Chevrolet Camaro 1LE first drive: Another shot fired in the Mustang/Camaro wars

[Playboy™]

The Camaro ZL1 just lapped the Nurburgring in 7:29.6, but it costs $62,135. Who has that kind of coin? Not us. However, for a more reasonable and far-less-likely-to-get-you-divorced $44,400, you can get a V8-powered Camaro SS with the 1LE performance package on it and be darn near as quick. Or, for the first time ever, for an even more reasonable $32,895, you can get a V6-powered Camaro 1LS with the 1LE package and also have a whole bunch of fun.

As Chevy marketing manager Todd Christensen said of this splendid selection, “Who doesn’t like kick-ass performance cars?” Exactly! The 1LE first rolled into showrooms in 1988 “to make the Camaro more competitive in showroom stock road racing series.” We actually remember that. Maybe you do, too. Over the years, the 1LE package has been steadily improved and now comes with a formidable list of features.

The 335-hp 3.6-liter V6 model, mated to a six-speed manual, starts with FE3 suspension components including stiffer rear shocks, rear cradle mounts, ball-jointed rear toe links and 1LE-specific stabilizer bars. Wheels are 20-inch forged aluminum wrapped in Goodyear Eagle F1s, 245/40-R20s front and 275/35-R20s rear stopped by Brembo calipers with four pistons in front. A mechanical limited-slip differential with a 3.27:1 ratio rides out back. Inside is a grippy suede steering wheel and an amazingly short-throw shifter. Both versions of the 1LE sport a “satin black hood” with vents in the V8 version.

The 6.2-liter 455-hp V8-powered Camaro SS 1LE rides on an FE4 suspension with magnetic ride dampers tuned specifically for the Camaro, as were the springs and stabilizer bars. The Goodyears are stickier and much bigger on this car, at 285/30Z-R20 front and 305/30Z-R20 rear, wrapping unique forged aluminum wheels. The Brembos are six-piston in front grabbing 370mm front discs. In back is an electronically controlled limited slip differential. It also gets the suede-wrappped wheel and short-throw shifter controlling a six-speed manual, but Recaro seats are standard in the V8 while optional in the V6.

It’s pretty darn thrilling. Our first lap was about 100 miles of wide-open Nevada desert, the kind of place where you can see just about over the horizon so you have a couple minutes’ warning if anyone’s coming and, if so, whether they have a light bar on top of the car. At triple-digit speeds, both the V6 and V8 1LEs are as stable as GM stock after a recession. Suspension inputs go up exponentially with speed, yet at great speeds the inputs still don’t upset the car or the driver. You won’t even notice the speedometer sailing past 100 mph, nor 120, nor even 140 (OK, at 140 you notice). Top speed on the V6 is 155 mph; it’s 186 mph on the V8. But at faster or slower speeds, the car doesn’t beat you up at all. In fact, it’s just about as pleasant as a stock Camaro.

“We’re really gearing this toward weekend track use,” said chief engineer Al Oppenheiser. “But it’s a nice daily driver, as well.”

For track use, we had no less a circuit than Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in beautiful Pahrump, Nevada, an hour west and about a century behind Las Vegas. We were using a sort of middle loop configuration that was a lot flatter than some of the more exciting course options at that circuit. We did not do the big hill on the west end, for instance, nor did we get to try that inside-curving, on-camber, carousel-like swooper dug down into the middle of the track -- it had been coned off. Maybe it was a good idea not to send car writer hacks out with 455 hp on a big whoop-dee-doo like that hill thing -– a few of us might have just sailed off into the desert never to be seen again. But the swooper we would have liked. We did get a long straight and a couple of less-than-90-degree folds that gave the brakes a workout.

On each lapping session, we clicked the console-mounted switch down two (or was it three?) times to get into track mode, which stiffened things up on the V8’s magnetorheological shocks and quickened steering and throttle response on both models. The V8 has automatic rev-matching that makes laps far less complicated. Who besides Jackie Stewart really knows how to heel-and-toe, anyway? OK, you do, but you’re a cool professional. It's fun downshifting to the auto-rev-matching function, but upshifts are also amazing –- the short-throw shifter really is short, and shifts bang off about as quickly as any manual on the market, maybe the quickest. The suede wheel is wonderfully grippy, and the Recaro seats hold you in place like a desperate girlfriend (or boyfriend or whatever), albeit without the commitment issues.

Acceleration is brutally quick with the V8. Chevy says 0-60 comes up in 4.2 seconds for the 3,747-pound V8 and 5.2 for the 3,490-pound V6. The electronic limited-slip diff on the V8 isn’t as helpful as it could have been with traction control still on, since TC keeps gently withholding throttle if you over-gas it exiting corners. Take the TC off and you’ll really become a better driver, eventually.

While the lighter weight of the V6 model might have made that car feel more nimble in corners, we found we preferred the greater power and rev-matching downshifts of the V8. Not necessarily a surprise there, but oftentimes we find we like the more tossable smaller-engined versions of sporty cars, at least on tight racetracks like this one. Here we liked the V8, especially on the straightaway, where the car bumped up against 120 mph before we had to downshift into third for the right-hander. The Goodyears are superb, letting you slip just a little bit powering out of corners but never getting close to letting go. We didn’t want to let go of the car, either, but finally we had to.

What kind of red-blooded American are you, anyway? Of course you want it! While a ZL1 might be cost-prohibitive and a little less comfortable to drive to work, you could get a 1LE and be happy all week and even happier on the weekends. Or, if cash flow is a little short this quarter, you could even buy whichever of the 1LE parts you want directly from the GM Performance Parts Catalog. For instance, the 1LE Track Pack has that car’s sway bars, links, joints and shocks for $1,500. Build your own track car!

On the track that day, we also got to try out a 435-hp Ford Mustang GT with six-speed manual trans and a 425-hp BMW M4. Now, we know there are rabid fans in all of those camps and we will solve the problems in the Middle East before we settle the Ford/Chevy wars. But between the 1LE Camaro and the Mustang GT we’d have to give the edge to the 1LE, at least when comparing the V8-powered Camaro SS 1LE to the 5.0-liter Ti-VCT V8-powered Mustang GT. Yes, yes, the GT350 and GT350R would be faster around the track, maybe, but we didn’t drive those back to back like we did the GT. Maybe we should have. But the Camaro 1LE suspension felt a little -- just a little, mind you -- better tied together, and it had faster shifts and smoother downshifts from the trans, even the non-rev-matching V6s.