I was very privileged this past weekend to spend part of Thursday and Friday at Spring Mountain Resort and Country Club in Pahrump, Nevada driving the new Camaro ZL1 and Corvette ZR1 on their 1.5 mi. Radical Track, courtesy of GM and the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School.
I know there have been a few threads on this board questioning/speculating about comparisons between our V and the ZL1, so I thought I’d take a few moments and offer up my thoughts and impressions…
The car is an absolute blast to drive! I actually felt more at home in the ZL1 and enjoyed driving it more than the ZR1! Certainly, I felt the shifter in the ZL1 had a more positive, direct feel.
I was able to easily induce understeer going into turns, but that was as a result of my trying to see how far I could push it on entry before the nannies cut in. Not as much understeer as I thought, however... It was hard for me to induce oversteer on exit or entry - simply because I only got up to position 4 on the PTM and the computer still would not allow me to kick the ass end out on exit! Position 4 does allow for more of a "punch" though, when you boot it! I didn't get to 5 or turn everything off. (what for?!?)
Depending on the PTM position, it is VERY difficult to get the car out of sorts, so that being what it is, allows you to explore the limits of the car in a safe and gradual manner. Kudos to GM for including this amazing feature on a car at this price point!!
Interestingly enough, I found that it was easy to lose my focus on driving the track, since I did not have to worry about pushing the car so much that I'd put the wheels off! Not used to having that luxury! Definitely a great package!
The cars were in use all morning with perhaps a 5-10 min break every 15-20 min. while we swapped drivers. I didn't look at any temps, but there were no issues whatsoever that came up on the DIC on any of the cars during our sessions, which lasted until about 12:30 PM. No braking issues and nothing overheated. This is a testament as to how rugged the car is.
If I have any criticism at all, I'd like to be able to sit higher in the car while wearing a helmet – there’s a bit more headroom in our V’s and I felt that I had to compromise my driving position somewhat by sitting lower than what I would term ideal.
As well, given the handling ability of the car, there is lots of room for improvement in the level of support provided by the seats. My right knee kept shutting off the A/C on turns. I guess I’m spoiled by our Recaros.
Each session was a workout for me because I had to work not only at driving the car, but keeping myself in a reasonable seating position. Again, if had the Recaro seats, I'd be OK with that and the car would be easier to drive on the track.
Otherwise, I don't feel that I was able to really explore the upper limits of what this car is capable of, simply because of the fact that given the course, we were not able to hit speeds that one could attain on higher speed courses like VIR or Mosport. The good news is, I feel there are a lot of similarities between this car and my V, which is very easy to drive at 130 -140 mph. This car certainly is a lot more “visceral” than the V and is just a ton of fun! It's like the car is saying back at ya,
"I dare you..."
Gotta love the exhaust note with the flappers from the ‘Vet’s exhaust!
The capper at the end of the morning was that Ron Fellows took a few of us out individually in the ZL1 for some hot laps. That was a real eye-opener for me, as where I felt challenged trying to make the car do what I wanted, Ron was like an artist who played the car like an instrument! Experiencing what he could do with the car demonstrated the car's capabilities in a very clear light, even at the lower speeds on this track! Most impressive!
My overall conclusion is that this is one extremely capable car – and one helluva bargain at the price, given the performance parameters! It ain’t perfect yet, (just allow the seats to hold me in place better!) but I know Chevy ain’t done yet with this one!
Best regards,
Elie
I know there have been a few threads on this board questioning/speculating about comparisons between our V and the ZL1, so I thought I’d take a few moments and offer up my thoughts and impressions…
The car is an absolute blast to drive! I actually felt more at home in the ZL1 and enjoyed driving it more than the ZR1! Certainly, I felt the shifter in the ZL1 had a more positive, direct feel.
I was able to easily induce understeer going into turns, but that was as a result of my trying to see how far I could push it on entry before the nannies cut in. Not as much understeer as I thought, however... It was hard for me to induce oversteer on exit or entry - simply because I only got up to position 4 on the PTM and the computer still would not allow me to kick the ass end out on exit! Position 4 does allow for more of a "punch" though, when you boot it! I didn't get to 5 or turn everything off. (what for?!?)
Depending on the PTM position, it is VERY difficult to get the car out of sorts, so that being what it is, allows you to explore the limits of the car in a safe and gradual manner. Kudos to GM for including this amazing feature on a car at this price point!!
Interestingly enough, I found that it was easy to lose my focus on driving the track, since I did not have to worry about pushing the car so much that I'd put the wheels off! Not used to having that luxury! Definitely a great package!
The cars were in use all morning with perhaps a 5-10 min break every 15-20 min. while we swapped drivers. I didn't look at any temps, but there were no issues whatsoever that came up on the DIC on any of the cars during our sessions, which lasted until about 12:30 PM. No braking issues and nothing overheated. This is a testament as to how rugged the car is.
If I have any criticism at all, I'd like to be able to sit higher in the car while wearing a helmet – there’s a bit more headroom in our V’s and I felt that I had to compromise my driving position somewhat by sitting lower than what I would term ideal.
As well, given the handling ability of the car, there is lots of room for improvement in the level of support provided by the seats. My right knee kept shutting off the A/C on turns. I guess I’m spoiled by our Recaros.
Each session was a workout for me because I had to work not only at driving the car, but keeping myself in a reasonable seating position. Again, if had the Recaro seats, I'd be OK with that and the car would be easier to drive on the track.
Otherwise, I don't feel that I was able to really explore the upper limits of what this car is capable of, simply because of the fact that given the course, we were not able to hit speeds that one could attain on higher speed courses like VIR or Mosport. The good news is, I feel there are a lot of similarities between this car and my V, which is very easy to drive at 130 -140 mph. This car certainly is a lot more “visceral” than the V and is just a ton of fun! It's like the car is saying back at ya,
"I dare you..."
Gotta love the exhaust note with the flappers from the ‘Vet’s exhaust!
The capper at the end of the morning was that Ron Fellows took a few of us out individually in the ZL1 for some hot laps. That was a real eye-opener for me, as where I felt challenged trying to make the car do what I wanted, Ron was like an artist who played the car like an instrument! Experiencing what he could do with the car demonstrated the car's capabilities in a very clear light, even at the lower speeds on this track! Most impressive!
My overall conclusion is that this is one extremely capable car – and one helluva bargain at the price, given the performance parameters! It ain’t perfect yet, (just allow the seats to hold me in place better!) but I know Chevy ain’t done yet with this one!
Best regards,
Elie