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Anybody driven the 1LE Camaro?

MidwayJ

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The styling of the Camaro is mainly why I didn't consider it. I wish the gen 6 redesign had changed the body lines to look more like a modern version of the Camaros I grew up with in the 70s instead of retaining the look of the gen 5. Given the Camaro's superior handling, that would have likely tipped the scale for me to an SS 1le.
1978-chevrolet-camaro-z28.jpg
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newmoon

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I'm sure this site will be biased but I'm probably getting rid of my GT this week and I need another ride. I just can't get over the crap body shop worl from the previous owners accident.

Anyways prices are high for everything and I was thinking about a same gen whipple GT or spending much more on a c7 z51.

Then I started reading about the Camaro 1LE and it really seems to check mark all the boxes I wanted in a muscle car just like the mustang. I used to have a 2010 SS and it was a fun ride.

Anyone driven the 1LE? The 1LE and whipple GT are the same price
If you had a 2010 Camaro SS like I had you know it was a Boring Dog. Gutless, Lifeless. I knew I made a huge mistake purchasing it 15 mins out of the dealership. This being said the 2016+ Camaro SS are much improved in performance, powerband is nice, feels strong down low. Design I prefer the 14/15 Camaro updates much better.

I have driven both the new 1LE (not the A10) as well as the ZL1 multiple times. I would prefer the performance of the 1LE over the GT, but the looks/design would still keep me in a GT. I'd probably spend a bit more for an A10 Mach 1 at this point, you are getting the performance of the 1LE in a very visually appealing package and the uniqueness of a Mach 1.
 

Meatball

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The styling of the Camaro is mainly why I didn't consider it. I wish the gen 6 redesign had changed the body lines to look more like a modern version of the Camaros I grew up with in the 70s instead of retaining the look of the gen 5. Given the Camaro's superior handling, that would have likely tipped the scale for me to an SS 1le.
1978-chevrolet-camaro-z28.jpg
For me it was the cost for an SS (the LT1 model wasn’t out yet in dec 2017), not saying I would have bought it but would have considered it. Happy I got what I got though…now a supercharged coyote for the total cost of a decently equipped SS. Pump gas, nice driving, decently reliable car with ~50% better power-to-weight ratio.

but I totally agree with you….man Chevy should have styled the gen6 after the gen2. I think they would have sold much, much better.
 

martinjlm

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....

The new Camaro will be all electric and have a 300 + mile trip range before a 4-6 hour recharge at 220V (your garage). On long trips using a DC Fast Charger you can replenish at a rate of 76 miles / 10 minutes when the battery is between 20% and 80% charge level.
Fixed a couple things. 😉
 

Hack

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I think the Camaro decline is largely due to unfortunate styling choices. There seems to be a lot of that going on at Chevrolet lately. They should have allowed GM Australia to do all of their styling.
For me it's more ergonomics than styling.

The Alpha platform is a superior chassis to the current Mustang. I still prefer my Mustang.
The Camaro uses aluminum bracing whereas the Mustang is all steel. Superior - maybe. It probably costs GM more to make, so I guess it's superior in that way. But it doesn't move the performance needle enough to make a difference.

It's just more of the same. Sure, the engine is a bit different (more TQ, less revs, totally different "feel"), a few chassis differences (Alpha, blah blah blah), but if you park them next to each other and squint, it's about the same: a V8, RWD, 2-door coupe (even with the same general silhouette the Mustang looks +much+ better).

I'd do the way_more_different_ thing and get the C7.
I agree they are similar Mustang and Camaro. OP should drive both to decide. It comes down to taste. Most people seem to prefer Mustang based on sales. However, the Camaro definitely has its good points.

Corvettes are good street machines as well. If they had another 1" or more of headroom I'd probably still own one.
 

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ALUSA

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If you had a 2010 Camaro SS like I had you know it was a Boring Dog. Gutless, Lifeless. I knew I made a huge mistake purchasing it 15 mins out of the dealership. This being said the 2016+ Camaro SS are much improved in performance, powerband is nice, feels strong down low. Design I prefer the 14/15 Camaro updates much better.

I have driven both the new 1LE (not the A10) as well as the ZL1 multiple times. I would prefer the performance of the 1LE over the GT, but the looks/design would still keep me in a GT. I'd probably spend a bit more for an A10 Mach 1 at this point, you are getting the performance of the 1LE in a very visually appealing package and the uniqueness of a Mach 1.
Don’t know about the auto but manual vs manual the 1LE should feel faster. Mach 1 is around 3900 lbs while 1SS 1LE is around 3740 lbs with more low end torque.
 

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I have driven both the new 1LE (not the A10) as well as the ZL1 multiple times. I would prefer the performance of the 1LE over the GT, but the looks/design would still keep me in a GT. I'd probably spend a bit more for an A10 Mach 1 at this point, you are getting the performance of the 1LE in a very visually appealing package and the uniqueness of a Mach 1.
Would you drop another $10G over the M1 (A10) and get a ZL1 (A10)? That's something I'm debating.
 

Hack

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Would you drop another $10G over the M1 (A10) and get a ZL1 (A10)? That's something I'm debating.
IMO to make this decision you should look at used ZL1s and see how well they retain their value. Are they like a Shelby? If they hold a lot more value than the lower models, that would be a good reason to go that way.
 

shogun32

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The ZL1 I would describe as a 'traction' motor, effortless torque everywhere. No it won't rip the car away from you at least in my albeit limited seat time. SC mustangs strike me as unruly and uncontrollable power for power's sake - it's only good for straight line and crowd plowing afterall. Ditto the HC was just excessive to the point of uselessness.
 

TTown

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The ZL1 I would describe as a 'traction' motor, effortless torque everywhere. No it won't rip the car away from you at least in my albeit limited seat time. SC mustangs strike me as unruly and uncontrollable power for power's sake - it's only good for straight line and crowd plowing afterall. Ditto the HC was just excessive to the point of uselessness.
I'm considering foregiong my M1 order for a '22 ZL1. Not sure yet. I did take a 2017 ZL1 for a short drive a while back and was extremely impressed with the get up and go. Not enough seat time at all though to really appreciate it, or the driving dynamics. When I gave it more throttle when I was alreay moving along I think the back-end did a little shimmie dance, but it seemed stable and able to reign itself in. So, that probably goes to your HC comment of being too unruly.
 

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Hack

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The ZL1 I would describe as a 'traction' motor, effortless torque everywhere. No it won't rip the car away from you at least in my albeit limited seat time. SC mustangs strike me as unruly and uncontrollable power for power's sake - it's only good for straight line and crowd plowing afterall. Ditto the HC was just excessive to the point of uselessness.
I'm trying to understand what you are saying here, because it doesn't quite make sense to me. The ZL1 does come with wide and very sticky tires, but there's nothing magical that adds traction to Camaro and takes it away from other cars. I get if you're comparing a 305 section tire with 200 tread wear to a 275 section tire with 300+ tread wear, you will notice the difference.

And all cars have a throttle pedal that has multiple positions between no throttle and full throttle. So my assumption is that if the tires spin at a certain throttle position, you immediately tried reducing the amount of throttle.

Are you saying that the Mustang and Hellcat produce so much more power that they are useless even at 1/4 throttle or less, but the ZL1 you can floor it and it never produces too much power? I would have thought the ZL1 was closer in power level to those other cars. Did you have the traction control systems on or off in the ZL1 when you drove it?
 

shogun32

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I'm trying to understand what you are saying here, because it doesn't quite make sense to me.
admittedly comparing cars shod with OE tires is somewhat silly.

The HC was a wide-body auto so should have been reasonably on-par with the ZL1. It just seemed to me that the ZL1 power curve was driver/tire friendly and the HC while still being linear just blew right thru the available traction even when not trying to deliberately provoke it. Maybe it was all just down to the TC/ECU dealing better/worse with the environment. Yes the HC had more, but also required more driver modulation to keep it all going forward in a productive fashion.
 
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Strokerswild

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….man Chevy should have styled the gen6 after the gen2. I think they would have sold much, much better.
Yes. Specifically, the '70-'73 split bumper cars...
 

Davy_Baby9

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Would you drop another $10G over the M1 (A10) and get a ZL1 (A10)? That's something I'm debating.
I’m having a similar debate with the Mach 1 and 1LE. There’s a good 12k difference in price with similar options. I prefer the exterior looks of the mustang but love the driving experience interior quality of the camaro. Definitely not worth that 12k more imo. I could option a GT to similar price but then it’s not close to the options and capabilities of the camaro.

And with 2022 maybe being the last year of the camaro it would be cool to own the last year (at least ICE model) of it.
 

Meatball

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admittedly comparing cars shod with OE tires is somewhat silly.

The HC was a wide-body auto so should have been reasonably on-par with the ZL1. It just seemed to me that the ZL1 power curve was driver/tire friendly and the HC while still being linear just blew right thru the available traction even when not trying to deliberately provoke it. Maybe it was all just down to the TC/ECU dealing better/worse with the environment. Yes the HC had more, but also required more driver modulation to keep it all going forward in a productive fashion.
The ZL1 seems to do well (not necessarily win) against cars with better power to weight ratios in drag races, presumably since it launches better. Car and driver did a comparo and the ZL1 beat the red eye by 0.1s and lost to the ‘20 GT500 by 0.1 in the quarter, but they were catching up/passing quickly by 8 and 4 mph. The ZL1 is a monster from a dig.
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