or looking. Had to jam on the brakes very hard to avoid a collision. Now I'm not saying that I am not at fault at all here, because my car calls for spirited driving, and it handles it with ease and safety, it tends to make you forget that the cars and drivers around you are not good drivers to start with, and have crappy vehicles.Normal driving in a ZL1 isn't really "normal".. Yes, I admit I wanted to go, and I wanted to drive a little quicker than 60km on a 90 km highway...but man..I learned an important lesson yesterday. steer completely clear of other vehicles on the road, because they cannot handle or stop as good as the ZL1. In any other car I would have been toast when that guy cut me off, but because of the awesome brakes and handling of the Z, It didn't turn out bad, but it could have. Be careful out there. Pay attention to drivers around you becasue the crappy ones are even crappier when you are driving such a capable vehicle. Also various idiots will try to prove stuff where they have no hope of doing so. Don't fall into the trap..trust me its easy to do. __________________ 2012 ZL1 2.55 upper, 10" lower pullies, Innovators west billet hub and sfi balancer, solid blower drive isolator, 50 mm idler kit, full length S/S headers no cats, comp cams custom grind cam, comp roller rocker trunion kit, comp push rods,dual valve springs retainers and locks, Injector dynamics ID850 inectors, Rotofab ZL1 cold air kit, Lingenfelter 160 thermostat, Rotofab intercooler reservoir, stock plugs, LS7 90mm throttle body, GTO clutch reservoir mod, my own custom catch can, Tuning by Jannetty, install by me.

06-04-2012, 01:43 PM	#4
SlingShot Drives: 2012 ZL1 - #670 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Seminole, Fl. Posts: 8,009	I find this car very hard to drive slow. The way it rides and handles, it throws off the speed perception. P.S. I love this car !!! __________________

06-04-2012, 01:48 PM	#5
Tally Ho Drives: 2006 Corvette conv/2007 Avalanche Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Niceville, FL Posts: 155	I've been driving Corvettes since 1985 so I understand what you mean. I have to remind myself that I'm not in the Vette when I'm in the Avalanche. __________________

06-04-2012, 07:15 PM	#10
Silverguardrail Drives: 2012 ZL1 #1448 Join Date: May 2009 Location: WNY Posts: 892	I am all too aware of the limited mentality that a lot of motorists have today. I witness / experience it everyday I drive. When I took Driver ED as a teenager my instructor said " Assume all drivers are assholes and leave yourself an out, if you do, you will NEVER have an accident". He's right. Defensive driving is a priority and a responsibility we all should work at. __________________ 2012 ZL1 SIM, MN6, B92, RTQ ZL1 - the true definition of joy ride

06-04-2012, 01:31 PM	#2
HumanWiki Drives: Car Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Place Posts: 3,361	I get that a lot in my SS.. Especially out on curvy roads.. People see me taking corners and such quickly and w/o brake lights, so they try to do the same.. I love seeing the cars nose diving in my rear view mirror.. I've seen a couple stock looking Camaros try to do the same thing... Didn't work to well for them either.

06-04-2012, 01:37 PM	#3
affox83 System Test Engineer Drives: '12 ZL1 #1011 Join Date: May 2012 Location: South Weber, UT Posts: 72	So far most of my experiences have been someone flying to get up on my rear end for whatever reason and then slowly backing off, like they don't want to wake the sleeping dragon. Other than the one guy in a van who almost merged into my lane, meaning the side of my car. He almost lost it on the interstate trying to recover from that one. Watch out for the crazies...they are everywhere.

06-04-2012, 03:18 PM	#7
DangerZL1 Drives: 2023 Black ZL1 Auto Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: FEMA Region 4 Posts: 2,935	I took a driver's class years ago to get out of a ticket and one thing I remember is that you need extra distance between you and a vehicle in front of you that can brake better than you. In this example, it was a motorcycle. Looking at this reverse, I try to brake as early as possible to give the car behind me to react and slow down. This is probably more apparent in the ZL1, which can easily stop shorter than most other cars.

06-04-2012, 03:24 PM	#8
HumanWiki Drives: Car Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Place Posts: 3,361	The extra distance thing, while great in theory, rarely works anywhere near decent sized traffic areas.. Here in Chicago, it's pretty much impossible to do unless it's very early or very late.. Open gaps in traffic flow get you the horn, the finger or a car cutting in front... I hate it.. because, I know I'm going to end up rear-ending someone and it'll be my fault.

06-04-2012, 07:27 PM	#11
2010SLVRBULIT Drives: G5(LLT) & C6(LS3) Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: MARS Posts: 7,527 View My Garage	alot of bad drivers on the road, regardless of what you drive.