New rules/Camaro 1le

[jpvette]

Looking at the the new street ruleset (ie) +or- 1" wheel diameter, adjustable coilovers if I understand correctly. Does anybody think a Camaro would be competitive. RS3's are available in stock 20" size and all the other boats will also be on street tires. I am just looking at some car options for 2014. The 1le package is sweet!

[John Brown]

Looking at the the new street ruleset (ie) +or- 1" wheel diameter, adjustable coilovers if I understand correctly. Does anybody think a Camaro would be competitive. RS3's are available in stock 20" size and all the other boats will also be on street tires. I am just looking at some car options for 2014. The 1le package is sweet!

really ??
I think all measures have to be stock measurements.. correct? I had coil overs on my BS Boxster but I had to use the perches from the stock shocks.. PITA

[jpvette]

I believe the april or may fastrack rule proposals show the coilovers same as what touring is now, section 13 and 14 seem to be blended together. Hence the " if I understand correctly" part.
It talks about a plus or minus of 1" on shocks.

[John Brown]

wow.. maybe I need to read this closely... That's a whole new spin on Street Classes.. I mean, at that ruleset.. we have basically a bunch of new ST classes.
right? (Im talkin to you rule readers,as eva bidy knows Im not!)

[thrdeye]

No coilovers.

Suspension rules for street are same as stock now.

Can change shocks (all else must remain equal)
A swaybar at one end or the other.

[jpvette]

Stock tire size is 285/35/20 all around, that's a lot of tread even for a heavy car. Should be able to fit even more in 19" size (305/30/ 19) with no problem. 10" rims front 11" rear I think.

[thrdeye]

Just keep in mind that heavy cars, as a general rule, are going to struggle on any kind of street tire. Not saying don't do it, but it's something to consider.

Looks like the Hankook is available in that 305 size.

[steverife]

My personal theory...

Weight alone isn't necessarily as much of a detriment as many say. If you can run a wider wheel/tire than your competition, you can afford to be at something of a weight disadvantage.

I think that Cantmaro will surprise some folks.

[01badz28]

The only time I've seen them run was at the local Run Through the Hills / Pro-Touring style event. Fastest one (DSE tech demonstrator or something) had about 600-700hp, full coil-over suspension, fairly fat / sticky street tires (don't remember the exact brand, but I'm pretty sure they were in the 295 - 315 width range) and it was about 10 seconds off my pace in the 4th gen pictured in my sig. I was on fairly old Kumho V710s (315) at the time. Cant speak to relative driver skill, but I'm a mid pack hack on a good day.

No one got really excited (those of us clinging to our 4th gens) when the cars came out - too heavy, and you couldn't get a competitive wheel and tire package with stock rules (at the time). I can't imagine its a better platform than the current Mustang, but I've been living under the rock the past couple of years.

[jcox07]

I have ran against one of the new gen camaros and it was on coilovers and hoosiers and was 9 seconds behind me on a 65-70 second course at zmax. The car is just way too heavy.

[dewittpayne]

I have ran against one of the new gen camaros and it was on coilovers and hoosiers and was 9 seconds behind me on a 65-70 second course at zmax. The car is just way too heavy.

Doesn't it weigh just about the same as your car, just under 4,000 lbs? I'd bet most of that nine seconds was driver, not car, related.

Why Ford doesn't offer 10" rims as an option on the Mustang is still something I don't understand. I was looking at a road test comparison of a 2013 Track Pack 5.0 Mustang and a 2013 1LE Camaro and the difference in the tires was striking. 255/40 Pirelli's on the Mustang vs 285/35 Goodyear's on the Camaro. The OEM Pirelli's are cr@p, even the summer tires. I'm not at all surprised that the Mustang test driver complained about not being able to put the power down.

[jcox07]

Nope they weigh around 4400 pounds...the gm website list it at 4160 coupe and 4380 vert

[dewittpayne]

Nope they weigh around 4400 pounds...the gm website list it at 4160 coupe and 4380 vert

Where did you find that? That sounds like the weight with a driver and full fuel tank rather than the curb weight. My car is well over 300 lbs heavier with a full fuel tank and me in it. The pdf brochure on 2014 Camaros lists the curb weight for the 2014 SS 1LE coupe as 3,875 lbs.

I did look at the results from this year's solo national championship and no current vintage Camaros competed. That probably says something about their competitiveness in FS.

[jcox07]

2012 year model

[dewittpayne]

I think I see the problem. Top speed for the Camaro in first gear is 52 mph and 78 mph in second gear, if I calculated correctly. On any fast course, first will be too low and second too high. Combine that with a heavier car and a pushrod V8 torque curve and autocross performance is going to suffer. My car in second gear on the Dunlops has a top speed of 67 mph and the variable valve timing probably gives more torque at low rpm than the Camaro.