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GT350 vs 1LE

1LEThumper

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I don't know if anyone has posted about it but now owning both cars, for different reasons, I thought I would share my experiences with the two.

I will start off by saying they are optioned completely different so some parts are just due to that.

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The Shelby.

2016 GT350 Track Pack.

This is a second year car, when they were doing all the different, base, track, electronics, R, and R with A/C packages. Ordered to be setup as a track car it does not have navigation, or a lot of the features you would find on most of the 5.0 cars. It has all of the coolers, bigger sway bars, mag ride, strut tower brace and all of those goodies in it. It does have the Recaro seats as well.

This is still one of my absolute favorite cars to drive. For a four seat pony car it handles like a Vette, stops on a dime, little body roll, very responsive and the sound from the exhaust (even stock) is intoxicating to be around. Because of the seats, it wouldn't be that much fun as a daily because they are so deep and all of the controls are manual. Feels great once you are in it but you want to stay for a bit once you are there.

City driving. The splitter is a bit lower than the Camaro even though it doesn't seem to stick out as far (I haven't measured it from the axle center line) but it scrapes on everything. The drive way, bumps in the road, speed bumps, dips.....really have to watch what you are doing with it because of this. I was worried about the Camaro since the Shelby scraped going in the drive, but looking at them side by side...I see why.

Controls are nice and I really like having all of the mode selections on the wheel. Shock control, mode select, steering control....all are on the wheel and can be adjusted separately from the mode the car is actually in. The base radio is horrible and the little 3" screen for backup camera is a joke at best...but again if you don't have to worry about it on track..who cares.

Steering feel is right on point for a track car. It loves to follow ruts in the road so keep both hands on the wheel at all times.

Mileage is shit...I haven't ever seen better than 17.5mpg..if anyone cares.

I have had zero issues with the car since I ordered it new. Car doesn't use any oil, hasn't had a filter come off, or blown up after 6k miles or so of mixed use. Only mods are the Ford catch cans.

If you have the chance to drive one, take it for a spin...hell of a lot of fun but not something I would daily drive..nor did I intend to.


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The 1LE.

2020 2SS 1LE.

I bought the car to daily and that is what it will be used for. So far I can say I'm pretty darn happy with it. It is a more loaded car being a 2SS so it has a bit more comfort features that the Shelby doesn't have. Heated/cooled seats, better stereo, rear view cam, back up cam, memory recall, PDR.....

Seats, almost as supportive as the Shelby but not quite the same. Easier to get in and out of for sure. Cooling function is nice but unless you are in a t-shirt it doesn't seem like you can feel anything from it much coming out.

Info system. Colors, display, features...all very cool and look way more expensive than the setup in the Shelby. I like the fact you can setup a drive mode with it so long as you leave it in that mode but I miss not having a quick button on the dash to change say the ride if I have it in sport mode to a soft shock on a bad road quickly. To hard to go through the menu on the dash while driving. Features and display on the dash is nice. It would be cool to have a diff temp as well as a wide band factory like the Shelby.

Mileage...about the same in town as the Shelby, but highway is quite a bit better.

Sound....good, but not nearly as crazy as the Shelby. Sounds more like the muscle car it is.

TORQUE. The Shelby feels faster, and probably is slightly but the 1LE just doesn't care what gear its in and goes with out asking it to do much. For a daily this is nice as you don't have to go shifting all the time going through traffic, just throttle and go.

Brakes...while it might stop well on paper (haven't hit the track yet), it doesn't feel like it has the bite or pedal of the Shelby. If I had one disappointment it was here.

PDR...I love this thing. Why Ford didn't have this on the Shelby's I have no idea but I made sure I had to order this one on the 1LE.

Modes....this is one section I think Ford did a little better too. The Shelby radically changes how it feels and behaves in the different modes....the Camaro not so much. You can tell there is a different throttle map, and the suspension changes slightly...and the steering does a lot but over all it doesn't seem to really change that much.



In the end...I think they are very cool cars to have and to have either of these cars come right out of the factory like they are is amazing. If you are on the fence between either...go drive one of each and see what you think would fit your needs the best.
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Bulldogs22

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Thanks for the real world experience write up. I was between a 19 350, 1le, or ZL1 and ended up going with the 350 purely for the sound and balance. I love the fact it has a bespoke engine whereas the GM 6.2 is shared between everything.
 

Mjc1241

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Excellent write up. I was interested in the differences between the two and to have someone with that first-hand experience is, for me, the best perspective.
 

activeGT

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Hope you're ready for the flame-throwers.....:like:

Had a '16 SS and a '17 ZL1. Both fun cars to drive. And now the '18 Shelby. Another fun car to drive. But I agree, not a great DD. The 2 things I don't get. No PDR option and no power Recaros. But especially the Recaros.
 

FLETCshooter

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Isn’t the Camaro 1le faster around the track?
 

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I dig that dark green on the 1LE. I’ve write up!
 

FLETCshooter

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1LEThumper

1LEThumper

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Performance Data Recorder.
It has a HD camera in the rear view mirror that records video as well as full sound. You have a number of overlays you can use with the track map, gear position, throttle, brake, steering angle, car mode, distance, and friction circle.

It also allows you to download the car via free software from GM to display temps, pressures, lap times, splits....pretty freakin cool setup.

Google Corvette or Camaro PDR and the Cosworth tool box software and you can see some of it.
 

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JAJ

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Performance Data Recorder.
It has a HD camera in the rear view mirror that records video as well as full sound. You have a number of overlays you can use with the track map, gear position, throttle, brake, steering angle, car mode, distance, and friction circle.

It also allows you to download the car via free software from GM to display temps, pressures, lap times, splits....pretty freakin cool setup.

Google Corvette or Camaro PDR and the Cosworth tool box software and you can see some of it.
Aha! Thanks for the explanation - just hadn't seen that particular TLA before.
 

Scoobs

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City driving. The splitter is a bit lower than the Camaro even though it doesn't seem to stick out as far (I haven't measured it from the axle center line) but it scrapes on everything. The drive way, bumps in the road, speed bumps, dips.....really have to watch what you are doing with it because of this. I was worried about the Camaro since the Shelby scraped going in the drive, but looking at them side by side...I see why.
Judging from your picture it looks like the GT350 splitter is a good 2" lower than the Camaro splitter
 

1mic

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Side profile of the camaro look good, any pics of the front? Gotta be a reason no front or rear pics? Maybe include the gt350 front and rear pics for comparison like the side profile pics you have.

Just a thought.
 
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1LEThumper

1LEThumper

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Judging from your picture it looks like the GT350 splitter is a good 2" lower than the Camaro splitter
Yeah it is...I wondered why the 1LE never scraped going in the driveway but the Shelby almost always did. When I got them lined up for the pics, I know why. I think the 1LE sticks out further but it is a good 1-2” higher off the ground at that point than the Shelby.
 
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1LEThumper

1LEThumper

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Side profile of the camaro look good, any pics of the front? Gotta be a reason no front or rear pics? Maybe include the gt350 front and rear pics for comparison like the side profile pics you have.

Just a thought.
It was just me running back and forth between the house and the cars....and I didn’t want to block the street to get them side by side for those shots. I have pics of the Camaro I can upload and post tomorrow. Figured everyone on here knew what the Shelby looked like. If I can get some help I’ll try and get them over to a parking lot together for more side by side pics.

They cleaned the car up a good bit and fixed what I think was a mistake on the 2019 refresh with the black bar going across the bumper.
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