WRECKED ZL1

[c4maroboy]

good reminder of what kind of trouble these cars can get us into. glad the driver is safe!

[blackzl1az]

Originally Posted by KKreme15

Put it in PTM 1 then try again

Ok, PTM 1 seems to be very safe, you are right about that.

[littlecammi]

That should just buff out, right?

[Tyler360]

Holy cow! glad to see everyone is ok!

[oldfriend]

Originally Posted by Hurst equipped

that metal looks like aluminium foil.
very lucky to be alive in this one..on not in a wheelchair.

Actually the cabin space is in very good condition ( didn't collapse ) , even after been tossed around , GM engineers did a great job on that on .

[Bonemaro]

Driver is fortunate to live to tell the tale.

[Kevlar382]

No seat belt? Are you kidding me? Spent all that money to make a fast car even faster and doesn't know enough to put on a seat belt. Unreal.

[2001ragtop]

Man looks like this Camaro body structure is very strong. Good news for the future folks who total out their Z/28, which statistically speaking is bound to happen since so many ZL1's have been totalled out.

[Taser Deployed]

Originally Posted by Jer4251

everyone who says our ZL1s wont be worth much down the road are going to be wrong if this keeps happening. ive seen a bunch of wrecked ZL1's on here. it wont end. too much car for some people.

Not to mention the ones we will never hear about. I wonder how many have been wrecked so far?

[Samson2029]

I totalled a 1993 Z28 and the day after I was back at my Job. Not a scratch, except some contusions on the arms from the airbag. The front was badly damaged, engine moved a few inches, but the cabin remained structurally intact. GM has done good work on safety. ZL1 probably should rank highly on safety (stabilitrak, traction control, brembos, body structure, PTM) The only downside is that it is way overpowered for the average non experienced driver.

[dookie454]

Originally Posted by blackzl1az

Wow, glad he is OK!!!
In my humble opinion the traction control on the ZL1 could be a bit more aggressive in the "daily driver" setting. All set to normal i can spin my ZL1 180 degrees on a parking lot before the TC throttles the engine and locks some wheels. Doing 45 miles an hour i can make the backend brake loose and make the tires spin out before the TC takes over.
I know, many people are now going to say I cant drive or well, the ZL1 is a sports car, but in my opinion the TC could be better.
I had a F430 ferrari which under NO circumstances would let the tires spin when its TC was set to daily driver. I had the car in Germany and even drove it in the Swiss mountains on snow. The TC would take away power and lock tires up to the point where the car would stop, but it would not spin out. The same with a 911 which i drove in snow.

"Stability Control" should only be expected/relied upon during Rain, and Snow/Ice, or when your not really paying attention. You should be a good enough driver to never need it. Intentionally setting it off is a different story. Even in snow/ice.

My 2010 SS has 650hp, about 80hp more than the ZL1.

The problem with many people that can suddenly afford high hp cars, without really knowing how to drive them, is they have no idea what they are doing, think they know everything and think either way the stability control will save them... then hit the gas and expect the car to take control. In reality, you should be able to know how to hang the car sideways, for a long distance, drift, power slide, do doughnuts, etc all in complete control. This way when you floor it while trying to pass someone, or come out of a corner under too much power, you know exactly what to expect, predict, and make fun of it.

My 96 TA had the same HP (650). While it actually felt more stable while crossing 3 lanes on the highway at WOT thanks to the solid axle.. the rear end still wanted to walk out over 80mph... no stability control there... never went out of control. My 2010 Camaro, while crossing the same 3 lanes at WOT, tends to pull pretty bad as it climbs over the slight uneven surfaces between the three lanes. This creates somewhat of a uneasy feeling, similar to losing traction. My Solid axle 1996 TA never did this.

The 1989 ZR1 I drove to 150mph on a narrow paved back road during the winter with a little snow between the tire paths.... and passed a car (crossing over the snow between the lanes at 120mph) no problems losing control there either. No stability control to be heard of.

When i got my 2010 Camaro, playing in the snow the first thing I noticed was how bad my reaction to the Stability Control since I would kick it sideways then turn the wheel to hang out like that, but the stability control would kick me straight and that would actually cause more of a problem... so i realized for Stability Control to work great, I had to not do anything to counter my skid/sideways action. This is horrible learning for a normal person.

Moral of the story: I think stability control is making worse drivers out of us while at the same time occasionally avoiding a crash. So I turn mine off any time it's dry, and not snowy/icy so I don't lose that feel for how to get sideways safely, in complete control. Since this cant be set by default, I'm building a small Arduino based microprocessor that will by default, turn it off a few seconds after starting the car. If I happen to drive fast on the highway during heavy rain, or snow/ice, then I'll turn it back on for times that I get lazy and dont realize my rear end is hydroplaning out of control.

[Norm Peterson]

It's very fortunate for the driver that the current crash standards are as high as they are and that the Camaro meets/exceeds them as well as it does.

Originally Posted by motorhead

I'm starting to think that 580+ hp is way to much for most people.

Originally Posted by Z4me

These cars need to be respected for the power that they possess

Absolutely.

And also for the poorish cold-weather grip provided by the OE tires. Overnight low temperatures in the mid-Atlantic region still get down in the 30's, so this was quite possibly a factor.


Back to the topic of power, people need to be a lot less hasty even after the break-in period before they try to use it all. Same goes for right after installing any power upgrade.

My own criterion is that if you suddenly find yourself open-mouthed and thinking "holy shit, this thing is fast!!!", you're already further into it than your level of experience can safely support. What you must do then is ignore the excitement of the moment and rein it all in, back to where you're all relaxed and comfortable again. Immediately, not a few seconds later.

Trouble is, I have no idea how that kind of patience and presence of mind can be taught in such a short period of time. But taking in an instructed performance driving session or two is starting to sound like a really good idea for just about anybody who buys these cars.


Norm

[Fenderaddict2]

Originally Posted by 2001ragtop

Man looks like this Camaro body structure is very strong. Good news for the future folks who total out their Z/28, which statistically speaking is bound to happen since so many ZL1's have been totalled out.

Really? How many do we know of that have been crashed? A lot of C5 member cars?