Test drove a ZL1 today

[E.T.]

I'm surprised it didn't feel that much faster, then again, basing things on seat-of-the-pants feeling can be deceiving. My SS is putting down about the same power as a ZL1, and it's a huge difference compared to stock. An extra 150 HP makes a pretty big difference. I haven't driven a Z, but I can imagine that if it's running properly, it should smash you back into your seat.

[JCunningham]

maybe the rear wheels were spinning the whole way

[Camaro2ss2013]

Originally Posted by Bad@ssCamaro

Don't forget, it probably had low grade fuel and it still needed to be broken in to get it's full potential. Nice SS by the way.

Thanks, The first questions I asked when I got in the car was what fuel is in it. He said they put 93 in all there sports cars on the lot. That's recommended from the factory. You know a car salesman never lies

Originally Posted by JCunningham

I had to read the manual. GM is actually so stupid to allow you to put 87 in a supercharged engine with a compression ratio to high to run 87 without the sc.
Was there any pinging?

No pinging the motor sounded fine.

Originally Posted by Secret Squirrel

I posted this same type of post a couple months ago and got a lot of the "you're just jealous because you can't afford one" comments. I had the exact same experience that you just described. I was told there was 93 octane in it, but who really knows? The only legitimate argument I heard was that it hadn't been properly broken in yet (understandable). Either way, fast...yes. Fast enough to justify 20k more than my 490rwhp SS after a few k in mods...not even close. Beautiful cars, and I would love to have one, don't get me wrong, but not worth that much more money IMO.

The car was a little bit faster but It really felt like my SS would have kept right with it. It sure didn't feel like 155 horsepower difference. I would have loved to run them side by side to the light and see. I can't say for sure that the car had 93 in it but the salesman said it did. It had less than a quarter of fuel in the tank. The broken in part is very true but it still was a let down. The reason I went to look at the car is it listed at 60k something but they were trying to move it for 52k. They would have taken 50k for it I'm sure. I had every intention of making the deal today. I just couldn't do it though after driving it.

[cornerspeed92]

Man,long story short,i did some instructing at Fontana with Speedventures today.I was assigned to a guy from Canada in a turbo Porsche to make him faster.That car was so *ucking fast,all i could think about was i would smoke him if i had a supercharger,or if i was in a ZL1

[2010 SSRS]

Originally Posted by JCunningham

maybe the rear wheels were spinning the whole way

painting the street the whole ride

[kevinw]

camaross2013. did you do the Jeff Gordon test drive and scare the hell out of the salesman when you test drove it? lol.
the dealership i am looking at, ( i am looking at a 13 2LT new vert), they have a yellow new 13 zl1 vert in showroom , been there for long time. limited buyer here in kansas city. beautiful car, but at 63K, a bit out of my budget. and i couldnt use 580 hp on interstate here anyway. but beautiful car, but really, in corvette territory in that price range. if i was going to spend 63K on a sports car, i would go with a vette and the name/resale, etc.

[el ess A]

Originally Posted by kevinw

if i was going to spend 63K on a sports car, i would go with a vette and the name/resale, etc.

F**k the 'vette.

Camaros or GTFO.

ZL1 is the best Camaro overall to date. No contest. No regrets here. Ever.

[Evotion]

Going from my '10 SS to the ZL1 on my test drive I felt kind of like you did. Granted I babied it with only 10 miles on it.

500 miles later, with occasionally getting on it, the power is there. I still refuse to take it anywhere near redline, but with all the nannies off, 100+ degree temps the only thing this car lacks is traction. It literally gets faster every week, same as my SS did.

BTW, still get tired of the comparisons in price to the Vette. If you are comparing this car to the Vette you didn't want a Camaro. I can't fit 4 people in my Camaro comfortably, but I can if I need to. That's why I don't own a Vette. Well that and I don't want one.

[Lee123]

Originally Posted by E.T.

I'm surprised it didn't feel that much faster, then again, basing things on seat-of-the-pants feeling can be deceiving. My SS is putting down about the same power as a ZL1, and it's a huge difference compared to stock. An extra 150 HP makes a pretty big difference. I haven't driven a Z, but I can imagine that if it's running properly, it should smash you back into your seat.

You're absolutely right about that. My SS makes 563 rwhp and 507 torque, which should put it close to the ZL1, and it feels about twice as fast as it did stock. Something would have to be wrong with a ZL1 to feel no faster than an SS.

[SuperSport2011]

There is your problem, it was manual

[JCunningham]

I wonder how old the gas was in it.

[xrayman]

I am really surprised to hear these comments. While I have not driven a ZL1, I have driven a 2011CTS V at a local race track event sponsored by Cadillac. All I can say is when it was over if I had 72k lying around, that car would have come home with me.

[H8S FORD]

Originally Posted by el ess A

F**k the 'vette.

Camaros or GTFO.

ZL1 is the best Camaro overall to date. No contest. No regrets here. Ever.

Not even a top 5...

[2011Black2SS]

I had a 2011 2SS with a cat back, CAI and full suspension setup and I traded it in on the ZL1 I have now. The car doesn't feel as brute force like my 96 Z28 did with 600hp, but it does pull pretty good. It feels like the SS did, but a bit more push back in the seat. I guess that is the difference between an LS and LT engine. What surprises me the most is the difference in the handling between the SS and ZL1. To me it is a night and day difference. The ZL1 doesn't feel like you are pushing 4200 lbs through a corner, but the SS also had just a hair of front end push that I didn't like. Sure a few mods to the engine of an SS will put you at the power level of a stock ZL1, but it didn't matter how much I did to the suspension of the SS, I don't think I would have gotten the handling out of it that I get from the ZL1 straight off the show room floor.

If you are happy with the SS, keep it. They are still darn good cars. By the way, everyone should expect people to take offense when bashing something they like. I didn't take offense to it, but after owning both, I would still make the same deal and have the ZL1 over and SS any day.