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Old 02-16-2012, 09:43 AM   #8
radz28
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Drives: Ultra-Grin
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Crazy Coast
Posts: 15,143
There are many mod'd SSs here that would easily outperform ZL1. The car that always comes to mind to me was Pedders car. Here's why I think it's a relatively good comparison to this senario:

Added power from an SC, upgraded chassis, suspension, and brakes. This car was engineered to be a road course car; maybe not so much at the strip (I'll touch on that, though, that's not necessarily too relavent to my point).

ZL1 is very similar to how Pedders' SS ended up. ZL1 is not going to make the same power, nor will it handle as well, but it wouldn't suffer from heat soak that Pedders' car did, although, they were working on correcting a lot of those heat-related issues in the end. ZL1, does, however have a functional aero' kit, fortified engine, tranny, rearend, and driveline, though. ZL1 has all the coolers necessary to run for hours on end, and not burn up. ZL1 has active suspension and steering, neither of which Pedders' car did. ZL1 also had a complete electronics suite of performance oriented chassis settings to make nearly any driver a supercar driver.

There are a couple downsides to ZL1, though, if you ask me... All those electronics - can fail at some point. What do we do about the MR III shocks in five years, or ten years, when they're no longer produced? What happens when a chassis computer or part of the EPS goes out? These parts aren't produced forever, and I'm not sure I've even noticed replacement aftermarket shocks for other MR-cars out there... Most of the rest of the mechanicals, it seems to me, can be rebuilt, or refurbished, but these electronics and parts controlled by electronics worry me. This is my biggest worry about ZL1. I plan on keeping this car for the foreseeable future.

Pedders' car (like many of our other Sponsors rides), have shocks, for example, that are rebuildable, and will be useable relatively indefinately. Shoot, you could put an SS together, and just build on it, and address most of the things that ZL1 has above SS. Lingenfelter has a 9.5" differential you can get, and I think Moser is working on a 12-bolt, too. You can buy a TR6060 that will handle 700 horse'. You can replace all the bushings and many of the control arms with stuff from BMR, Pfadt, LMR, and a number of other companies. You can also upgrade your diff' with Jannetty's upgrades.

The bottom line to me, is what you are looking for. If you want something with a special name, maybe ZL1 is worth it. If you're looking for a CAMARO, and don't really care about a name, why not start with SS and mod' the piss out of it? You are going to be most of the way past ZL1 with a couple grand in suspension, $7K in a SC for power, and a couple grand in brakes. Throw in a few grand in wheels and tires, and you're at ZL1's level of performance. As you get some more money (if that's the issue), you can upgrade the rest of the car as you see fit. Many of ZL1's systems are over-built with safety factors that most buyers won't begin to touch. To say ZL1 is just a name is downright wrong. To say that ZL1 is the ultimate CAMARO is only half-right.

I think it would be more fun to build SS into a ZL1-eater. You might not be able to completely duplicate everything ZL1 is, however, if you're looking for performance, and know how to drive, there's nothing ZL1 can do SS can't achieve with some work, time, and money. The speed of the car is relative to the money put into it (so long as driver skill matches the potential of the performance).
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