On this episode of Ignition
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:00 Behind me is a yellow Camaro with a black hood.
00:03 Why?
00:04 Well, it's fitted with something called the 1LE package, which
00:07 costs $3,500 and doesn't give you any power increase.
00:11 That might be OK, considering we still have 426 horsepower.
00:15 No, this package intends to turn the Camaro SS
00:18 into a track day hero.
00:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:22 [ENGINE REVVING]
00:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:28 Launching the 1LE.
00:41 Well, we don't have really any launch control.
00:43 We don't have any computer aid or anything.
00:44 We've just got traction control off, a lot of horsepower,
00:47 and two rear wheels.
00:48 I'm going to dial in about 2,000 RPM
00:50 and then release the clutch.
00:52 [TIRES SQUEALING]
00:53 That's going to get some wheel spin out of the hole.
00:54 It's going to hook.
00:56 And away we go.
00:57 Grab second, a little bit of spin into second.
00:59 You'll hit 60 in 4.2 seconds.
01:01 [ENGINE REVVING]
01:05 A nice V8 soundtrack the whole way.
01:07 The quarter mile, 12.7 seconds at 111.8 miles an hour.
01:12 [ENGINE REVVING]
01:17 And for a 60 to 0 braking test, very impressive
01:22 stock in power, 101 feet from 60 miles an hour.
01:25 [ENGINE REVVING]
01:28 Well, the Camaro 1LE remains a very big and a very heavy car.
01:36 But Chevy's figured out how to make it dance.
01:39 While the stock SS, or the standard SS,
01:43 has a lot of understeer in it, this
01:45 gives you a lot of control with the throttle.
01:47 [TIRES SQUEALING]
01:50 It seems to push, ultimately, when you ask it, a lot of it.
01:54 But that might be OK.
01:55 It's kind of a gentle push.
01:58 And you can easily fix it with a little bit of throttle control.
02:03 Just goes to oversteer really controllably.
02:08 A lot happening in this car.
02:10 It takes some muscle to drive it, as it should.
02:13 I mean, it's a Camaro.
02:14 It's a muscle car for crying out loud.
02:16 But it will go to a power slide like that really easily.
02:20 I like it.
02:24 This car, then, is very fast.
02:39 But let's give those performance numbers some context.
02:41 Versus the Camaro SS, this car in a straight line
02:44 is half a second, or just under half a second,
02:46 faster to 60 miles an hour and the quarter mile.
02:50 As far as figure 8 lap time is concerned,
02:52 this put down a lap time just off the pace
02:55 of the much more powerful Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.
02:59 Not only that, but its lateral G average
03:01 was identical to the Camaro ZL1.
03:05 This is a very sticky car.
03:08 That's attributable to the tires and wheels that it's wearing.
03:11 They're 10 inches wide in the front
03:13 and 11 inches wide in the rear.
03:15 We have the same front tires that you
03:17 get on the ZL1, the same size at all four corners.
03:20 They're Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar,
03:23 something, something, something or other.
03:25 And they are very, very sticky.
03:27 And what I love is from the outside,
03:30 when you look at this car, you see the tires poke out
03:33 from the fenders like this is some sort of freak autocross
03:36 machine.
03:38 The 1LE package looks the part.
03:40 But it's extremely functional, too.
03:43 My biggest complaint with the standard Camaro SS
03:45 was that it had this underlenting, never-ending
03:48 understeer.
03:48 It was just painful.
03:49 It was safe, very, very safe, but painful.
03:53 With the 1LE package, it basically
03:55 removes all that understeer.
03:57 And it gives you a sharper handling, more controllable car.
04:01 It does still slightly push on the limit
04:03 when you're asking a lot from the front tires.
04:06 But that's right at the vehicle's limit.
04:08 And if you ask for a little throttle,
04:10 it'll go right into a slide that's pretty quick.
04:12 So I actually admire the push that it has.
04:15 It makes a car easy to drive, but still
04:18 very fast and very capable.
04:20 One of the other bits that this car is wearing--
04:22 it's new for Camaro this year--
04:24 is what Chevy calls dual-mode exhaust.
04:27 And what that means is it has a loud exhaust
04:29 when you're on the throttle, but a quiet one
04:31 when you're off the throttle.
04:32 There's little flaps in the mufflers that open up
04:35 and give you the full, raspy V8 growl that you want.
04:38 The feature started on the Corvette,
04:40 but I'm glad it's trickling down because this engine sounds
04:43 sweet.
04:44 [ENGINE REVVING]
04:47 I've already lapped this car quite a bit,
04:56 and I enjoy it a lot.
04:58 But what about a seasoned racing driver?
05:00 What would they think about this car?
05:02 I wonder who could drive it.
05:04 [ENGINE REVVING]
05:09 We're doing lap five in the Camaro 1LE.
05:12 It's got the 420-horse V8.
05:15 It pulls really well on the straightaways.
05:17 It's a broad power band.
05:19 Immediately, I notice the shocks have a lot of damping.
05:23 This Camaro is very well-controlled in the corners
05:27 on the racetrack here at Streets of Willow.
05:30 In the brake zone, I like the feel.
05:34 Good, firm pedal.
05:36 Effective ABS.
05:39 Lots of tire grip.
05:41 The Camaro is definitely at home on the racetrack.
05:46 Minimal body roll, well-controlled for what
05:49 is essentially a street car.
05:51 It behaves very well as a race car.
05:56 I'd race this Camaro right now, frankly.
05:59 Down into the bowl, the steering is effective.
06:03 This is the best balanced Camaro yet.
06:08 Running through the gears, I like the shifter,
06:09 but you can't rush it.
06:12 Into the fast kink.
06:13 It's pretty hairy through here.
06:15 Bumpy.
06:18 Camaro does an amazing job of controlling
06:21 those vertical body motions.
06:25 Good, broad power band.
06:27 Second gear is working in the tight corners.
06:30 Steering response is fantastic.
06:32 Onto the front straight.
06:35 We're second gear, putting down the power.
06:36 Really effective car.
06:45 The best handling Camaro yet.
06:46 The 1LE package improves the Camaro
06:55 in every dynamic measurement we have.
06:57 But crucially, it makes the car much more enjoyable
07:00 from behind the wheel.
07:02 Where the heavy chassis and hard to see out
07:04 of nature of the cabin makes the standard SS
07:06 feel unwieldy when you start pushing it,
07:09 the 1LE upgrades give the Camaro a needed sense
07:11 of control and finesse.
07:14 Simply, Chevy's made this platform work.
07:17 With this package, they've made the Camaro
07:18 into something better than burnouts and dramatic styling.
07:22 And at $3,500, the 1LE package costs worth every penny.
07:26 (upbeat music)
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07:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]