#eagle-eyed followers may suspect this but yes

[sincerely-sofie]

A particular type of torment one is very lucky to suffer.

[cynical-gamer-media]

A Birthday She Didn’t Ask For

So on June 22 (today or tomorrow in other countries/regions) is officially Edelgard’s birthday! Here’s a drabble about that!

“Today is your birthday, my lady.”

Edelgard glanced up at her paperwork to regard Hubert with a deadpan expression. She cocked an eyebrow, as if asking him what the big deal was.

“I am aware of that, Hubert,” she spoke dryly. Her lips pursed. “But we are not in Adrestia; thence there is no need to make it an occasion.”

Hubert just gave a nod of respect. Whether he agreed or disagreed with her it was unknown. But she knew that he would not tell anyone in the monastery that it was her birthday. The last thing she needed was to have a group of people yell her a happy birthday.

----

Caspar covered his mouth to supress his excitement from behind the door to Edelgard’s room. It was his House leader’s birthday!? Well he best to tell the entire Black Eagles’ House as well as the other Houses about this! She may not see it as a special occasion, but he was sure others do!

“You seem really thrilled about something!”

Caspar turned around to see the Golden Deer’s house leader, Claude, whom eyed him with interest. The mint haired boy, jubilant that Claude, a man of charisma and someone who could make any occasion extremely entertaining, was here, went over to him and placed his hands on the leader’s shoulders.

“Today is Edelgard’s birthday!” Caspar examined with rapturous delight. His eyes beseeched the dark skinned man. “You got to help me out with preparations, Claude!”

There was a grin of exhilaration etched upon Claude’s face. “The future emperor’s birthday, eh? Well everyone must get on board to make it a worthy celebration for the books!”

“But it has to be a secret, okay?” Claude nodded in agreement.

With that declared the two boys agreed to split up and go their Houses, and later Claude to the Blue Lions, to spread the news and begin preparations for Edelgard’s birthday.

----

“Everything has to be perfect!”

The Black Eagles eyed Dorothea warily as she read out a plan she wrote about the birthday schedule. The woman was walking around the dorm room and ordering everyone what to do and how to do it. She smacked the sleepy Linhardt on the head with the papers and pointed him to help set out the dishes. Ferdinand was determined to make sure that the food is organised perfectly, and that the chairs were equally spaced. Petra conversed with Dorothea about bringing animals in, as she knew that Edelgard had a soft spot for pets. Caspar was out with Edelgard and Hubert to make sure the future emperor would not come to this dorm.

“Bernadetta! Will you make the cake?” Dorothea questioned, turning her attention towards the introvert.

The girl yelped at the attention she was receiving. She cowered beneath their presence. “Y-yes I can!” Dorothea shot her a smile of encouragement.    

There was a knock at the door to the Black Eagles’ dorm room. Everyone froze, fearing the worst. Ferdinand, being the confident man he is, went over and asked who was behind the door.

“It is the Blue Lions!” Dimitri called out.

“And the Golden Deer!” Claude added.

The door immediately opened to allow the Houses to come in and help out with the preparations. The Black Eagles explained to the others what their plans were. Annette was eager to assist Bernadetta in baking the cake. Raphael knew of some gifts on sale that people could buy as gifts; Claude and Dimitri agreed to pay for everyone. Dedeu would cut flowers for the birthday girl; Ignatz was excited to draw, Mercedes was happy to gather pets to come here, everyone wanted to play a part.

“Let’s get to it people!” Dorothea decreed, and everyone cheered to this.

----

“I am starting to suspect that you understand what I am saying, and that you just want me to keep repeating myself so you do not need to write.”

Caspar rubbed the back of his head and let out a nervous chuckle. He, Hubert and Edelgard were in the library, ‘studying’, with the three having their homework on a desk. Caspar thought that the best way to distract the princess was to have her help him with his homework. He would know that preparations are done once Claude comes in.

Lilac eyes regarded the suspiciously empty library. “Where is everyone?”

“Maybe Hubert should go and check out the Black Eagles’ dorm!” Caspar suggested, a little too keenly.

Edelgard eyed him suspiciously. Caspar just grinned. After some deliberation the future heir gave a nonchalant shrug.

“Hubert, check to see why the Black Eagles are not studying here,” she ordered.

Hubert bowed and left, casting a yellow eye at Caspar as if suspecting him trying to prank the lady. Once the man left Edelgard turned back to the mint haired boy and narrowed her eyes.

“Come to think of it you and Felix would be getting into a fight by now,” she uttered knowingly. Her frown deepened. “You are always keen to best him.”

Caspar gulped and tried to divert her attention to a page that he ‘didn’t understand’.

“…What are you hiding, Caspar?” Edelgard inquired, her eyebrows knitted dangerously to show that she was not playing games.

“N-nothing, Edel!” Caspar chuckled, sounding too loud to be a nonchalant chuckle.

“You best to start talking.”

----

Edelgard stormed down the corridor to the Black Eagles’ dorm, with Caspar running after her and calling to her to calm down. She did not want anyone to know of her birthday here and make a big deal out of it! It was just a silly day; people only celebrated it in Adrestia because it meant that the future emperor was alive and well. For once she wanted to be seen as something more than the next in line for the Adrestian throne…

Without knocking she stormed into the dorm.

Some people yelped in alarm when they noticed Edelgard. Others, like Claude and Sylvain, did a pose and called out ‘surprise!’ as if this was all planned. Felix muttered that he expected that Caspar couldn’t keep a secret. The rest offered warm smiles to the princess and waved at her.

“Happy birthday, Edelgard!” They cheered.

Lilac eyes widened. A couple of people came up to her to offer their warmest congratulations and a few hugs from her closest friends. She stood completely stunned as some gave her gifts and flowers. Caspar picked up his cat and offered for her to pat and, whilst she was always secretive regarding petting animals, she scratched the cat’s ears and let out a ghost-of-a smile.

She grunted when she felt Claude smack her back. “How you feeling birthday girl? Quite the surprise, eh?”

Edelgard shot a glare at him, only for it to disappear when he hugged her. Dimitri also came to engulf her into a warm hug. Others followed and overwhelmed her. Bernadetta squeezed through the crowd and shyly offered a piece of cake to the princess. Edelgard tried to remain composed, only for her lips to quiver into the widest smile on her face. 

They saw her as her, not as the future emperor.

“I am… the happiest one can be.”

[aion-rsa]

Event Leviathan Brings Espionage and Mystery Back to the DC Universe

http://bit.ly/2Y0az8u

The DEO, ARGUS, and other secret DC Universe organizations are in trouble, and Event Leviathan is the biggest DC Universe mystery of all.

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Interview Aaron Sagers

DC Entertainment

May 1, 2019

Brian Michael Bendis

It’s the Year of the Villain at DC, and it should be no mystery that Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s event Event Leviathan will be one of the many things upsetting the status quo for the DC Universe. Following a thinning of DC’s black-ops and covert government agencies, the six-issue miniseries gathers the universe’s greatest detectives to find out what, and who, is the new Leviathan.

Currently the prelude “Leviathan Rising” is unfolding in Bendis’ Action Comics, with a prologue chapter in the 25-cent DC’s Year of the Villain issue (on sale today) and the Superman: Leviathan Rising Special, available May 29. From there, Event Leviathan launches June 12.

In the first issue of a story arc Bendis calls “monumental,” the DEO, Spyral, ARGUS, SHADE, Doom Patrol, and even the Kobra Cult are reduced to ash -- and Batman and Lois Lane are standing on ground zero of a potential new world order. The events appear bigger than Talia al Ghul’s Leviathan, and as events unfold, it would appear everyone is a suspect.

But the real puppet master in DC’s whodunit is Bendis, who joined Den of Geek for a preview of Event Leviathan, and offered up teases about the detective story, which super sleuths are involved (including the return of The Question), and why he and co-publisher Dan DiDio decided to cull the DC spy agencies. He also discusses why eagle-eyed readers will be rewarded.

Den of Geek: Before we delve too deeply into the miniseries, in Part 4 of “Leviathan Rises” (Action Comics #1010), an undercover Lois and Clark go into a store called Coates' Books. Care to deflate those internet rumors that you were teasing the arrival of Ta-Nehisi Coates to DC?

Brian Michael Bendis: [laughs] I don’t use the real estate of the page for secret messages to other comic creators. I could email him. It is a reference to a crime writer [Ian Coates], but I appreciate everyone immediately went to me using the pages to send secret messages.

read more: DC's Dark Nights Metal Ending Explained

Within that bookstore, though, there are several mystery and espionage titles (Three Days of the Condor, The Janus Directive, The Manchurian Candidate). Is this a tease of what’s to come?

I like it because it gets into the mindset of the story, which is there are secrets to figure out. People are looking all through the artwork for clues. I also wanted to reference other literary experiences nodding to excellent genre mashups of spy and something else. And I love throwing out titles like The Janus Directive. There are fans who may not know how cool that story is.

At the end of a mystery tale, we often see all the threads coming together, and realize the answer was right in front of us all along. Will that be the case with Leviathan?

Yes, and to add to that, the audience will see the red herrings Leviathan put out – and specifically why it relates to the characters. There will be false clues, but even those are clues. It’s very Agatha Christie.

Who are the underestimated detectives of DC you’re enjoying playing with?

The Question, which I’m happy to be re-introducing to the readership. He/She was off the table for so long, so re-introducing The Question has been a real joy. Also Green Arrow and Plastic Man. And no, I don’t mean Elongated Man. Plastic Man has a very specific expertise here.

read more: Justice League, the Legion of Doom, and the Nature of Evil in the DC Universe

Why should these very different personalities work together?

These detectives are all being set up because they are high-end suspects for who Leviathan is. Not only are they trying to prove who Leviathan is, they are also trying to prove it’s not them so they can get back to work. Part of what Leviathan is doing is causing a smattering of distracting clues and false leads because he is not done with his opening salvo. And he needs Batman talking to the wrong person for like six more hours before they’re done. The detectives figure this out, and now have to work together to solve this literally before dawn. Whatever bad happened in Action Comics was just the table setting for what’s coming next.

You just said “before dawn,” so how much time does the miniseries span?

It is a very concentrated amount of time, but I don’t want to say too much. What’s interesting to me about the series is Alex and I were specifically looking to attack this story as a different kind of event. In doing so, we have a detective event along the lines of Murder on the Orient Express, or Death Trap, or Sleep – very intense psychological detective thrillers. It is a head scratcher, and you have to think like Batman.

What are the different styles of sleuthing these characters excel at?

You have the reporter Lois Lane, facts first, unpack it later. You have got Batman’s detective philosophy, which is all over the place, but very specific to clues no one else sees. He has trained his brain to look at the world unlike anyone else. The others have specific experiences, which I’ll get to in the story. And they are interrogating each other, on top of everyone else. Not only are they suspects, the people around them are as well.

What was the conversation between you and Alex Maleev about the artistic approach for this story?

Over many years we’ve been offered a lot of stuff at DC, but I could tell Alex wanted to do a Batman thing with me. We had a scratch that never got itched. When I was coming to DC, and said we were going to do creator-owned stuff at DC, he literally said, “and Batman!” That’s how much it meant to him. He had been working on the style he’s been doing in our book Scarlet for the last couple years. He has been working at this level, and style, for a few years. It got developed in Scarlet, and when he applied it directly to our story in Detective Comics #1000, we said this is what our book will look like. After many years of working together, it was the most shortcut of conversations.

How paranoid should the readers be? Should we trust the heroes?

We don’t know whose word to trust, but we will know at the end. People don’t like to not trust everybody for a long period of time. So, by the end of the series, you’ll know who Leviathan is, why they did what they did, how they did it, and what’s going forward. And what’s going forward is a pretty enormous thing for the DC Universe.

read more: Year of the Villain Leads to the Biggest Event in DC Universe History

Not only is this story being told, but a shape is being set in DC for villainy that will open up a lot of story for a lot of people. From the 25-cent issue, I think people are going to be surprised how much this is going to impact Batgirl, and Green Arrow. And at the last page, we drop a bomb in dialogue. Nobody is safe. There are a lot of suspects here, and they are all valid.

You quickly clean house of all the various spy agencies within the DCU. Is this a new status quo?

When I first came to DC, Dan DiDio sat me down and said one thing that bothered him about the universe was we have 40 organizations that do the same thing. They were all created out of love, and by good people. But it’s so redundant it’s hard to tell a potent story. The idea of doing, “and then there was one” of the organizations, but that organization becoming too big to handle is exciting. So it’s a no backs on the status quo. These organizations are gone. But they are being replaced by some things that will be revealed in Event Leviathan, and pulled out into the DC Universe that will hopefully be the best version of the things people liked about the other organizations. It is consolidating it down to something anyone can understand.

What is the balance is giving each of these characters their moment?

Batman is walking us into a crime scene, but when he gets there, there are four or five suspects, and each of them are detectives with a unique experience. Batman and Lois introduce us into this story, but it’s going to go in other areas. People know Batman is not Leviathan, but everyone else is up for grabs.

Who else’s detective skills will readers be surprised by?

I have intentionally not been mentioning Kate Spencer, Manhunter. I haven’t mentioned Damian, and there’s stuff behind Green Arrow that’s pretty interesting. And in the very first issue is Steve Trevor. The suspect list is going to get pretty high, pretty fast.  

What are companion pieces readers should check out between issues to continue the mysterious tone?

I am going to be that during the whole event, and tweeting out reading lists, because I had such a great time doing research for this. If people are into it, they’ll want to read what I read. Our research for this went pretty deep. I spoke at Langley, and have been there a couple times. We have been doing research for this for a couple years.

Do you have any advice to readers diving into this as they try to figure the mystery out?

It’s a mystery story, and those are tough on the internet. People announce they know the answer. I can’t respond to everyone’s answer, and say some are right, or some are wrong. I have to be cool, and let it unfold. So, let it unfold. The things you’re feeling in the first couple issues, you may feel very different about by issue five, or six. Stay open minded. It is such a dangerous story, and I know some fans are going to get very worried.

from Books http://bit.ly/2GTA31I

[7r0773r]

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

“. . . . The point is — aha! yes! the bastard has a point and isn’t too damn drunk to bring it home — this is the point, Will.” Nobody else ever called him Will. “St. Paul says there is one God, he confirms that, but he says, ‘There is one God, and many administrations.’ I understand that to mean you can wander out of one universe and into another just by pointing your feet and forward march. I mean you can come to a land where the fate of human beings is completely different from what you understood it to be. And this utterly different universe is administered through the earth itself. Up through the dirt, goddamn it.” (p. 63)

***

[Kathy] set down her shoes inside the door, made her way to the bedroom. She groped for the flashlight on the nightstand and undressed by its dim illumination. On the nightstand also lay Timothy’s book, she’d found it among his things, the dreadful essays of John Calvin and his doctrine of predestination, promising a Hell full of souls made expressly to be damned, she didn’t know what to do with it, kept it near her, couldn’t help returning to its spiritual pornography like a dog to its vomit. She found a match, lit a coil of insecticidal incense in a dish, crawled under the mosquito net, drew the sheet to her chin . . . Certain persons positively and absolutely chosen to salvation, others as absolutely appointed to destruction . . . Lying there in the stink of her life with her hair still wet from rain. She didn’t touch the book. (pp. 83-84)

***

The priest seemed to sense Skip’s disarray. He was solicitous. “We all have a spiritual trial to go through. When I was a little boy I was very hateful toward the Jews because I said they were the crucifiers. I was very contemptuous of Judas too, because of his betrayal.”

“I see,” Sands said, and saw nothing.

Carignan seemed to struggle. The words stuck in his throat. He touched his mouth with his fingers. “Well, it’s very much for each person to experience alone,” he said, and whatever truth he meant to get at, his eyes were the visible scars of it. (p. 106)

***

He had more on his mind than his love life. He worried about his mother. She didn’t make much money at the ranch. She exhausted herself. She’d grown thinner, knobbier. She spent the first half of every Sunday at the Faith Tabernacle, and every Saturday afternoon she drove a hundred miles to the prison in Florence to see her common-law husband. James had never accompanied her on these pilgrimages, and Burris, now almost ten, refused to serve as escort — just ran away into the neighborhood of shacks and trailers and drifting dust when the poor old woman started getting herself ready on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

James didn’t know how he felt about Stevie, but he knew his mother broke his heart. Whenever he mentioned enlisting in the service, she seemed willing to sign the papers, but if he left her now, how would it all turn out for her? She had nothing in this world but her two hands and her crazy love for Jesus, who seemed, for his part, never to have heard of her. James suspected she was just faking herself out, flinging herself at the Bible and its promises like a bug at a window. Having just about reached a decision in his mind to quit school and see the army recruiters, he stalled for many weeks, standing at the top of the high dive. Or on the edge of the nest. “Mom,” he said, “every eagle has to fly.” “Go ahead on, then,” she said. (pp. 138-39)

***

On the last page, another note in the colonel’s hand:

Tree of Smoke—(pillar of smoke, pillar of fire) the “guiding light” of a sincere goal for the function of intelligence—restoring intelligence-gathering as the main function of intelligence operations, rather than to provide rationalizations for policy. Because if we don’t the next step is for career-minded power-mad cynical jaded bureaucrats to use intelligence to influence policy. The final step is to create fictions and serve them to our policy-makers in order to control the direction of government. ALSO—”Tree of Smoke”—note similarity to mushroom cloud. HAH! (p. 254)

***

[E.M. Cioran] Doubt collapses onto us like a disaster; far from choosing it, we fall into it. And try as we will to pull out of it, to trick it away, it never loses sight of us, for it is not even true that it collapses onto us—doubt was in us, and we were predestined to it. (p. 357)

***

Skip on his knees at an open footlocker, lifting out the troughs of card files — a musk of paper and glue, slight nausea, anger, those many months with these odors in his mouth, al of it a waste — and found the T’s and flicked through the cards by their edges and plucked out three entries in his uncle’s block printing:

ToS

A pillar of smoke stood above the Ark like a cedar tree. It brought such a beautiful perfume to the world that the nations exclaimed, “Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like a tree of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the powders of the perfumer?” Song of Solomon 3:6

ToS

And I will give portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and palm trees of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Joel 2:30, 31

ToS

“cloudy pillar” — Exodus 33:9, 10. literal — “tree of smoke.” (p. 445)

***

[Trung] watched people passing on the street. Surrounded by souls he didn’t know he woke to the world in its true scale, not a room with a window that looked at a wall, but an entire world in which he was lost. Whatever the details of the situation, whatever the nature of the problem, whoever had let him down, he was lost. 

And to think how careful he’d been, and how pointlessly. It wasn’t that he regretted the mistake. He regretted the hesitation. Doubt is one thing, hesitation another. I waited three years to decide. I should have jumped. Doubt is the truth, hesitation a lie. (p. 484)

***

The patient’s two comrades squatted by a tree not far off, ready to fetch whatever might be needed, as if they had anything to fetch. The man’s family kept out of the way in one of the hooches, all but a toothless mamasan who enacted a ritual of private significance only a few meters away, out in the relentless sunshine, in the smoke of the charcoal fire and the steam from the pot where the instruments boiled: a dance of ominous hesitations, and sudden leaps, and arabesques. Dr. Mai permitted the display without comment, and Kathy welcomed it as boding well for the patient. The idea that among the ragged, the crazy, the whirly-eyed, the frothing-at-the-mouth, among the sideways, among the mumblers, shufflers, laughers, a bit of loving scrutiny would turn up the blessed poor in spirit, the burned visionary, the holy vagrant — she’d always entertained it, this romance. (pp. 530-31)

***

He’d lived almost twenty-five years, his hardships colored in his own mind as youthful adventures, someday to be followed by a period of intense self-betterment, then accomplishment and ease. But this morning in particular he felt like a man overboard far from any harbor, keeping afloat only for the sake of it, waiting for his strength to give out.

When would he strike out for shore? When would he receive the gift of desperation? He stayed under the covers in the chilly, Lysol-smelling room until the management knocked on the door. He asked for ten minutes, showered, and went bak to bed to wait for the knock that meant business. (p. 538)

***

[Jimmy Storm] “Man, it’s no good if he’s doing it for money. You’ve gotta do it for the thing, man, the thing. You need a reason, you need to be sent by the signs and messages.” (p. 592)

***

The headman raised a hand and the circles parted for a quartet of women, each clutching the corner of a blanket. They laid it before the priest — a pile of hacked wooden carvings, most no bigger than a hand, several others up to half the size of any of their Roo worshippers. The four women threw back their heads and bawled like children as the headman attacked the figures with his axe. As he worked at it, getting them all, and as the women knelt to collect the pieces and add them to the pyre, Mahathir said, “They break their household gods and throw them on the fire because the gods haven’t helped them. These gods must die. The world may end with the death of these gods. The sacrifice of the soul of the stranger may prevent the world’s end. Then new gods will rise.” (p. 594)

***

Chosen to suffer penance because no one else is left. Traversing inordinate zones, the light beyond brighter or dimmer, never enough light, nothing to tell him, no direction home. One figure yet to be revealed in his truth. 

Everyone had unmasked himself, every false face had dissolved, every dissemblance but one, his own. (p. 596)

***

The scene before [Kathy] flattened, lost one of its dimensions, and the noise dribbled irrelevantly down its face. Something was coming. This moment, this very experience of it, seemed only the thinnest gauze. She sat in the audience thinking — someone here has cancer, someone has a broken heart, someone’s soul is lost, someone feels naked and foreign, thinks they once knew the way but can’t remember the way, feels stripped of armor and alone, there are people in this audience with broken bones, others whose bones will break sooner or later, people who’ve ruined their health, worshipped their own lies, spat on their dreams, turned their backs on their true beliefs, yes, yes, and all will be saved. All will be saved. All will be saved. (p. 614)

[buildercar]

New Post has been published on http://www.buildercar.com/first-drive-2018-chevrolet-camaro-zl1-1le/

First Drive: 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE

KELOWNA, British Columbia — Have you ever been to Kelowna? Neither had I as I boarded the final flight on my way to drive the 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Terra firma meeting my little Alaskan Air twin-prop prodded me out of nap land. I had to think for second where I was and what I was actually doing here. I’ve been traveling flat out since January, when I flew to the Middle East to compete in the 24 Hours of Dubai sports-car race. Since then, among other responsibilities, I’ve been to Germany several times to run at the Nürburgring, and now here I am — 170,000 miles later — in the Pacific Northwest for a test of the latest Camaro track special.

As I eyed the 1LE for the first time, its ultra-aggressive stance made me think of the long-standing Mustang/Camaro rivalry, with fanatical fans on both sides. They’re nothing like political or religious fanatics, of course; they’re way more civilized. That said, seeing the 1LE’s rabid front fascia in a rearview mirror may be the vehicular equivalent of a middle finger to anyone in its path.

Camaro chief engineer Al Oppenheiser informs us, “The 1LE is focused towards track and then street. We aimed for a vehicle buyers (General Motors figures people age 50 and older) can drive to the track, enjoy driving on track, and then drive it home.”

The 1LE seems to follow function more than design. Air management was a chief consideration throughout its development. Bodywork had to change, because the 1LE’s wheels (11 inches in front, 12 in the rear) are an inch wider than the ones found on the standard Camaro ZL1. The fenders are 0.7 inch wider to efficiently move air around the larger rubber (305/30R-19 front, 325/30R-19 rear). As a historical note, this is the widest rubber ever employed on a factory-built Camaro. Unique to the 1LE package, Chevy chose to use 19-inch wheels instead of the base ZL1’s 20-inchers. The 19s pull air through them as they roll to aid brake cooling.

The 1LE has a longer front splitter molded over the standard fascia, plus racing-derived dive planes and larger front grille openings. All of this adds downforce to the front, which means a new rear wing is necessary to reestablish aerodynamic balance. The 1LE rear wing is highly efficient, adding downforce with little drag. The use of carbon fiber allows the wing to be very thin where needed, which means aero effectiveness dictated the shape rather than manufacturing limitations or design eccentricities. Total downforce, according to Chevy, is 300 pounds at 150 mph.

Chevy went to suspension masters Multimatic to work on the 1LE, the same company that’s heavily involved with the new Ford GT supercar. As does the Ford GT, the Camaro 1LE uses Multimatic’s Dynamic Suspension Spool Valve, DSSV, damper technology front and rear. DSSV technology has been used in Formula 1 and other professional racing series and is, of course, very expensive. The main tech difference in a DSSV damper compared to a typical one is the use of exquisitely engineered pistons, with port holes instead of the deflective discs, or shims, traditionally found inside.

DSSV technology allows for much more specific shock tuning and a wider range of capability. Note: The 1LE’s dampers are not adjustable. In an effort to delete chassis/suspension flex, traditional rubber mounts and bushings were eliminated where possible. The 1LE front dampers are hard-mounted, top and bottom, which should lead to more consistent handling at the limit. Interestingly, despite the hard mount, loosening just three bolts and rotating the strut can increase front camber to 3 degrees negative in minutes. This is a very useful option for trackside preparation. Ride height is also adjustable by a total of 0.78 inch via the front-strut spring perch. Plus, the rear stability bar has three positions. Amazingly, the DSSV dampers on the 1LE save 23 pounds over the ZL1’s regular setup.

More than 20 years have passed since I worked with Goodyear tire engineers to develop super-sticky street-based race tires. After a long layoff, at least on my side, I can say Goodyear is back in the sticky street-tire game with this new Eagle F1 Supercar 3R (1LE specific). Think Pirelli Trofeo, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s, etc. In other words, they are exceptional — and wear out if you look at them too long — but, oh, how they grip. Goodyear worked alongside the Camaro group on the new R3. “Normally we would see maybe four iterations of development tire at most,” Oppenheiser says. “With the 1LE tire, Goodyear submitted seven over three years.” Indeed, it’s good to see another player in the sticky street-tire business, as it should provide more competition and improve and increase choices for all enthusiasts.

My street drive of the 1LE takes place in northwest Washington, around the picturesque Oroville, Tonasket area. I drive 300 miles, sitting in the driver’s seat for around eight hours. I’ll say something right here about the seats in the 1LE (identical to the ZL1): These are without doubt the most comfortable seats I have ever found in a GM vehicle. That is good news because this car feels stiff — and I mean really stiff. The 1LE does not have a lot of suspension travel, and the dampers are designed to work best on the limit at racetracks.

In fact, expansion joints on public roads cause the car to skip. Ripples in asphalt while approaching a couple stop signs send the 1LE into a tiff, as it skips from one ripple to the next. Staff photographer Robin Trajano and I find ourselves out of our seats a couple of times (yes, we have seatbelts on) as we encounter abrupt road heaves. But once I understand how the 1LE is set up, I drive accordingly. The car’s ride and handling reminds me of driving a Porsche 997 911 GT3; they seem to share similar compliance levels. I have not heard anyone with a GT3 complain about a stiff ride, as usually they know what they bought. I suspect and certainly hope 1LE buyers will be equally discerning.

Regardless of the stiffness, the 1LE feels fine 99 percent of the time on Washington’s superb country roads. Handling at spirited (not nutcase) speeds was predictable and impressive. The Goodyears provide constant lateral grip of more than 1g with no fuss. Despite the big grip, I could manipulate the 1LE at will. I practiced some “overdriving” scenarios with traction- and stability-control nannies set to minimum intrusion. I leaned on the front tires and used quick hands to upset the rear. Nothing caused a twitchy or snappy reaction, just manageable little slides corrected easily with steering input or by the traction/stability controls. The chassis and Goodyear combo worked well.

I could not use all 650 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque from the supercharged LT4 V-8 for more than a few seconds without reaching jail-time speeds. This is power enjoyed fully on a track, as the 1LE is a really big stick, and you can’t come close to using all of it on the street.

The MH3 Tremec six-speed manual gearbox is excellent. In fact, it is one of the best production-car manual transmissions I’ve tried, and the rev-match feature is flawless as far as I’m concerned. The brakes (six-piston Brembos front, four-piston rear) are superb. The steering feels connected and direct, probably helped by the solid mounted struts. A fair amount of tire noise comes into the car above 60 mph, but it does nothing to hinder conversation. Engine noise is a friendly burble in normal driving, only changing to “Can you freakin’ hear me now?” with a heavy foot.

Why, though, in such a track-tuned car, does the 1LE have electric seats, as there must be 60 pounds worth of electric motors included in them? Oppenheiser answers, “We left all the ZL1 content in, as we believe the 1LE buyer will demand it.” He adds, “This is not a stripped-out car, [something like] that would tend towards a Z28.” So then, despite all the track-focused bits and tuning, the 1LE remains all ZL1 inside and weighs only 67 pounds less (3,820 pounds).

The basic Camaro controls are simple to use, and I had no problem achieving an ideal driving position. I managed 15.3 mpg during our 300-mile day, including at least an hour of engine idle time.

As far as racetracks go, we headed to Area 27, a six-month-old facility just outside of Kelowna. The 3-mile track has 16 turns and was designed by Canadian F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve. I can confirm he did not design it to be boring. There are fast, medium, and slow corners, a wicked blind 100-mph chicane, and great elevation changes. It’s an excellent circuit.

The Camaro ZL1 1LEs Chevy brought out for track driving were set up before we arrived, the setup work carried out by Bill Wise and other GM ride and handling engineers. As mentioned, front camber, ride height, and the rear stability bar are all easily adjustable. These engineers know their stuff and are as fast as pro drivers in the cars these engineers have developed. (Check out the superb 1LE Nürburgring lap on YouTube: 7 minutes, 16.04 seconds).

Whenever testing, I try out all the traction-control modes from the most restrictive to everything switched off. I find no surprises here; the traction/stability systems do a great job of keeping the chassis and power under control. The 1LE gives me the ability to correct all the silliness I throw at it. The least restrictive “race mode” TC cost me only a few tenths of a second over “everything off” on a two-plus-minute lap.

However, there is no getting away from the fact the 1LE is a heavy car. The majority of its weight resides over the front axle, and a driver can induce understeer if clumsy with steering inputs. The rear stays really stuck unless severely provoked. The 3R tires stay consistent after multiple laps, times falling off only slightly, even with ambient temps in the mid-80s. The ultimate stick of the Goodyear does not quite match that of the Michelin Cup 2s I’ve tried, but it’s close. The brake pedal stays solid for me all day, though I am not known to have a gorilla foot. (On the track I would not let tire pressures exceed 35 psi, and 28-30 psi seems to be a sweet spot.)

My photographer wants some drifting shots at the end of the day, and the 1LE is a pleasure to slide, giving me plenty of control and feedback. I had used the same car/tires all day, and after finishing up I am amazed to see minimal tire wear. I don’t know how long the new Goodyears will last, but these well-abused specimens did much better than I expected.

It’s just another example of modern engineering and technology, and the fact we live in an amazing time for the automobile. Autonomous innovation is coming, millions of hybrids are out there, but we can buy a weaponized 650-hp Camaro ZL1 1LE for $69,995. No one knows for sure how long this will last, but I am going to enjoy the ride for as long as possible.

2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE ON SALE: Now PRICE: $69,995 ENGINE: 6.2-liter supercharged OHV 16-valve V-8/650 hp @ 6,400 rpm, 650 lb-ft @ 3,600 rpm TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual LAYOUT: 2-door, 4-passenger, front-engine RWD coupe EPA MILEAGE: 14/20 mpg (city/hwy) L x W x H: 188.3 x 74.7 x 52.4 in WHEELBASE: 110.7 in WEIGHT: 3,820 lb (est) 0-60 MPH: 3.7 sec (est) TOP SPEED: 190 (est)

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