1LE as my high mileage commuter in Michigan?

[Z06ray]

Been reading a lot of articles recently and on this forum. Wow, this seems to check every box for me. I actually prefer the looks of the 5th gen to the 6th but I realize the 6th is the better car(??) give me an LS.
I still want the 5th gen. The 1LE Appears to be refined in all the areas I am looking for.

I currently have a c5 z06 that I will be keeping. It’s quite possibly my favorite car ever. And by the sounds of it, the 1LE will rival it performance wise. I am more than happy with my c5z performance. If I do this, I will be keeping my z06 but ditching the daily driver Silverado. My wife and I are also thinking about kids soon so I plan to put a baby seat in at some point and that doesn’t seem too hard either

I’ve had 3 06 Gto’s as well and was looking for another when I had the epiphany that the 1LE is the car to get.

I’m practical in just about every other are of my life so this one has me swaying quite a bit. I am relocating for work (hopefully for maximum 1 year) and this will require me to drive 83 miles each way to work. Miles are smiles and I don’t really want to drive a beater and keep some cream puff 1le for the weekends. I want to drive it. I’m also in Michigan and by reading on here this car doesn’t sound too bad in the snow. We only have a handful of terrible days a year anyway. I would probably get a second set of wheels and snow tires but not too worried about that right now.

Should I just bite the bullet and daily drive this 160 miles a day? I’m currently searching for 2014-15 1LE in black, dark blue, burgundy, silver, white. I also don’t care about the recaros.

I should also mention I love not having to search and read through the ad and realize it’s an auto? 1LE only manual the way it should be.

[Dylan1214]

Stock tires handle like crap in the snow, I cant even get out of the driveway on my stock pirellis, you'd definitely need a nice set of winter wheels. Also 166 miles a day on heavily salted roads? That's 3,320 miles a month! Your gonna be seeing a lot of accelerated wear and corrosion. And while it is possible to put a car seat in the back its still difficult and gets real annoying after awhile. Plus your interior is gonna get all jacked up, My kids have pretty much destroyed my trucks rear interior, Formula/Juice gets spilled, Snacks and food gets smashed up and thrown all over the place.. In the end do what makes you happy, But Sound like a bad idea to me.

[Matty Ice]

I had the same philosophy as you and DD a 09 G8 w/ 19's and a 2013 1le in WI. I always kept the stock wheels on with UHPAS tires on it. Michelin A/S 3's then the BFG Comp 2 A/S. Also put 200lbs of sand bags in the trunk when the snow was coming, also I would throw a snow shovel in the back seat and a toilet bowl brush in the trunk. Need the brush to clean the barrel of the wheel of snow. I could drive in snow up to 3-4". The problem is the snow plow berms and getting high centered on them, not much clearance. Another problem is heat cycling of the the tires after two winters and a summer with 12-15,000 miles on them. Billy 10mm and I have experienced it, there is a couple of posts about it. If possible, I would suggest get some 20" reps in stock sizes put the BFG's A/S them and keep the OEM's with some sticky summer tires on them. Winters last too long with plenty of good days to waste driving around on dedicated snow tires. Good luck...

[J Rod]

Horrible idea IMO. I just drove 4 hours to Indianapolis and back the other night when we got hit with 6-8" of snow and it was scary enough in my lifted 4WD with 35" tires. I couldn't even imagine trying to do that in my car, that's a deathwish. You already have your Z06, why do you need another "fun" car? Keep the truck, I guarantee you will regret getting rid of it.... especially after you've stuffed your kid(s) in the back seat of a Camaro a few times.

[96SS390]

I as well am looking at the same thought although my commute is only 30 miles a day and here in Pa we are lucky if we get a few snow storms a year. This being said I am always a huge advocate of a "winter beater". Generally speaking if someone can afford a 1LE I see no reason why they couldn't have a $2k 100K mile Corrolla on liability insurance to drive for those off days that you get bad weather. I have done that the last 2 years with my 06 GTO and plan to do so as I transition into a Camaro. BTW if your looking for another 06 GTO let me know as I am looking to fund a 1LE

[Chevyjk33]

Originally Posted by 96SS390

I as well am looking at the same thought although my commute is only 30 miles a day and here in Pa we are lucky if we get a few snow storms a year. This being said I am always a huge advocate of a "winter beater". Generally speaking if someone can afford a 1LE I see no reason why they couldn't have a $2k 100K mile Corrolla on liability insurance to drive for those off days that you get bad weather. I have done that the last 2 years with my 06 GTO and plan to do so as I transition into a Camaro. BTW if your looking for another 06 GTO let me know as I am looking to fund a 1LE

This. In all fairness, I don't have kids or daily drive mine. However, I know its a total PITA just trying to get in the back to clean it. I couldn't imagine tossing a car seat in and twisting back there to secure them. I'm sure it could be done, but it won't be fun.

As for winter driving, I would agree with the reply that its probably doable up to about 3in of snow. After that, every slush pile is going to hang you up. If you can swing a winter beater for the rough stuff, I'd go that route.

Now I will say that I have a good friend with a C5Z06 and my wife has a base C5. The C5Z's lightweight makes it much more spry and it can outrun me down the strip. However, I find the interior of my 1LE more liveable and agree the Gen 5 does it more for me looks-wise than the Gen 6.

[Etec225]

Your absolutely right. the 1le pack takes the soft ss and brings it up to where I think all ss camaros should all should have come as standard. I have a 2015 ss 1le and have put 7,000 miles on it I bought it with 20,000. Its by far the best car I've driven for the money. I realy don't have many complaints.

The only things that bug me are the standard 5gen camaro problems just do a google search and you will find what Im talking about. Its mostly just little stuff. mechanically the thing is dead reliable.

Expect to get 5,000 or less on the goodyear tires and forget about rain or snow driving. its scary Ive done both. the goodyears start to hydroplane around 40 mph. Expect to get 20,000 out of the rotors and 5,000-10,000 on the pads. I would not recommend as a daily. The front ground clearance is poor 3-4 inches. any snow deeper than that and you are going nowhere. driveways and entrance ways can be a challenge too.

The ride isn't too bad however its not smooth. My friend who drives a lowered golf gti said that its probably the worst riding stock car hes been in. however I think its better than my dads stock WRX STI. The paint is also an area of concern Expect excessive rock chips with bad weather. The tires are so sticky that they send up a rock storm at any speed and the front fascia is susceptible to rock chips form other cars.

With all that I still absolutely love my 1le I smile every time I drive it. it is impossible to be in a bad mood when you are driving it. The exhaust and the manual transition are exceptional. I don't plan on getting rid of mine for any reason. You will be happy with it of you decide to go with one just buy a beater to go with it.

[96SS390]

Originally Posted by Etec225

Your absolutely right. the 1le pack takes the soft ss and brings it up to where I think all ss camaros should all should have come as standard. I have a 2015 ss 1le and have put 7,000 miles on it I bought it with 20,000. Its by far the best car I've driven for the money. I realy don't have many complaints.

The only things that bug me are the standard 5gen camaro problems just do a google search and you will find what Im talking about. Its mostly just little stuff. mechanically the thing is dead reliable.

Expect to get 5,000 or less on the goodyear tires and forget about rain or snow driving. its scary Ive done both. the goodyears start to hydroplane around 40 mph. Expect to get 20,000 out of the rotors and 5,000-10,000 on the pads. I would not recommend as a daily. The front ground clearance is poor 3-4 inches. any snow deeper than that and you are going nowhere. driveways and entrance ways can be a challenge too.

The ride isn't too bad however its not smooth. My friend who drives a lowered golf gti said that its probably the worst riding stock car hes been in. however I think its better than my dads stock WRX STI. The paint is also an area of concern Expect excessive rock chips with bad weather. The tires are so sticky that they send up a rock storm at any speed and the front fascia is susceptible to rock chips form other cars.

With all that I still absolutely love my 1le I smile every time I drive it. it is impossible to be in a bad mood when you are driving it. The exhaust and the manual transition are exceptional. I don't plan on getting rid of mine for any reason. You will be happy with it of you decide to go with one just buy a beater to go with it.

I see you are in Canton Ohio..you wouldn't be willing to show your car off at some point would you? I have been really interested in them for about a year now but can't seem to find one local enough to look at. I did yesterday locate one in St. Clairesville Oh (i.e. about 1 hour away from me) for sale but it had around 70k miles on it. It was a Red Rock too. That being said I have a friend in Canton that I could visit which would give me a second excuse versus just driving to St. Clairesville to look at a car I don't want to buy. If not not biggie but just figured I would ask.

Jared

[Etec225]

Originally Posted by 96SS390

I see you are in Canton Ohio..you wouldn't be willing to show your car off at some point would you? I have been really interested in them for about a year now but can't seem to find one local enough to look at. I did yesterday locate one in St. Clairesville Oh (i.e. about 1 hour away from me) for sale but it had around 70k miles on it. It was a Red Rock too. That being said I have a friend in Canton that I could visit which would give me a second excuse versus just driving to St. Clairesville to look at a car I don't want to buy. If not not biggie but just figured I would ask.

Jared

I wouldn't mind. Just need some decent weather first.

[wakespeak]

Get some stock SS aluminum wheels and put all season tires on it. Put the 1LE wheels/tires back on in the spring. Put 3m wrap on the nose. Otherwise enjoy.

It would probably cost more to buy a pickup, and then get 15mpg LOL.

[Dylan1214]

Originally Posted by wakespeak

Get some stock SS aluminum wheels and put all season tires on it. Put the 1LE wheels/tires back on in the spring. Put 3m wrap on the nose. Otherwise enjoy.

It would probably cost more to buy a pickup, and then get 15mpg LOL.

All seasons wouldn't cut it...We have over a foot and a half of snow right now...And 15 mpg? where are you getting ur facts lol

[wakespeak]

Originally Posted by Dylan1214

All seasons wouldn't cut it...We have over a foot and a half of snow right now...And 15 mpg? where are you getting ur facts lol

I have owned trucks for 20 years. 15mpg is pretty much the average no matter Ford, Land Rover, or Chevy. Maybe 17 if hwy only.

[Billy10mm]

I DD my 1LE. Wouldn't have it any other way. Yes, you can make it work. Life is too short to not drive something fun.