Dropspeed's AGM 1SS/1LE [COTW 9/1/14]

[Dropspeed]

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[Dropspeed]

My 1LE on Scales: 3823lbs
I was at Gingerman yesterday and put my 1LE on the scales: 3823Lbs

Details:

• 1SS/1LE: NPP Exhaust, BA stereo, B/U camera are the only options
• 3/4 tank of gas
• All stock: wheels, tires, suspension, battery...ect.
• All badges have been removed (1-2 lbs??) and floor mats were out...all stock items in the trunk were left in.

-Matt

[Dropspeed]

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=346974


Tow Hook install on my 2013 SS/1LE
I figured this is the best forum for this as I am not really doing a how-to...just giving a couple of pointers to those that may be installing a Tow Hook on their Camaro

• Remove front Fascia
• Remove the metal plate that surrounds the hood latch (bolted to the radiator core support) and unbolt hood latch so you can move it to the side. This allows you to reach an arm down from the top to position the tow hook with the front fascia set back in place.
• I used larger/strong magnets to hold the hook on the bumper and then used wedges on the outside to postion it where I wanted
• Marked it with tape and then took the bumper support off.
• Drilled and bolted the hook...check postion on car again
• Welded the hook and then cut the excess threads off the bolts and painted the bolts and the welds.
• Installed front Fascia.

I decided to put my hook closer to the center so it doesn't stick out as much and is not a shin killer. I have multiple tow straps, clevis and hooks from offroading days and I can get all of them on the hook in this position with no problem.


Matt
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[Dropspeed]

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=296042

ZL1 Splash Guards on 1LE
I installed my ZL1 rear splash guards on my 2013 1LE last night with a little twist.

The factory install requires rivets to attach the splash guards to the rear fascia....I prefer to utilize something that can be removed at any time and I did not like the view of the unused hole from the back of the car.

I got some OE Push Screw Clips made from black Poly Pro (used for trim pieces, splash shields, fender liners ect) and decided to use these to hold the ZL1 splash shields in place. when the screw is inserted the clipd expands. These are removable, they unscrew, will not rust, corrode fall out....and are very light weight

I did find that the holes on the splash shields varied slightly in size, especially the second from the bottom, so I cleaned then up with a small razor blade (drill bit would have worked too)

Pictures speak a 1000 words....

-Matt

NOTE: I will gladly send you some if you cover S&H. PM me.
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[Dropspeed]

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...=348133&page=6


CTS-V 6 Piston Brake kit from $1185.00 (updated)
4/4/2013 I updated the title price from the $1050 to $1200 because the ACDelco pads ($45) are not the same material as the OEM Brembo/Ferodo 1000 pads. ($175)


PIF = Pay it forward....I will use this to mark threads for information I have located or found that I could not find easily here and may save other the time and some money.

Time to pay it forward! I finally ordered my set-up today so it was time to share.

From my research into 6 piston set-ups for my car I found by far the lowest prices on Amazon if you are willing to use Silver or Yellow (or powder coat). The qty in stock fluctuates and sometimes the items go on back order, but if you keep checking back they are usually restocked often.

You can get a 6-piston front big brake set-up for about $1050.00 to $1300.00 depending on rotors and lines you pick.

Here you go: Part numbers and prices as of 3/18/2014

Silver CTS-V Front 6 piston Caliper
ACDelco 172-2488
$246.46

Silver CTS-V Front 6 piston Caliper
ACDelco 172-2487
$250.62

Yellow CTS-V Front 6 piston Caliper
ACDelco 172-2521
$240.11

Yellow CTS-V Front 6 piston Caliper
ACDelco 172-2522
$265.79

Front pads (See Notes Below)
I removed the less expensive front AC Delco Pads as the material is not the OEM Brembo/Ferodo 1000 material.
For track use please purchase the OEM pads p/n 171-1040..About $175 See page 3

Front Pin Kit
ACDelco 18K2108X
$20.98

Front 2-Piece Rotor ZL1/CTS-V
ACDelco 177-1145
$222.56

Front 2-Piece Rotor ZL1/CTS-V
ACDelco 177-1146
$246.87

Front Dual Cast Rotor CTS-V
ACDelco 177-1105
$165.57

For the CTS-V upgrade on an SS you will need:

• Two calipers (silver or yellow),
• A pair of rotors: 2 Piece are better for cooling and are directional (L and R) 1 piece are cheaper, cooling is not as efficient and they "click". (search CTS-V brakes clicking) All 2012+ CTS-V use 2 piece rotors
  
• Pads: Stock are listed....other High Performance options available.
  
• Pin Kit
• Caliper Bolts: ( I got mine from Rodgers Chevrolet: P/N 11570788 $3.19 each (I couldn't find the correct ones on Amazon)
  
• Brake lines: (CTS-V lines are a tad longer) I ordered Goodridge lines from a distributor. P/N 12227 ($185ish/4) or you can get stock front ZL1 lines from the dealer (about $110/pair)
  
• Brake Fluid: ( I used Motul 600) about $15.00 online, need 2-3 bottles.

Disclamer: Use list at your own risk...I verified fitment of the ACDelco numbers by searching them on Ebay....Once found I looked at the fitment listed for each part number to confirm.

UDATE: 4/4/2014
I ordered the OEM pads and received them today.......The pictures do not do them justice as far as how different the material is betweern the OEM pads and the AC Delco pads

I have received data in regards to the factory pads temp ranges from testing at GM and will share what I can later....

Finally, I am using the Silver CTS-V rear calipers to match the front and they ARE NOT a direct bolt on. Both the GEN1 and GEN2 calipers require modifications to use. I KNOW "but everyone says they bolt on" They are all wrong as a modification is need to both to use.

I ordered both sets-to view/confirm the differences....I will post a separate thread about the calipers, differences and mods that need to be made to use them.

-Matt


I took a couple pictures tonight of the silver V calipers on my AGM 1LE
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[Dropspeed]

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...61#post7566361

CTS-V Rear Caliper on a Gen5 Camaro

I often see on here that the CTS-V rear calipers are a direct bolt to a Gen5 Camaro. That is not true as there are some minor mods or adjustments needed to bolt them on correctly. There is no performance benefit to the V rear calipers over your current SS, SS/1LE or ZL1 calipers. The only reason to make the swap would be to match the front V calipers if you make that upgrade.

Front

• CTS-V/ZL1 6-Piston brake calipers and rotor are 100% bolt on to a Gen5 Camaro with no modifications needed. Because of the lower feed/mount positions on the 6-piston caliper for the brake line you will need a longer brake line than the stock SS has. A ZL1 stock line or stainless steel braided lines for a ZL1 will work for the front and rear. DO NOT tray to make the stock SS line work.

Rear

• Gen5 Camaro SS, SS/1LE and ZL1 rear calipers are all the same. (sans paint color)

• Gen1 CTS-V Calipers are similar, however they do not have the notch near the mounting bolt (see pics) to clear the Gen5 Camaro rear shield that protects the E-Brake. The shield can be notch or the caliper can be ground for clearance, but I don't recommend either. (order the Gen2)

• Gen2 (2009+) CTS-V Calipers are a better match for the Gen5 Camaro as they have the notch needed to bolt directly on to the Gen5 Camaro. You MUST keep the left caliper on the left side and the right caliper on the right side. There are two pistons in the caliper, a large and a small (leading and trailing) and the pistons control taper wear.

• Gen2 Fitment: Because the Gen2 CTS-V has forward mounted calipers and the Gen5 Camaro has rearward you need to keep them on the same side of the car so you will need to swap the bleeders and crossover lines top to bottom. The calipers are painted after assembly so the paint will crack where the line wrench contacts the cross over line. I suggest you remove the paint before had on the contact surface as it makes it easy to use the wrench. Once the cross over are swapped top to bottom with the bleeders you are good to go!

Rear Rotors

• Gen5 Camaro Rotors will be used. The CTS-V will not.

Rear Brake Pads

• The SS, SS/1LE, ZL1 and CTS-V all use the same brake pads and pin kit.

I hope that clears up any confusion. Thank you to my contact at the General that answers my text all the time!

-Matt

[Dropspeed]

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=353000

I ran my 5th track weekend in my 1LE this past weekend at Gingerman raceway in South Haven, MI. I am still wiped out so I will post the bullet points.

• I ran a new PB in the 1LE of 1:44.41 That is faster than a ZL1 and GT500 Automobile Magazine test with a pro hot shoe and we are all on the same tires!

1. Me: 1LE: 1:44.41
2. 2012 ZL1: 1:44.53
3. 2013 GT500: 1.45.21

It is not as fast as the 1:42.05 Mark Stielow laid down during a Hot Rod Magazine test....but I will best that at a later time!

Current Performance Mods:

• Roto-Fab Cold Air Intake
• Pedders 220032 and 220033 Sport Ryder Springs
• Pedders Rear Camber bolts
• CTS-V 6-piston front calipers, 2 Piece rotors. OEM Brembo/Ferodo Brake Pads, Stop-Tech 660 Brake Fluid. DIY Brake ducts.
• 285/30/20 and 305/30/20 Goodyear Eagle Supercar G2 Tires.
• -1.6 front Camber, -0.6 rear Camber

All of the above has been added/changed since I ran the car stock last year to the 1:47.34 bone stock last summer

Brakes: Worked as expected..I was able to brake later as expected. Wish the 1LE came stock with these!
Tires: I just wanted to fit the 305 out back to try it.
Alignment: I changed the rear alignment from -1.3 I ran last year after the spring install to the -.6 to stand them up a bit and try to get a little more rotation from the back. I was very happy with how they wore and was getting even temps across the tire.


I wore/rounded the outer edge of the left front tire. Gingerman is very hard on tires and brakes. Because I wanted even wear and didnt want to cut my weekend short I swapped front rims and ran the tires backwards part of the second day. It worked

Did the 305 cause the car to push more or do I need more camber (or both) ???? I am sure the 305 induces under-steer, but I had the same issues with the front tire outer edges last year....I am going to try an run -2.0 at the next event and see what happens.

Rear Diff: one of my biggest issues is the rear diff opening up on track and spinning the inside rear tire. Once the tire starts to spin the clutches in the diff cannot grab it until you lift. When having fun or a "battle" on track I didn't want to lift and have a friend tag me mid-corner so I would stay in it once it broke loose and leave a single black streak and a smoke screen so he could see I didn't have traction. Some native Americans came out of the woods as they thought I needed help.......Nope just a Torsen Helical diff sooner than later! I will get his in car video later.

Other Highlights:

• Cold tires bad...(see video and pictures)
• Todd Naperalski had the Total Performance Racing (TPR) #39 GTS Camaro SS there doing some testing. I went out behind him once......Yeah, mmmmm the car weighs 3425 with driver, it's on race rubber, has real areo, real suspension....I was there about a 1/4 lap before he was gone. I believe he said he has run 1:36s there.

Little spin on track




Playing on the wet track:



1LE vs 6.0L (swapped) C5 on race tires.



I will post more videos later,
Matt
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[Dropspeed]

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7618602

Took .75lbs off the front of my 1LE
I wanted to change the look of my 1LE a bit so I replaced the fogs with the blanks thanks to a generous member on here that sent them to me for the price of shipping (about $8). They are only a hair lighter that the light bezel combo but that is not why I did it. When I saw pics of my car on track I always noticed how bright the chrome was in the lights so I wanted to try this.

Matt


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[Dropspeed]

The first thing I did when I got my car was to remove the engine cover.
The primary purpose of the cover is to reduce intake and valve noise. But it also traps heat as well as adds weight while making the engine compartment more visually appealing to the masses.

For me, weight on top of the engine and it acting as a heat trap were enough to get rid of it for about a year......But I have been focused on the ugly coil packs and the though of what (minimal) protection it offers to the wiring, injectors, coil packs ect......

Below is my best of both worlds modification/compromise I made over the weekend. I removed the sound deadening material underneath, cut the center section out, fabed a quick bracket on drivers side and painted them flat black. I got the look I wanted, reduced the weight, removed the heat trap and got a little protection for the wires.

-Matt
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[Dropspeed]

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...45#post7696545




Do we need CTS-V Big Brakes?
As of this weekend I have driven 3 different tracks since the install of my CTS-V front brake set-up (2 piece rotors/ 6 piston calipers / using Motul 600 and stock GM pads) and I will just post a quick review for each and then conclude with my opinion and some made up point system..fair enough? (Disclaimer: weather, temps, tire condition, and the weight of the driver post steak dinner the night before can all have an effect on lap times.....This is racer math listed below)

Gingerman Raceway: April 12/13 2014. Gingerman is a 2 mile road course that has 4 heavy brake zones. It is know to eat brakes and tires. I was able to repetitively brake later and dropped my laps from the pre brake install 1:47.34 to a CTS-V braked lap time of 1:44.41 (that is huge) CTS-V Brakes +1 point

Waterford Hills Raceway: May 24th. Waterford is a very short 1.5 mile twisty track that is more suited to smaller lighter cars and there is only one hard brake zone from 100mph. My best lap last year was a 1:20 flat...Best lap Saturday was a 1:21.7. So what happened? The stock brakes worked just fine at Waterford. I made no other changes and it was 25+F warmer than I ran there last year.Tires were getting a little worn CTS-V Brakes = 0 points

Grattan Raceway: May 25th: I love Grattan!! 3200+ foot straight, off camber side of a hill corner, a jump!! My best lap last year pre-BBK was 1:30.22, Sunday it was 1:31.78 But wait, there is more! My max speed on the straight between the two times increased from 123.6 mph in Sept to 130.4 mph on Sunday. A 7 mph increase without a pucker in the brake zone lap after lap. (Then why are you slower Matt?) One word: tires. I wore the front tires down well past were I would normally use them and they just fell off. The car didn't want to turn in and I had to drive it to turn with more throttle which is not smooth or fast. CTS-V Brakes = 1 point.

So do you need CTS-V 6-Piston Brakes? Of course you don't need them as you can make the stock 4-piston Brembos works just fine with good pads, fluid and some air flow. If you only run a shorter track there may be no need for you to upgrade.....But with my racer math/data above (as well as support from a friend that may or may not work at GM that may or may not work with the high performance brake systems and may or may not have shared data with me to assist in my choices) I would say it is was worth the investment for me.

Thank you again to Joe and Becky D at Rodgers Chevrolet for the use of the tow rig! They met me on day two at Grattan and Becky had a new PB there! 2 Tracks and over 400+ miles behind the wheel of the Kodiak and I was a tired dog!

Thank you,
Matt
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[ssmike]

Nice start to your journal! Very detailed and it's obvious that your going to be really using the 1LE for what it was intended....the track! Congrats on a great build and I love the silver CTS-V calipers! Nice work! Can't wait to meet up at Gingerman in August! I'm doing Watkins Glen May 2nd & 3rd with the BMW club! Should be fun, especially passing all those Bimmers! lol!

[Dropspeed]

Originally Posted by ssmike

Nice start to your journal! Very detailed and it's obvious that your going to be really using the 1LE for what it was intended....the track! Congrats on a great build and I love the silver CTS-V calipers! Nice work! Can't wait to meet up at Gingerman in August! I'm doing Watkins Glen May 2nd & 3rd with the BMW club! Should be fun, especially passing all those Bimmers! lol!

Thank you!....I look forward to meeting you and others in August!

[Fraxum]

Nice thread!

Will you be adding more power to keep up with the Z/28s? You can probably add 30 with no CELs or a tune with the right combo, if you are avoiding that. And your car is lighter than a Z/28. Should be interesting.

Awesome garage! I am so jealous.

[Dropspeed]

Originally Posted by Fraxum

Nice thread!

Will you be adding more power to keep up with the Z/28s? You can probably add 30 with no CELs or a tune with the right combo, if you are avoiding that. And your car is lighter than a Z/28. Should be interesting.

Awesome garage! I am so jealous.

Thanks. Yes I plan to add more power a little later down the road. Because I track the car so much I want to avoid any warranty hassle so it will most likely be similar to your combo. (LTs & HFC). My next mod will be a helical rear diff as I don't like the way the stock diff "opens" on the track on corner exit.

-Matt