2013 Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE Instrumented Road Test

A new chapter in a heroic story.

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"The more things change, the more it's the same thing."

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr penned those words in 1849, but they seem relevant to this new go-faster package for the Camaro SS. Today's competition may come from all over the planet, but the Camaro team still focuses on Ford, where engineers busy themselves with Mustangs. It's been this way for decades and likely always will be.

The Camaro SS 1LE is the latest example. Like previous 1LE packages (see sidebar), it's designed to enhance the Camaro's cred as a track-day weapon. And predictably, it's a response to a Mustang—the modern Boss 302. This is a development program with a remarkably focused task: dialing the Camaro's handling into the neutral zone. This quest to reduce understeer is, admittedly, aimed at a tiny slice of the market.

"Two percent? One percent? We know it's not big," says Camaro boss Al Oppenheiser. "But we've had complaints from some owners that understeer is holding them back versus the Boss 302."

It's appropriate here to define the dynamic trait that Oppenheiser and company seek to reduce. In general terms, understeer is when a car's front tires lose grip before its rears. This limits the driver's ability to change a car's attitude—and caps ultimate cornering speed—by not taking full advantage of the lateral grip available in the rear. It's also less entertaining.

Thus the 1LE's lengthy anti-understeer inventory. The 1LE package, as in years past, is a production option code for the Camaro SS, not a specific model, and it gets some cost-saving benefits from the supercharged ZL1's development program. The 20-inch, forged-aluminum wheels, for example, are essentially the same, though the 1LE wheels have ten spokes and are finished in black. They're lighter than the standard SS wheels, reducing unsprung weight by 5.5 pounds per corner.

The rims are wide—10 inches—providing ample vertical support (minimizing sidewall flex) for the 285/35ZR-20 Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar G:2 tires. This is the same size rubber used on the front of the , and it differs from the staggered setup (245/45-20 front, 275/40-20 rear) on the standard SS Camaro: more footprint, lower profile.

A brace spans the front strut towers. The front anti-roll bar is 27 millimeters, and solid, as is the 28-millimeter bar at the rear. Monotube rear dampers replace the twin-tube SS units. Spring rates and suspension bushings carry over from the regular SS, but the 1LE's suspension is adjustable for camber and caster at the front, and camber-adjustable at the rear, something that can't be said for the Boss 302 and its solid rear axle.

The 1LE hard-parts inventory includes heavy-duty ZL1 wheel bearings, toe links, and rear shock mounts. Similarly, the halfshafts are heavier than the standard SS parts in anticipation of higher cornering loads. How high? We'll get to that.

Potent brakes are always useful in whittling lap times, and there's plenty of stopping power here, particularly up front, where 14.0-inch vented rotors are squeezed by four-piston, aluminum Brembo calipers. The rear rotors are 14.4 inches, also vented. The system delivers raceworthy pedal feel, easily modulated. The anti-lock threshold is high, at least on dry pavement, precisely what the driver ordered for optimum track performance.

Power is delivered by GM's 6.2-liter LS3 V-8, an aluminumblock unit with cast-in iron cylinder liners and aluminum heads. Chevy has added a vacuum-operated dual-mode exhaust system option ($895) to LS3-equipped Camaros with manual transmissions. There's no fuel-economy benefit, but for anyone who revels in the power pulses of a big ol' American V-8, the system delivers more aural gratification than premium audio.

Thus equipped, the 1LE is no stronger than a regular SS—the LS3 produces 426 hp at 5,900 rpm and 420 lb-ft of torque at 4,600—but the engine is more than healthy enough, and the car never wants for grunt. Granted, the Boss 302's 7,500-rpm, 444-hp, 5.0-liter feels more track-ready in character (the Ford engine virtually begs you to spend all of your time at high rpm), but as you'd expect of larger displacement, the LS3 delivers more grunt—and enjoys a peak rating 40 lb-ft higher.

The LS3 sends its thrust to a limited-slip rear differential via a precise Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual transmission (there's no automatic option), a robust box designed to absorb big-time torque. There are distinctions: The 1LE box features closer ratios, and it's paired to a shorter final drive, at 3.91:1 versus the SS's 3.45:1.

Chevrolet lists SS curb weight as 3,860 pounds. Our test car weighed 3,878, 200-plus pounds heavier than a Boss 302. Weight is the enemy in all vehicle dynamics, including acceleration; the 1LE sprinted to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds and hit the 440-yard mark in 13.1 seconds at 109 mph. That ain't slow, but the Boss 302 is over a half second quicker to 60 and runs consistent sub-13-second quarter miles. On the other hand, the 1LE hooks up nicely from a standing start, and its pilot doesn't have to worry about the axle tramp that frequently plagues the solid-axle Ford.

And while it's an unlikely consideration for a car such as this, the 1LE escapes a gas-guzzler tax with EPA ratings of 16 mpg city and 24 highway. (Side note: If you do not buy a 1LE because it's too thirsty, you are officially a horrible person.)

But cornering, as in racetracks, is what the 1LE exercise is all about. Can we report the mission accomplished, understeer banished, neutrality achieved?

Our road-test chief, Robin Warner, rates the Boss 302 as livelier and more agile in its transient responses, citing a lighter feel overall—which makes sense, as the Boss is substantially lighter. Moreover, that dreaded word—"understeer"—appears in his instrumented 1LE test-track report, albeit mitigated by the word "mild."

Still, lapping GingerMan Raceway showed us that while the 1LE package doesn't exactly deliver balanced-on-a-pinpoint responses, the tail will come 'round with some throttle or a little trail braking. The stability-control system's threshold is high, and the system goes to competition mode with two clicks of the on/off switch. Holding the button down for nine seconds will shut the system down completely, although our limited GingerMan experience prevented that level of bravery.

Like many of today's new cars, the Camaro is equipped with electrically assisted power steering. Unlike many, this system delivers plenty of tactile info to the driver and is exceptionally quick, just 2.5 turns lock-to-lock.

In addition to improved turn-in and transient response, the 1LE setup delivers serious grip. The Camaro team forecast 1.0 lateral g, a rarefied level for a street car. We didn't quite achieve that magic number, but the 0.99g we did see is competitive against the 1.02g we managed on the skidpad with a Boss 302 Laguna Seca. It's the sort of grip that inspires confidence in hold-your-breath fast corners, like Road America's Kink or the uphill esses at Virginia International Raceway. Speaking of which, a Camaro crew took a 1LE to VIR, where development engineer Aaron Link lapped the 4.2-mile Grand Course in 2:58.3. No matter how you slice it, that's moving.

All in all, an impressive dynamic package, and all the more impressive for its everyday driveability. In this the 1LE differs from its 1988 predecessor; some things don't stay the same. The original 1LE setup was as stiff as a trestle. The latter-day version is no Beautyrest, but there's enough compliance that nasty patchwork pavement won't leave you feeling mugged. It's also a little noisy inside, even if you do like the thunder of the LS3's eight pots.

Besides the wheels, the 1LE's major visual distinctions are its matte black hood, front splitter, and rear decklid spoiler. The last two are more than mere cosmetics, according to Chevrolet, reducing high-speed lift. Beyond that, there's the revisionist retro styling of all current Camaros. The machine-gun-pillbox greenhouse turns the interior into a dim cave, but there's no denying the deliciously wicked look it offers.

The inner 1LE tends toward the spartan. On one hand, the seats are cloth, though they deliver very good lateral support with power adjustability. Then again, the steering column adjusts for rake and reach, and the flat-bottom wheel, borrowed from the ZL1, is fat and grippy. Didn't have any of that in the 1988 to 1989 1LE, or power windows, either.

But the 1LE isn't about relaxed hedonism. It's about the serious business of going faster in corners. To that end, Chevrolet has already homologated the 1LE package with the Sports Car Club of America for competition in the T2 roadracing class, essentially a Showroom Stock category that includes the Porsche 911 and Boxster S, the Nissan 370Z, and the Cadillac CTS-V.

To face off against them—and, of course, the Boss—will cost you $3,500 on top of the SS coupe. Considering the content, it's a bargain, although it makes for a pretty expensive Camaro—$37,930 in the case of our test car, including the dualmode exhaust and a $900 destination charge. But as go-faster options go, this one goes way better than most.


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