2013 Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE: Best Handling Camaro Ever! - Ignition Episode 48 - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

On this episode of Ignition

Transcript

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)

07:29 (upbeat music)

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07:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

2013 Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE: Best Handling Camaro Ever! - Ignition Episode 48

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