Subaru WRX Forum banner

The Official I "Raced" A Camaro SS In My Lightly Modded WRX & Beat It!! Thread

49K views 88 replies 40 participants last post by  Calvinball 
#1 ·
The Official I "Raced" A Camaro SS In My Lightly Modded WRX & Beat It!! Thread

There is a long 2 lane onramp on my commute where I usually gun it for fun. It is safe and usually uneventful. A couple of days ago I had a Camaro SS behind me, and he decides to do the same at the same time. He even switched to the rightlane as if to pass me. Well, he never did. I held him off till we both backed down for safety reasons once on the interstate. I only saw him gaining a bit of ground towards the end at speeds which I would not post here. This is to be expected with that 400+ hp V8 top-end.

Nevertheless, I was thoroughly impressed at how my 300 hp-ish WRX performed against the Camaro SS. Either the Camaro SS is too heavy, or the HP gap between us is not as big as it is on paper.
 
#3 ·
nope, unmistakeable ss badge on front grille, and V8 sound
 
#6 ·
They are very different cars, with very different powerbands, but the performance numbers aren't too far from WRX's - especially if you have started adding HP mods.

Now when the Z-28s hit the streets ... well, maybe the next STI's can give 'em a run. :thumbup:
 
#7 ·
I ran up against a new SS in my 11. There wasn't even a chance, the clamero had way more power mid range. He pulled a few car lengths on me pretty easily. I have run both the new 5.0 and the SS and both cars are significantly faster then the WRXs :(.
 
#11 ·
on a roll, a camaro should have an advantage pulling trap speeds of 110mph in the end. but the wrx could hold its own.
I definitely held my own! But in the end, at high speeds I dare not post here, The Camaro started gaining ground, going around 5 mph faster more/less. In any case, to me, that is off little practical use in RL driving.


how do you like the stage 1? i'm about to add that to my 11 rex.
I love stage 1. I have that (COBB AP) plus the SPT CBE. There is a noticeable power gain and engine is smoother across the power band. Many people here claim it is a better tune than the OEM one, not just for power. I lose about 1 mpg on the city, but next to nothing on the highway (this is tested myself, not theoretical).
 
#12 ·
I'm thinking that he didn't really get into it. I'm making 300'ish at the wheels, but would expect a modern, wot SS to decimate me from a roll. His "area under the curve" >> my "area under the curve".
 
#15 ·
Being fast off the line doesn't mean much when that's all you got. Oh and we can drive in snow, honestly Ill take the trade off of performance for a car i can go moderately fast in and drive off road and in snow.
 
#18 ·
I'd like to come up against a Camaro SS at the strip...
 
#19 ·
I saw a handful at the track and they couldnt drive worth sh*t !! I was expecting them to go a whole lot faster. With a good driver theres a difference. There was on the other hand, a BONE stock looking G8 ran an 11.99 and 12.0s all night. 700 HP on the dyno, talk about a sleeper ! Man !

HP numbers are on the rise again, just like the ol days ! Im lovin it !

---Joe---
 
#20 ·
Ive raced a Camaro both off the line and in a 35 roll. Off the line the 11 wrx has no problem pulling but once 4th gear hits your in the Camaros territory.. The 11's hold there own though in races, but straight line racing to means nothing. Tell a Camaro to see you on a track :) Especially a STi..
 
#24 ·
i have a 2012 tp stage 1 with intake and my bro has a ss2 426 hp 6 speed. dont forget the manuals have more hp than autos. we have yet to race since i know he will eat me alive cause he has headers, full exhaust, intake and diablo sport. once i go stage 2 i'll give it a whirl. when he rode in my car he said he was shocked how well it ran... my buddy is running a 11 rex with 342 to the wheels. he said he blows the doors off all the new muscle cars but then again it is a highly modded stage 2. there is a guy at the gym who just got a ss maybe i'll see if he wants to go...i also have a date with a 2006 gto so come on scooby lol
 
#25 ·
oh and no one freak out im not doing this on the street, there is a road by an old airport thats a mile long with no side streets out in the middle of the desert so its like the local drag strip. cops dont even mess with anyone cause they like the fact everyone goes out there rather than public roads.
 
#26 ·
Raced a few on the 1/8th at Omaha When i bogged down it was an even race. If i got a good launch i was a car infront. One of the SS drivers walked to my car when i parked it and popped the hood for it to cool down... He was looking around trying to figure out why i was beating him.

One thing i was surprised about was when i bogged down and they got the jump on me i would slowly creep on them at the end of the race.

At the time i was Stage 1.

Few weeks ago (now stage 2 TP) i was getting on the on ramp starting around 40 MPH and a new SS flew over 2 lanes to blow by me... it didn't happen and i ended up creeping about a car or 2 by 80 when i stopped.
 
#27 ·
Ok...so this is what my experience has been (the highway part). I was coming home from the mall the other day, and a new SS with halo's lit was weaving in and out of traffic coming up behind me fast. When he got behind me, there was no open lane to go around so he tailed me for a couple of minutes. When the opportunity presented itself, I engaged in some spirited driving and got in front of the cluster of cars that had been blocking me before. He didn't follow right away, but did about 30 seconds later. I was watching for him, and I figured he would go balls to the wall when he got out in the open, so as soon as I saw the front of his car kick up I hit it. By the time he got next to me we were going the same speed and we remained dead even until we came up on a slight curve where he slowed down and lost about half a car. After the turn, I continued to slowly pull another car or so until I finally shut it down and he did a ricer flyby. I can only assume he was pissed. You mad, bro?

The part that didn't make sense to me is that I've had 3 runs with SS Camaros in the last 2 weeks (2 new, and one 1998-2002 body style). All of them have been from a roll, all of them have been on the highway. I pulled every time. I am only Cobb OTS Stage 1 with SF intake. There is no reason for me to be pulling on a Camaro SS after 80mph...none. Yet, on 3 separate occasions, with 3 different Camaros, and 3 different drivers, that's exactly what happened. What's wrong with their cars, or what's right with mine?

I also have been so fortunate to run a Cadillac XLR-V...twice...and beat them both. One was from a dig at a light, I didn't launch and still pulled half a car on the guy. The second was a different driver in a different part of town, getting on the highway, I was behind him and as soon as the on ramp straightened out, we both hit it. Dead even until I started slowly pulling on him and eventually pulled my front bumper to his driver door before he shut it down. That shouldn't happen. The XLR-V is a 443hp SUPERCHARGED V8 built on a Corvette frame...I should have gotten eaten alive. But I didn't...twice.

If it happened once, with one car, I would say he wasn't racing or driver mod or it was a rebadged slower car or something equally stupid...but 5 times with different cars/drivers and very similar results, I have to start considering the idea that my car is faster than it should be.

Sorry to derail the thread, but I just don't see how my car could possibly be that fast with nothing but intake and a tune. To hear other people have a similar experience, though, tells me that maybe it's possible.
 
#28 ·
I'll see if I can grab a pic or 2 of my neighbors ride, he's always up for a "run in" if any of you are in the westcentral OHIO area in your cars.

One of those vehicles that unless your a "car guy/gal" you really don't understand what just happened when he walks away from you.

He has a 2012 CTS-V wagon with a few extra goodies and a tune, makin' about 600hp at the crank. The car is just ridiculous :whoa:

As for the Camaro SS stuff, virtually the same weight + 100 extra hp ..... just don't see the possibilities. From a dig, maybe for a bit, from a roll not gonna happen.
 
#29 ·
Cool. It's pretty easy to call a complete stranger a liar over the Internet without video proof.

Tell you what, I'll leave my GoPro hooked up in my car until the day I get another run with a Camaro SS. That'll be a bit harder to argue with.

And just for fun, how exactly is it that they are virtually the same weight? Lol

2012 WRX - 3,208lbs
2012 Camaro SS - 3,849lbs

So, 641lbs has no affect on acceleration? LAWLZ

One more thing...

Who in here said they are looking to run a 600hp CTS-V? Haha. We drive WRXs, not Z06s...


Sent from my Batphone using Tapatalk
 
#35 · (Edited)
For the record, footage of illegal activity isn't permitted on this forum. Unless you're about to post up a video of you and an SS racing at a track, (really the only footage that would have meaning for me, anyway), please don't post it here.

Frankly, half the "highway Go-Pro wins" I see, where the parties in the car never speak or even seem to look at each other, I'm wondering if the other guy even knows he's in a race.
 
#36 · (Edited)
Actually, having anticipated such a response, I have already contacted a buddy of mine who has a new Camaro SS. I hadn't thought of this before, because he's always trying to get me to race him in his mom's G37 coupe, and he barely ever mentions the SS. His dad owns a piece of land on which is a small landing strip which used to be for private planes. He plans on demolishing the strip soon, but I'm hoping to record a video of us doing a short run before that happens. Not exactly a track, but it's not a public road either. How would that be?

Also, a new WRX isn't crazy fast or anything, but if (hypothetically) I was next to a new Camaro SS doing 60mph, and went WOT, and only slowly crept forward so that 10 seconds later was only about a car in front of that same Camaro....you would be unsure if the Camaro driver even knew we were "racing"?

I know the videos you're talking about, where a couple of high school kids, in the WRX one of their daddies bought, pull up to a light with their iPhone recording the new 5.0 mustang next to them. The light turns green and the WRX speeds off, kids giggling, and they look back at the Mustang quite obviously not even giving it 20% throttle, completely unaware of what has taken place.

That couldn't be farther from what I had in mind.

I'm not out to prove that my car defies the laws of physics by producing some bogus "evidence" of a highway win where viewers can't tell that the faster car isn't even trying. I'm just trying to figure out why I'm not getting more resistance from the cars I've played around with. Maybe I'm a better driver than I think. Maybe everyone who drives a new Camaro is too busy steering with their wrists to put up a good fight. Maybe the Camaros I've run against we're driven by 10 year olds who stole grandma's car while she was napping. I don't know.

I just know it gets old to constantly be told "maybe it was a V6..." Or "are you sure he was racing?" I know the numbers, I know the specs, my dad was an engineer, I'm not totally void of logical thinking. But I also know what happened when I had a run in with several different cars. Either they had the gas pedal mashed to the floor, or these poor bastards suddenly dropped both mufflers off the backs of their cars, because V8 exhaust is loud when you get on it.

And how many people can honestly say they would only give 80% throttle in a race and be ok with letting the other guy think he won? Probably nobody. People will generally either not bother, in which case it will be obvious that they weren't racing, or they'll give it everything they've got.

Sorry for the novel.

[/rant]

Sent from my Batphone using Tapatalk
 
#37 ·
I can't speak to the absolute legality of racing on someone else's private land...but if it's not on public roads, (and not putting other people at risk), I'm inclined not to care. :)
 
#38 ·
:D Good, then we have an accord....I mean, not a Honda, but the other...you know what I mean.

Anyway, I'll see what I can make happen. I'll shoot and edit the video like an episode of Mythbusters. I'm guessing the answer will be PLAUSIBLE. haha


Sent from my Batphone using Tapatalk
 
#39 ·
If you're choosing to go from a dig, on your improvised track, that will be a bit different from what you've been saying, here. Like CHOPS said, the AWD component of our cars may give a slight advantage at the very beginning of a race. What I'm having trouble with is the idea that you're pulling on a 426hp/420ft-lb (with better torque curve) V8 from a rolling start. Those cars trap at 115'ish mph in the tests I've seen. That's pulling power that's head and shoulders over any mildly modded WRX I've ever heard of.
 
#40 ·
I know, I completely understand and agree with, and am having trouble explaining the opposite result of, exactly what you're saying. Imagine my shock, knowing those same numbers before I even bought my WRX...knowing I wouldn't be able to beat cars like that, when I did slowly pull on 3 different Camaro SS automobiles from a roll. I can't explain it.

The strip is pretty long. I think it was originally a private drive, then it was converted to a landing strip, and now is just a useless bunch of asphalt. I'm sure we can get rolling really quickly, then honk it off from about 60, and have enough room to see what we need to see.


Sent from my Batphone using Tapatalk
 
#41 ·
I will also want to go from a dig, though. Because several people have said the WRX would lead initially, then get pulled hard as the speed increased. I need to test that as well.


Sent from my Batphone using Tapatalk
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top