Drove a ZL1...not impressed

[nester7929]

Well, you said that your Camaro is heavily modified and could easily beat a ZL1, so it's not surprising that you didn't find the ZL1 all that great. If your SS was bone stock it probably would've seemed a lot faster.

[cam99]

I think a lot of the sensation of what you would expect from these late model "supercars" is numbed down by the very sorted and controlled chassis and loads of sound deadning to be honest. I felt the same way when I bought my 08 gt500 sight unseen. Coming from a modified 03 cobra I thought I was going to very excited when I dropped the hammer on the then hellish 500 hp shelby. I went wot and thought, wait this is it? Ihear a lot of the same from people road testing the 662 hp shelby now. Its fast no doubt, but hear " it doesn't feel like a car with 662 hp" . You don't get that hair raising , kinda scary sensation with these new cars as you did with older cars when your driving the hell out of it. Its because they are so good, but I do miss that sensation a little! Just mod it some and it gets scary again. Lol

[aggieguy13]

Originally Posted by cam99

I think a lot of the sensation of what you would expect from these late model "supercars" is numbed down by the very sorted and controlled chassis and loads of sound deadning to be honest. I felt the same way when I bought my 08 gt500 sight unseen. Coming from a modified 03 cobra I thought I was going to very excited when I dropped the hammer on the then hellish 500 hp shelby. I went wot and thought, wait this is it? Ihear a lot of the same from people road testing the 662 hp shelby now. Its fast no doubt, but hear " it doesn't feel like a car with 662 hp" . You don't get that hair raising , kinda scary sensation with these new cars as you did with older cars when your driving the hell out of it. Its because they are so good, but I do miss that sensation a little! Just mod it some and it gets scary again. Lol

well not to mention even before mods that 03 cobra will smack most sporty cars now at 4.4s 0-60

[Secret Squirrel]

Originally Posted by oldfriend

The OP wants /expected to take a horse from the stable , and beat everyone around

First one have / should have warm up the animal [ie] brake it in , 1500 miles
The you could have had a better " test drive "
I bet that you had the same ~ let down when you first drove your SS

And no , I don't own a ZL or ever drove / test one

I was pretty impressed the first time I drove a stock 2SS, until I drove a stock 5.0. Obviously the 2SS won me over for other reasons, and now having modded it, I am still impressed every time I drive it.
I am by no means bashing the ZL1. It is an amazing machine. Like I said, I expected the wow factor, and it just wasn't there. I have no doubt that with a couple mods, it would be insane, however, after dropping 60k on a 580hp car, I don't think I should have to drop any more money into it to give me that wow factor. I am just a lowly military guy and I don't have money to blow on a $60k car, much less mod it because the 580hp it came with didn't live up to its expectations. I guess its all relative to your situation and personal expectations.

[Secret Squirrel]

Originally Posted by nester7929

Well, you said that your Camaro is heavily modified and could easily beat a ZL1, so it's not surprising that you didn't find the ZL1 all that great. If your SS was bone stock it probably would've seemed a lot faster.

I didn't say heavily modified. You can see what mods I have in my sig. No doubt you are right with your second sentence though.

[Secret Squirrel]

Originally Posted by cam99

I think a lot of the sensation of what you would expect from these late model "supercars" is numbed down by the very sorted and controlled chassis and loads of sound deadning to be honest. I felt the same way when I bought my 08 gt500 sight unseen. Coming from a modified 03 cobra I thought I was going to very excited when I dropped the hammer on the then hellish 500 hp shelby. I went wot and thought, wait this is it? Ihear a lot of the same from people road testing the 662 hp shelby now. Its fast no doubt, but hear " it doesn't feel like a car with 662 hp" . You don't get that hair raising , kinda scary sensation with these new cars as you did with older cars when your driving the hell out of it. Its because they are so good, but I do miss that sensation a little! Just mod it some and it gets scary again. Lol

True. There is definitely power there, but it is so controlled it feels like it is holding itself back. I think the difference is that mine literally pins me to my seat and makes my stomach drop because it is so violently fast it kinda scares me. The ZL1 was very controlled and gradual. It was nothing like what I would have expected stock 580 hp to feel like.

[cvp33]

Nothing trumps theory like facts.

[hognutz]

Originally Posted by Secret Squirrel

I was pretty impressed the first time I drove a stock 2SS, until I drove a stock 5.0. Obviously the 2SS won me over for other reasons, and now having modded it, I am still impressed every time I drive it.
I am by no means bashing the ZL1. It is an amazing machine. Like I said, I expected the wow factor, and it just wasn't there. I have no doubt that with a couple mods, it would be insane, however, after dropping 60k on a 580hp car, I don't think I should have to drop any more money into it to give me that wow factor. I am just a lowly military guy and I don't have money to blow on a $60k car, much less mod it because the 580hp it came with didn't live up to its expectations. I guess its all relative to your situation and personal expectations.

yeah these cars are lame. SS is way better.

[LimaCharlie]

I bet the ZL1 will still beat you on a road course though.

Originally Posted by mlee

There are quite a few threads on this and your first impressions are correct. However, this car is also much more easily modded for more HP AND the platform can handle a lot more HP, but in stock form I'm afraid you are correct.

I agree. Some headers, tune, and a pulley will make a ZL1 feel completely different.

[ZL1-V]

Originally Posted by Secret Squirrel

I was pretty impressed the first time I drove a stock 2SS, until I drove a stock 5.0. Obviously the 2SS won me over for other reasons, and now having modded it, I am still impressed every time I drive it.
I am by no means bashing the ZL1. It is an amazing machine. Like I said, I expected the wow factor, and it just wasn't there. I have no doubt that with a couple mods, it would be insane, however, after dropping 60k on a 580hp car, I don't think I should have to drop any more money into it to give me that wow factor. I am just a lowly military guy and I don't have money to blow on a $60k car, much less mod it because the 580hp it came with didn't live up to its expectations. I guess its all relative to your situation and personal expectations.

It almost sounds as if you're rationalizing due to the fact you can't afford the ZL1.

[Jims Mongoose]

Of course the ZL1 is an awesome machine.

First off non of these cars that are stock, and not broken in are not impressive if you are used to unrestrained power from the old hot rods that did not have the awesome tires we have now. So they felt more impressive, no cats and such so they sounded more impressive. They really weren't though.

But there are issues with tip to toe response on these new cars, controlled by the electronics and on the autos that rediculous AFM.

Drive three manual cars new, no mods. An SS a ZL1 and a 1LE.

Here is what you will find. The 1LE feels considerably faster than the SS. It may be a little faster, but feels a lot faster, especially on first slam of throttle. Its overall gearing in first is actually a little taller, but second gear is less tall by a bit.(GM has played games with this car; HP and electronics response).

Drive the ZL1 and it will not feel as responsive as the 1LE on first slam. When you hold down the throttle though you can feel how it pulls a lot more. Same for the Ford GT 500.

Bottom line is this the engineers at both GM and Ford have had to walk a fine line between meeting CAFE standards and giving us something to work with. Do you think it is an accident that they are so easily modded to get significantly more horses and much better response with small mods. CAI, ported valve body and a tune. The cars feel so much different just from this.

Compare apples and apples when comparing these cars.

Camaros are held back coming out of the assembly line also because GM cannot make the Camaro feel or be faster than the Vette. A problem that Ford does not have.

But boy when you mod those Camaros, look out. Came across a Hennessey ZL1 the other day. Holy cow, talk about impressive. I believe it was their 700 HP mod.

I chose my 1LE as a base car because, first I couldn't afford the mighty ZL1 and yet I wanted a lot of the cool handling characteristics that are in the ZL1. Can easily get 650 to 750 HP at the crank with fairly heavy NA modding or not as heavy SC modding. Plus I have a car that looks sleek and can stay with any BMW around the turns. Cool.

Just my two cents, actually, it was about 10 cents worth.

Thanks for listening.

Jim

[SS PANTHER]

I agree with you. My friend and I test drove a 2013 SS auto convertible and then a 2013 ZL1 auto convertible. I expected the ZL1 to run like my friends' 2013 427 convertible Vette, but, we were very disappointed. In general, as performance goes, even modded Camaro's are not in the same league in overall performance as Z06's, ZL1's, and especially AWD cars like the Turbo S, which, can run 0-60 in 2.9 and high 10's stock, on street tires, and get 24mpg. Out here in SoCal there are so many interesting roads and many Turbo S's, 458's, Aventador's, etc. The Camaro is a nice looking comfortable cruiser with decent performance for what it is. A sporty sedan.

[WLNY]

How much in mods do you have? Costs?

[swizlstik]

Originally Posted by aggieguy13

i tried, they wouldnt let me test drive one. =/

I had to buy it first...