My grip zoom is very slow, 60 seconds from wide angle to full zoom. I went to menu - cam. set up - zoom grip - set it to variable, low, medium and fast. They all perform slow (low).

Any other suggestions?

Try an external zoom controller, such as the Canon ZR-1000 or a third party product. They often can provide a wider range of zoom speeds.

Changing the speeds on your XL1s should work. Are you saying
changing the settings doesn't work or do you think that fast
is still too slow?

sorry, got my grip and handle mixed up (embarassed)