I would have liked to see it versus a GT350, non-R.
GT350R: 2:51.8
SS 1LE: 2:54.8
Lightning Lap 2016: The Year's Hottest Performance Cars at VIR! – Feature – Car and Driver
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pzz_E9fG88
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OcIXb_iemo
GT350R:
SS 1LE:
GT350R: 2:51.8
SS 1LE: 2:54.8
Lightning Lap 2016: The Year's Hottest Performance Cars at VIR! – Feature – Car and Driver
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pzz_E9fG88
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OcIXb_iemo
GT350R:
Class: LL2
Lap time: 2:51.8
Base price: $63,495
As-tested price: $66,495
526 hp • 3718 lb • 7.1 lb/hp
Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2
F: 305/30ZR-19 (98Y), R: 315/30ZR-19 (100Y)
So close. The Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R is less than a second slower than the Chevy Camaro Z/28 we lapped two years ago. But while the times are nearly identical, the experiences couldn’t be more different.
Next to the Z/28, which leaps over curbing and pounds the track into submission, the GT350R sops up the harsh stuff without upsetting the chassis or the driver. It’s 143 pounds lighter than the Z/28, its steering requires less muscle, and overall it comes across as more nimble and about three feet narrower. Ford’s high-revving DOHC 5.2-liter V-8 delivers torque more progressively and smoothly than the Chevy’s pushrod 7.0-liter small-block. On corner exits, it proves easier to get on the power sooner and harder without having to worry about overwhelming the rear tires.
But in Turn 1, the GT350 can’t match the Z/28’s grip, ceding a little bit of time to the Chevy. The Ford’s deficit grows in each subsequent sector, a couple of tenths here and there. The GT350 may be easier on the driver than the Z/28, but its Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires can’t match the grip of the Z/28’s Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R rubber. Unlike the Chevy Corvette Grand Sport’s Cup 2s, the Ford-spec Michelins seem to have more consistent grip from the first lap to the last, but they never deliver the race-rubber-like initial grip of the Vette’s tires, which tapers off after a couple of laps.
We’re still deeply in love with the GT350R. It’s a brilliant track car with a balanced chassis and inexhaustible brakes. We love that every time the throttle opens, it sounds as if a million tiny hammers were being fired into the exhaust. It might not have beaten the Z/28, but love isn’t always quantifiable.
SS 1LE:
Class: LL2
Lap time: 2:54.8
Base price: $44,400
As-tested price: $45,700
455 hp • 3743 lb • 8.2 lb/hp
Tires: Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3
F: 285/30ZR-20 (95Y), R: 305/30ZR-20 (99Y)
There’s nothing apparently exotic about a Chevy Camaro SS 1LE. It weighs 3743 pounds. It lacks carbon-ceramic brakes and a dual-clutch transmission. Carbon fiber? Not a strand. Turbos? Nope. A mid-engine V-8 that revs like a dentist drill? Not here. So what is this Camaro doing lapping right behind the Porsche Cayman GT4 and ahead of the Audi R8 V10 Plus?
It finds itself thusly positioned because, in the world of Camaros, the SS 1LE is indeed an exotic. The 1LE package brings magnetorheological dampers, stiffer springs and anti-roll bars, an electronically controlled limited-slip differential, big 14.6-inch front brakes with six-piston calipers, and forged aluminum wheels with Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3 rubber. Foreign supercars, beware; in Turn 1, the SS 1LE matches the 1.11 g’s of grip of the Ferrari 488GTB. In the uphill esses, the Camaro manages a higher average speed (121.6 mph) than the McLaren 570S.
The new Camaro behaves like the Z/28 we lapped two years ago, and most of its sector times are right on the heels of the Z/28’s, not to mention the cars in LL4 and LL5. It has the same supernatural grip and stability and the same super-accurate wheel control, but the 1LE isn’t as nervous as the Z/28. It doesn’t leap and skip over curbing as the Z/28 did, and in slow corners, such as Oak Tree and Bitch, the 1LE’s front end resists breaking free and just sticks. It’s only when the tires get hot and greasy that the Camaro will wag its tail or plow. Even then, it all happens in a progressive and nonthreatening manner.
Like the Cayman GT4, which is less than a second quicker, the SS 1LE lacks any bad dynamic habits. The body control, damping, brakes, and steering all feel right when the nose is aimed into the uphill esses at 129 mph. You’re left to curse the annoying sightlines and concentrate on quick shifts.
To look at the price, it’s clear the SS 1LE doesn’t know it’s not a bona fide exotic. We won’t tell if you won’t.