I figure I'll chime in here on something closely related as one of my best friends bought a 2013 ZL1 6MT this past weekend and on the day he bought it, he turned the keys over to me to test it out.
I'll be 100% up front - I have never driven a car with this much power. Until this point, a Corvette C6 Z06 (stock) was the most powerful car I had ever driven. The ZL1 puts down 580hp or so.
The ZL1 had very nice appointments compared to the SS I had driven before (2010 1SS). Some alcantara (or something like it) on the dash, leather/alcantara seats, butt-warmers, etc. A nicely finished interior (for a GM - must caveat that. They are only a couple notches above Subaru for interior appointments on average, unless you get a higher end model like a ZL1 or something from Cadillac). My only gripe about the car is the placement of the oil temp/pressure/voltage gauges. They're in a completely irrelevant spot in the car (in front of the shifter) rather than the more sensible placement of the triple gauges in the Z (line of sight on the dash).
Visibility is just awkward on the current-gen Camaro. Front, rear, side... all of it. I feel like a three year old at his first dinner at the dinner table without a booster seat. The Camaro is a pretty big car, but its interior setup capped off by the visibility makes it feel bigger than it is. The Z absolutely trumps it on forward and side visibility with the rear visibility being a wash, yet easier to work with because the Z has less rear size to it than the Camaro.
Performance wise - the power of the ZL1 is absolutely intoxicating. I broke it loose in 3rd gear at 40 mph at about 3/4 throttle. With it being not my car, I never got into an area of comfort that allowed me to go WOT at all. I found out all I needed to find out - this thing hauls *** without question. It's very planted at speed and it's pretty tight overall suspension wise. It's quieter than the Z by a good bit too, yet the sound of the supercharged V8 under load is pretty damn emasculating. As a daily driver, I can see why many people are attracted to the pony cars and less attracted to something like a Z. The pony cars represent a form of brute force while cars like the Z, Miata, and Cayman represent finesse to me.
At the end of the day, with all the extra space, power, and performance, I still feel more comfortable in the Z. The Z is a raw sports car through and through and I feel it offers an experience you can't get in a lot of other vehicles. The visibility is there where it matters, the grip is there in spades compared to the Camaro (even with my OE tires near end of life and the ZL1 I drove had just 2000 miles on them), and there's plenty of power to have fun with, whereas the ZL1 is just indulgence in something borderline maniacal. Lots of fun, but emphasizes an area of fun that I don't appreciate as much as the fun offered in my nimble Z car.
Both are pretty nice cars, but the Z is just more my style. I fear though that drivers like me are of a growing minority and cars like the Z and Miata will only exist for the size of the cult following they create.
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