ZL1 Daily Driver? Stock vs Mild vs Wild?

[ricknasty.com]

Guys,

I'm on a 4-10wk plan to get a ZL1 in the 33-38k price range. I have seen from stock with warranty up to 130mph trapping cars in this range. My intent with the car:
1. Year-round daily driver in Florida. It will essentially be my mini-van that will haul a 3 and 6yo around with all the family endeavors in between. Monthly cross state road trips are likely.
2. At this stage, reliability and maintenance free are a slightly higher priority than a few extra whp.
3. I've daily driven a 115mph trapper and always wanted a few more hp.

How are you guys daily driving these cars? Are you mostly stock? Basic bolt-ons and still reliable? What about a nice cam in this car? Curious to see how many miles on each configuration and the goods and bads that came with it.

Does first gear dead hook from the factory? If not, at what power level does first become unusable with a street worthy tire?

Anyone hit 100k miles on one of these yet?

Also, do any of you engineers have a consumables type spreadsheet that shows your TCO over time?

Thanks for the help!

[KaBoom1701]

Your overthinking this a bit.

The ZL1 is an awesome car. Just buy it and enjoy. The modding part is up to you and your warranty comfort level.

[Can'tHave2MuchHP]

Originally Posted by ricknasty.com

Guys,

I'm on a 4-10wk plan to get a ZL1 in the 33-38k price range. I have seen from stock with warranty up to 130mph trapping cars in this range. My intent with the car:
1. Year-round daily driver in Florida. It will essentially be my mini-van that will haul a 3 and 6yo around with all the family endeavors in between. Monthly cross state road trips are likely. If left in mild-medium/mild form, these things are bullet proof. Check the thread "How many miles on your ZL1" and you'll see people with north of 40,000 miles with no issues.
2. At this stage, reliability and maintenance free are a slightly higher priority than a few extra whp. Yeah, no problems there.
3. I've daily driven a 115mph trapper and always wanted a few more hp.You can do some basically bolt ons, will discuss below

How are you guys daily driving these cars? Are you mostly stock? Basic bolt-ons and still reliable? What about a nice cam in this car? Curious to see how many miles on each configuration and the goods and bads that came with it. Bolt ons are dead reliable in these cars. A cam, eh, it does put a little more strain on the parts, I'd hold off on a cam for now.

Does first gear dead hook from the factory? If not, at what power level does first become unusable with a street worthy tire? No, on OEM tires, my ZL1 does not dead hook in 1st and I'm 100% bone stock. Honestly first thing I'd do is get tires for the car, and I'd run some BF-G Comp 2 A/S Tires if I was you, super affordable but a helluva performer. They perform better than stock tires from what I've read, plus they can take cold temps and rain, in addition to lasting for a lot of miles.

Anyone hit 100k miles on one of these yet? Not sure about that.

Also, do any of you engineers have a consumables type spreadsheet that shows your TCO over time?

Thanks for the help!

Answered most of the stuff above in bold. Also, if you're planning on daily driving the car, then I'd leave it stock. If you want to mod, I'd do a cold air intake, headers/cat delete, and tune. At most you could add a 10% overdrive pulley. ANYTHING past this and you'll run into issues with high temperatures and running out of fuel due to the stock fueling/injectors. Yeah, leave it stock if you daily it.

However if you must mod it, then there's all kinds of stuff we can talk about. As a Floridian though, you are going to struggle with temperatures if you increase boost. These cars, and all supercharged cars for that matter, become dogs in 80%+ humidity and 85+ degree days. So like I said, I'd leave the boost alone unless you want to invest big coin in heat exchangers, thermostats, and possibly an interchiller.

[STUNNAH]

Originally Posted by KaBoom1701

Your overthinking this a bit.

The ZL1 is an awesome car. Just buy it and enjoy. The modding part is up to you and your warranty comfort level.

+1

[608RS]

buy this car. $~34k for a ZL1

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=467515

[Can'tHave2MuchHP]

Originally Posted by 608RS

buy this car. $~34k for a ZL1

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=467515

Damn that's a deal!

[ricknasty.com]

Originally Posted by KaBoom1701

Your overthinking this a bit.

The ZL1 is an awesome car. Just buy it and enjoy. The modding part is up to you and your warranty comfort level.

Computer Engineering background with plenty of seat time as an Information Security Analyst. I'm just getting started here! I see your point though. It'll be bad ass regardless.

Originally Posted by Can'tHave2MuchHP

Answered most of the stuff above in bold. Also, if you're planning on daily driving the car, then I'd leave it stock. If you want to mod, I'd do a cold air intake, headers/cat delete, and tune. At most you could add a 10% overdrive pulley. ANYTHING past this and you'll run into issues with high temperatures and running out of fuel due to the stock fueling/injectors. Yeah, leave it stock if you daily it.

However if you must mod it, then there's all kinds of stuff we can talk about. As a Floridian though, you are going to struggle with temperatures if you increase boost. These cars, and all supercharged cars for that matter, become dogs in 80%+ humidity and 85+ degree days. So like I said, I'd leave the boost alone unless you want to invest big coin in heat exchangers, thermostats, and possibly an interchiller.

Thanks for the feedback. Bulletproof sounds good! But so does that BTR Stage 3 cam! I didn't realize 1st gear already has traction issues. Even the base mods you mentioned sound like they'll melt the tires. Are you still running the stock tires?

We really only have about 3 months of > 85. I may be able to work around the heat. My 2 sides of the coin currently look like this. I'm feeling like #1 may be practical at that power level:
1. White modded - http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=475484
2. Black stock - http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=474941

[Can'tHave2MuchHP]

Originally Posted by ricknasty.com

Computer Engineering background with plenty of seat time as an Information Security Analyst. I'm just getting started here! I see your point though. It'll be bad ass regardless.



Thanks for the feedback. Bulletproof sounds good! But so does that BTR Stage 3 cam! I didn't realize 1st gear already has traction issues. Even the base mods you mentioned sound like they'll melt the tires. Are you still running the stock tires?

We really only have about 3 months of > 85. I may be able to work around the heat. My 2 sides of the coin currently look like this. I'm feeling like #1 may be practical at that power level:
1. White modded - http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=475484
2. Black stock - http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=474941

The white car is an absolute monster, I hope you know how to drive 2.5 + 9.1 + BTR 3 is a beast of a build. Not necessarily a good daily car at all at that point.

Yeah 1st gear on cold tires when stock can melt the tires, as can 2nd if it's below 70 out, I've even done an elongated chirp on 3rd gear shifts when it's cool outside/tires aren't warmed up. IF it's 85 out and the roads are hot like Forida, then you might be okay in first gear at stock power level. But for sure, at anything past stock, it will easily melt OEM tires. Yes I'm still on Eagle F1s, I plan on selling and getting the new ZL1 or a ZR1 but otherwise I'd switch tires and do the same build as the white ZL1 in your list above.

I think you might be getting a bit over your head for a daily at the white ZL1 to be honest. BTR 3 is an aggressive cam.

[STUNNAH]

If gas mileage is a concern it will be a factor as well in your decision...Lightly modded I get 10 to 11 mpg...But in my case mpg doesn't matter...On a full tank my DIC indicates a travel distance of around 191 miles...

[ricknasty.com]

Originally Posted by Can'tHave2MuchHP

The white car is an absolute monster, I hope you know how to drive 2.5 + 9.1 + BTR 3 is a beast of a build. Not necessarily a good daily car at all at that point.

Yeah 1st gear on cold tires when stock can melt the tires, as can 2nd if it's below 70 out, I've even done an elongated chirp on 3rd gear shifts when it's cool outside/tires aren't warmed up. IF it's 85 out and the roads are hot like Forida, then you might be okay in first gear at stock power level. But for sure, at anything past stock, it will easily melt OEM tires. Yes I'm still on Eagle F1s, I plan on selling and getting the new ZL1 or a ZR1 but otherwise I'd switch tires and do the same build as the white ZL1 in your list above.

I think you might be getting a bit over your head for a daily at the white ZL1 to be honest. BTR 3 is an aggressive cam.

That idle is soooo beautiful! I'm a cam noob at best, but aggressive cams typically require supporting valve train upgrades, right? I haven't considered that either. Adding more power to stock tires seems somewhat moot already. That seems drag radial territory and a challenge there. Ultimately, I need to get out and drive one. The closest one on autotrader is a state away...

Originally Posted by STUNNAH

If gas mileage is a concern it will be a factor as well in your decision...Lightly modded I get 10 to 11 mpg...But in my case mpg doesn't matter...On a full tank my DIC indicates a travel distance of around 191 miles...

It seems low on the list now, but I can see it as a thorn later. Your Stage 1 is mainly intake and pullies? I wasn't expecting a gas mileage hit there. Is that because of the need to add more fuel to compensate? Looks like one can assume a Stage 3 like setup is <10mpg for sure then.

[DeSH]

I am 100% stock, and I average 16-18 mpg with 70% hwy, 30% city driving. Hammering on it a lot changes things for the worse though. DIC currently reads 19.0 mpg over 3200 miles of easy driving with the occasional wide open run.

[zeeb]

Sounds like a mini van is the way to go...Better fuel mileage. Easy to get little kids in and out of too

[Can'tHave2MuchHP]

Originally Posted by zeeb

Sounds like a mini van is the way to go...Better fuel mileage. Easy to get little kids in and out of too

OP, I think if you plan on driving a ZL1 like you are, then I'd buy a stock low mile car and then maybe do intake and exhaust at most.

[ricknasty.com]

Originally Posted by DeSH

I am 100% stock, and I average 16-18 mpg with 70% hwy, 30% city driving. Hammering on it a lot changes things for the worse though.

Nice! That's about what I was expecting. I'm going for silliest question on a ZL1 forum, but are there any mods that improve performance and gas mileage!?

Since you're in Florida: How are you doing on tires? Any heat related issues in August?

Originally Posted by zeeb

Sounds like a mini van is the way to go...Better fuel mileage. Easy to get little kids in and out of too

No doubt! I went through that acquisition effort when kid #2 came back in 2013. Wife wasn't that happy as we landed in a Town & Country. No regrets 83k later. Can't argue with the practicality. Especially with the remote doors!

I have a Tacoma for daily/bike stuff now. The ZL1 would be a strictly pleasure vehicle to satisfy the adrenaline rush in off-riding days.

Originally Posted by Can'tHave2MuchHP

OP, I think if you plan on driving a ZL1 like you are, then I'd buy a stock low mile car and then maybe do intake and exhaust at most.

I think you're on to something here. That's what had the practicality side of me considering the 6g SS, but I see those everywhere. The 5G ZL1 just looks bad ass.

Thanks for the feedback!