Reviews: '69 Camaro Z28 500pp SH
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Who doesn't like this car (die-hard Ford fans maybe
). Looks great from any angle, and a nice drive in stock form - with its 'small' engine and sharp handling. It is often the overdog in its class and is the safe choice for drivers and AI rabbits alike. It is impossible to resist though, so I'll be driving a few tunes.
I did a straight shoot-out at Deep Forest Reverse - my favourite type of track; elements real roads, with a few bumps, camber changes, hills and such like, which can unsettle a car. I did 12 laps in each car, not exactly in exam conditions - kids in the way etc
.
Notes: All the cars were at 500pp, on SH tyres. I used two new cars and I did not install any aero or change the oil, so some power figures are slighty different.
@Bowtie-muscle
383BHP without oil change (less restrictor needed).
Quite a safe tune, I thought, traction was good, really planted and easily corrected if the back stepped away: enough slip at the front to get a four wheel drift and avoid snapping back.
I found Some understeer in the faster corners if my line was less than perfect, and I could lose a fair bit of time into the first tunnel, or over the rise as you exit the tunnel.
One of its greatest strengths was on the brakes - efficient and stable which gave great confidence at the bottom of the hill into the double-apex sweeper. The setup is plenty compliant enough to soak up the bumps and curbs as you head into to the forest section.
Great consistency, if not the fastest, would make this a good race car.
Best lap @ DF-R: 1:24.659
@shaunm80
368BHP without oil change (manifold added)
I added the manifold to get to 500pp without oil change. I think I read this was for a specific event, and eyebrows were raised a little at the jacked up ride height and firm damping. Sure enough it felt a bit odd after Bowtie's tune, and always sounded as if it was struggling for grip with the tyres chirping away over the bumps.
High speed corners were good, though it could get upset over the rises out of the first tunnel and into the final hairpin; I found myself lifting off to stop the back end breaking away sometimes.
The back end was a little loose under power through the tricky, tight forest section but traction was still generally good. I did find the brake levels too high - the ABS would kick in at the bottom of the fast downhill into the big sweeper losing braking efficiency. This is easily fixed of course.
All that said, there are no nasty surprises with this tune, after a few laps the times came down as I got used to it. Even though it sounded like it wasn't as fast as the others, it was - almost.
Best lap @ DF-R: 1:24.774
@CSLACR
Spec as tune. I used a new car for this one as it has +2inch wheels.
New tune, another style and again the transition caused me some problems initially. I got the feeling that rotation was the aim the game with this one - it turns in with lift-off. The back end was a bit looser, the whole thing not quite as safe as some of the others.
No problems through the bumpy section and the curbs, but it did twitch a little over those rises under full power sometimes. Traction is very good, no issue on the brakes on the downhill: everything was sweet as long as I was smooth and the time speaks for itself, but I found consistency a bit of a problem with the DS3. Possibly more of a hot lap tune.
Best lap @ DF-R: 1:24.106
@GhostRider65
369 BHP, no oil change, with engine stage 1.
Some issues with the numbers here - I couldn't see how you would get your bhp at the given weight and 500pp. No drama though, it's the setup we're here to test.
This is the Joker in the pack. Obviously the tune is for RS - but that is a tyre I don't use especially at this level. I read
@CSLACR's write-up on Sports Soft so I thought I'd try it on SH - nothing ventured, nothing gained.
This tune has the car sitting low and with springs - I expected a hard ride and the tyres to struggle for grip. Not a bit of it! The first thing you notice is the agressive turn-in, even the sports hard bite; not a bit of understeer and it holds all through the corner. Again, differnet tune, took a couple of laps to get used to then I could can gain the confidence in that impressive turn-in.
There are two sides to every coin of course (or ends of a car
), and the back-end is where I had the problems - all be it minor in the end. The rear is a bit looser, and a bit less traction than some of the other cars - the inside rear would spin-up. On these tyres the back can't keep up with the the front and I found a lot of correction initially as it wagged its tail.
However despite the low ride height and firm springs, the damping an ARB allow them to work even on the bumps and I got pretty comfortable with the car. A particularly stand-out section was blasting out of the big sweeper into the the first tunnel of the forest section; the right to left transiton in the tunnel while on the brakes was superb.
A few minor tweaks, such as the diff, and this will be even better on the harder sports tyres. Great tune, big surprise; Joker in the pack indeed!
Best Lap @ DF-R: 1:24.298
@brian wolf
I saw this one turn up I was doing the write-ups. For this I used the Garnet Red car as it has +2 inch rims. To get to 500pp I used 20Kg ballast and 96.8 limiter which gave 1179Kg and 363 BHP. Also I note that the designated tyre is CS, and I am using SH.
Initial feeling, was quite a lot of understeer, especially in the important fast corners; turn 1 to the uphill and the wide right along the barrier into the first tunnel. I felt that I couldn't carry so much speed into the corners. Eventually I worked out that being off the throttle caused understeer and getting on the power pointed her up again.
Even so, I had a lot of problems with this. A bit of instability under braking, The high rear brakes bringing the back end round, spinning up the outside rear through on the exit and struggling with traction.
Then I realised this had considerable brake release rotation in the slower corners (maybe a product of using comfort tyres) and I could use this through the forest section. Still, 10 laps in I could not better 1:25.
Lap 11, I was thinking I was about done, but I didn't give up on it
. Slow in, fast out is what this set up needs - no aggressive corner entry like the Ghostrider tune. I still struggled with grip out of the sweeper into the forest tunnels and outside rear was lighting up as I modulated the throttle. I could see I was well ahead of the yellow marker on the map. Use the brake-release rotation for the tight left handers (not tidy but...), watch the throttle through the last twisties, then Boomshanka!
Best Lap @ DF-R: 1:23.852
I did have to fight with this car a bit, which was I think my problem; it needs subtlety. I would probably struggle for consisency in a race, more of a TT tune.
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So now I have five tunes on two different cars, all different and a great choice to have for any occasion. I think a bit more practice with any of those tunes would close the time gap without too much trouble. Great work everyone 👍
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I bought it in Cortez Silver from the dealer, tried a bunch of different blues because I know 
and also I liked the challenge to make the tune without it.
Thanks for your review Woodski_427 !! and sorry !!
). Acceleration is also very good though out of curve, you may want to dose the pedal a bit too not overstrain the tires. Feels like a sprint car where you want to find the longest straight lines as often as you can. The car does turn well but has a bulky feeling, it may be also that I’m only using CH to CS lately and I’ve gotten use to a bit of more car slide.
and is in no way a scientific analysis.
, to much gas and you lose it 
, considering all the driving skills you need to keep the old one on the road I was expecting a much bigger difference.
.
