New ZL1 owner and why I chose ZL1 over GT500

[ZL1-V]

Originally Posted by The IOM Ninja

Because its not the same lol, you car was on a chassis from 1978, modified as it may be but it was literally a dinosaur. The S197 is 100x better than SN95. Hell Zeta 2 is only 5 years or so older than the S197 (Both cars are based on at least decade old chassis, as starting points, at this point) and its quite a bit more ridged than the S197.

You should have been around on the SVT forums in the late 90's and read all the complaints on the "Fairmont chassis". I know,I drove it everyday. First car I took to Willow Springs, that car was a handful but fun.

[ernie scar]

This is long winded, so I will apologise now.

I read through all the posts here before posting, also I am not brand loyal; I should be able to give a decent unbiased opinion on these cars. When it comes to cars I buy what I like not because it’s a Chevy, Ford or Dodge.

Right now I own one Dodge (SRT Challenger), two fords (Escape and an F250) and hopefully a GM product this summer. These vehicles were bought for certain purposes; also I like to buy North American made vehicles.

I like both the GT500 and also the ZL1, but at the end of the day for me I had to look at what is this car going to be used for. Let’s face it most of us aren’t going to be at the track, and the days of street light drag racing are pretty much over (they crush your car here if you are caught street racing). Also I am not too concerned about straight line speed.

There are THREE main reasons I went with the Zl1 over the GT500.

1) This car can be driven hard and put away wet and will be covered under warranty if something breaks if the car has not had any modifications done to it (GM covers track driving from what I understand). Someone can correct me if I am wrong but I can’t see Ford giving the same warranty.

2) The ZL1 has independent rear suspension which the GT500 does not. You might say this is no big deal but after you have driven a performance car with IRS you notice a big difference. The Challenger which has IRS when going around corners and bumps at high speed sticks to the road. With the F250, a vehicle that weighs over 10,000 Lbs. and has a solid rear axle, it dances around, if you are going around a corner at slow speed over bumpy road conditions. I don’t see too many, if any car manufactures holding on to the live rear axle in their upper end sports cars. To me it seems like Ford is unwilling to embrace the change in technology when it comes to IRS suspension, and is unwilling to let go of the antiquated LRA.

3) With the ZL1 you have the option of getting the car in an automatic, and with the GT500 standard is the only option you have when it comes to a transmission. I will flat out say I am lazy, I don’t feel the need to shift gears to get the whole driving experience. Also the computer is a lot smarter than I am, I never have to worry about redlining an automatic.

I was going to put in an order for a GT500 until the ZL1 came out. The ZL1 for me was more suited to my driving needs, also down the road (I plan on keeping mine 20 plus years) the ZL1 should be worth more in the future, for the simple fact that the ZL1 is going to be a short time line production car. I should also point out that it seems like these (ZL1) cars will be far and few between with the way guys are smashing them up.

It has also been mentioned that the next generation GT500 is going to get IRS. I think that’s great if it happens and it’s about time Ford did that, but will the car have a SC V8 or a TURBO V6. With the new CAFE regs coming out for 2016 the cars that are being produced now with the V8 might become extinct really fast. I hope someone proves me wrong because the BIG THREE are finally producing cars people want, lots of HP with SH**TY gas mileage. Not some fuel efficient piece of crap the government is trying to ram down our throats.

Don’t get me wrong I think both the GT500 and ZL1 are fantastic cars and I would own either one. But at the end of the day when I looked at both cars, the ZL1 made more sense to put an order in for.

Just my 2 cents

[v8]

Nice write up, seems you took a balanced approach like me

[Issh]

I've gone back and forth on which to get. I had a 2010 Camaro SS and I'm driving a 2011 Mustang 5.0 now. I love both cars but if I'm going to get a ZL1 or GT500 I'm getting the ZL1.

I've found the Camaro to be more comfortable and imo it looks much better.

[tones2SS]

Does anyone know how the '13 Roush Mustang stage 3 measures up to the ZL1? I've done youtube searches with no luck.

[NemeSS]

I am true hardcore ls man. Every vehicle i own is ls power.
A coworker bought a 2011 gt500. I knew he was looking for a new, he even asked me for car advice. I reccomended a good ole m6 4th gen of course. He has been in my car when ive rowed thru the gears wot.
But he got a real good deal on the gt500. bank wouldnt finance a 4th gen.
He let me drive one day after lunch. I ripped thru it. It eas definitely imprrssive. So much that i started researching on using a pd blower on my project.
Im a turbo ls guy thru and thru. But i sold my turbo stuff to fund a pd blower build.

Ive never driven a zl1 and will never own one or a gt500. But i have to admit it made an imprrssion on me. I can imagine the zl1 are just as much a pleasure to drive.

[v8]

Hey guys, drove her home today

Pics as promised!!!!!

I will give you a write up about how it drove tomorrow

[v8]

Just doing a test on my new avatar

[The IOM Ninja]

Originally Posted by v8

Hey guys, drove her home today

Pics as promised!!!!!

I will give you a write up about how it drove tomorrow

They put a front plate mount on it....

[v8]

I know :(

That part really sucked!!!!!!!!!!! But the car was at the dealership, I did not order it, and it was taken into the consideration of the price (in my favour ) So although it does suck, at least they did discount the car

[v8]

Plus in Ontario you must mount your front plate, police are really sticky on that. If it was not mounted I would have bought one of those plate adapters that flip the plate up from the bottom, but regardless cars in Ontario need a front plate.

[hognutz]

Originally Posted by tones2SS

Does anyone know how the '13 Roush Mustang stage 3 measures up to the ZL1? I've done youtube searches with no luck.

it dynos at 515whp and should be a little lighter that a gt500. I don't like the looks package at all.

I can't imagine the handling compares at all. The looks miss me complelely and I wonder how the MT-82 does with the extra power. guys will stock gt's have broken them.

pro's light, 3.73 gears

cons, expensive, same braking, questionalbe tranny.

it has less torque 443lbs so not sure how it will translate. the salesman in the video think it will match a 2013 GT500 and blow away a ZL1. I think it looks worse than my buddies 2013 GT. the looks mods they chose don't work for me.

I like looking at the stock GT brakes on the car that they are selling for proabaly 55k. I would not buy that car over a GT500 or ZL1.

[The IOM Ninja]

Originally Posted by hognutz

it dynos at 515whp and should be a little lighter that a gt500. I don't like the looks package at all.

I can't imagine the handling compares at all. The looks miss me complelely and I wonder how the MT-82 does with the extra power. guys will stock gt's have broken them.

pro's light, 3.73 gears

cons, expensive, same braking, questionalbe tranny.

it has less torque 443lbs so not sure how it will translate. the salesman in the video think it will match a 2013 GT500 and blow away a ZL1. I think it looks worse than my buddies 2013 GT. the looks mods they chose don't work for me.

I like looking at the stock GT brakes on the car that they are selling for proabaly 55k. I would not buy that car over a GT500 or ZL1.

The 2012 Roush RS3 looks sick, but they really butchered the 2013...

Either way I think a Roush is a waste of money...

[v8]

OK, so here is the write up regarding my ride home:

The exhaust sounds good, nice at start-up, good through acceleration, and no drone on the highway.

Power wise I can definately feel a difference between my SS. The 3:73 rear ratio in the ZL1 is noticable, the SS has 3:45. Acceleration wise I didn't open it it right up but it pulled pretty good. In second I could not get the car to hook while rolling, it was too cold. In third it broke free, but thats the point where I could feel that powerwise its a pretty good car.

Where the ZL1 really shined was the handling. This car feels like a different car compared to my SS. I absolutely love the handling, its quick and precise and although the Camaro is a heavy car it does not feel heavy when driving it.

Also I had the optional Hurst short throw shifter on my 12. The ZL1 trans has a short throw as well. It shifted so much better, it felt like a different transmission. The throws were a little longer, but not too much. I like the trans shifting better.

All in all its a great car. Do I still think about the GT500, YES. But I can't have them both, that would be a dream, so to pick one, the ZL1 is sleeping in my garage now for another month or two.