Let me first say that I really love the 6th gen Camaros. I recently bought my third 6th Gen (should be taking delivery in the next few days).
With that said, here's my list of suggestions:
More Power
I really like the idea of the combined port-injection and direct-injection, so the LT5 (or something similar) would be a welcome addition.
Make the Hood Water Deflector a Toolless design
It's a pain to have to pull out a ratchet before and after every track event to remove the water deflector. I recently bought some thumb-screws that I'll be trying out on my next track day.
Improve Shifter Bezel Design
On numerous occasions I have accidentally bumped the Traction Control and/or Driver Mode Control buttons while shifting gears.
Upgrade the Brake Fluid
I understand moisture absorption rates are a factor, but a brake fluid life monitor, similar to the oil life monitor could be used to mitigate. I would love to see Castrol React SRF as an option. (Even my Ford Explorer came from the factory with DOT 4.)
Make it Easier to Change the Brake Fluid
The bleeder on the slave cylinder cannot be reached from below the car. Even with a specialized tool, I’m not sure this would be possible without dropping the transmission down a little. We need a factory installed remote bleeder on the clutch slave cylinder. An electronic menu option inside the car to cycle the ABS would be awesome too.
Improve the Readability of the Oil Dipstick
With fresh oil, the cable and bulb style dipstick that’s present on the LT1 and LT4 engines is next to impossible to read.
Improve or Remove the Phone Charging Pad
Let's face it, the current inductive phone charging pad is a gimmick. A lot of modern phones don’t even fit on the pad. The ones that do fit have to be maneuvered into a perfect orientation to get the charger to start working. If you try to charge a phone while driving, you can count on fishing it out from behind the seat once you stop.
Add a Dragstrip Drive Mode
I'm not sure why we only have "Track". The desirable characteristics for dragstrip and roadcourse are completely different.
Improve Ability to Launch the Manual Transmission ZL1 at the Dragstrip
Don't get me started on this.
Improve Cooling for Dragstrip Use
It’d be wonderful to have a button that would kick on the supercharger coolant pump and the fans while the car is not running. These cars heat soak so quickly while sitting still between rounds at the dragstrip, and when you’re in the staging lanes there’s not enough airflow to cool the cars back down before the next run. A simple timer-based button (or menu option) to turn on the fans and coolant pump would mostly eliminate this problem.
Make it Easy to Return to a Custom Launch Control Configuration
The menu system used to navigate and configure the launch control can be a bit of a burden. When in the staging lanes it’s not uncommon to have to turn the car on and off while waiting your turn. The number of button presses and time it takes to setup custom launch control becomes quite a burden after a while. It’d be nice if there was an easy way to simply return to a particular launch control configuration after an ignition cycle.
Decouple Line-Lock from Launch Control
If you choose to use the line-lock feature without launch control, traction control, or stabilitrak, it requires about 5-6 seconds after the burnout to configure the car. That is an eternity at the drag strip that makes you look a bit foolish on a busy track day where the track officials are trying to get cars down the lanes as quickly as possible.
It’d be nice if the line-lock functioned more like a traditional drag car’s line-lock where there’s a physical line-lock button. The driver simply applies the desired amount of brake pressure (not necessarily 100%) and presses a button to hold the brake. After the rollout is complete (or the timeout expires, etc.), the car should return back to its state prior to the line-lock button being pressed. This would allow the driver to preconfigure the car however they choose prior to the burnout instead of having to quickly fumble through menus between the burnout and staging.
Reduce Black Exhaust Condensation on Exhaust Tips
It’d be a nice refinement to engineer the exhaust in a way where the condensation could drain more easily and not discolor 2 of the 4 exhaust tips.
Add a Front Camera
A front camera similar to the Corvette would be helpful in protecting the low front splitter on the ZL1.
Upgrade PDR Camera to 4K
The quality of the PDR camera seems to be a little behind on the times.
Add Support for exFAT File System to PDR
FAT32 cards will soon be a thing of the past in the world of SD Cards. Most high-capacity SD cards are now using the exFAT file system. A lot of people don’t even know the difference and are probably confused when their exFAT formatted card doesn’t work. If this isn't an option, at least put an option inside the PDR menu to format the card to the FAT32 file system.
Eliminate First-to-Fourth Skip-Shift
I understand that it’s a gimmick for fuel economy ratings, but surely the engineers can come up with something better, right? Maybe it could be an option that simply comes with an increased gas guzzler tax? I’d gladly pay it.
Add a Traditional Leather Option
I know most people prefer the Alcantara, but not everybody. I’m in the minority, but I personally can’t stand the feel of the Alcantara.
Add Integrated Lift Points
It’s a bit of a bummer to have to buy jack pads just to properly lift the Camaro with a floor jack.
Include Full Temp. Range in Trans. Fluid Temperature Instrument Panel Display
When I first drove my ZL1 home it was about 35 degrees (F) outside. I happened to notice that the transmission temperature gauge was pegged at the lower portion of the gauge the entire way home (~70 miles). I couldn’t figure out why the gauge wasn’t working and was worried sick that perhaps there was no fluid in the transmission. As it turns out everything was fine, but the gauge simply doesn’t include the entire operating temperature range for the transmission.
Add Intake Air Temperature Instrument Panel Display
When I’m at the dragstrip, it’s nice to have visibility into the current level of heat soak. I find myself using a laptop to view the post compression intake air temperature (IAT2). It would be awesome to incorporate a view to show the regular intake air temperature as well as the post compression intake air temperature.
Wider Wheels/Tires
I believe that wider wheels offered as a GM accessory for the ZL1 (matching the current ZL1 wheel design) would sell very well.
Reorganize/Consolidate Instrument Panel Displays
The organization isn’t terrible, but there seems to be some quirkiness to it. There's not always a clear seperation between "Info" and "Performance". Some settings, like tire pressure can be both. Also, I feel like many screens could contain consolidated information:
- Tire Pressure, Tire Temperature
- Oil Temperature, Oil Pressure, Transmission Fluid Temperature
- Ambient Air Temperature, Intake Air Temperature
- G-Force, Friction Bubble
Update Infotainment to Work with Android Auto via Bluetooth
Add Option to Disable Hill Start Assist
In my experience, it really seems to interfere more than it helps. The next best thing would be a little more refinement in the Hill Start Assist.
Increase Responsiveness of Electronic Parking Brake
I find that every time I get in and out of the car I have to wait on it. Also, is the message in the console telling me the brake is released really necessary? There’s already an indicator light for the parking brake. I’d like to be able to assume that when the indicator is no longer illuminated that the brake is no longer set and vice versa.
Option for Roll Bar and Seats with Harness Passthroughs
The instructors at the track I go to always complain that I don't have seat belt harnesses, but I don't like the current aftermarket options. Also, I feel like a harness without some type of overhead protection is a bad idea.
Edit:
I'll second the previous post for carbon ceramic brakes. I think I'd be a buyer if a complete set of rotors and pads could be offered for ~8K or less.
11-30-2017, 10:41 AM
