Ordering a Camaro in the next few days!

Thanks everyone! Took it for a few nice rides this weekend (~ 100 miles) and loved every second of it. Not a big fan of the run flats (a bit noisy for sure compared to the used ones I drove with non-RF tires), but those will be swapped in the coming weeks.

Picked up 20 quarts of M1 5W30 (From WM.com at $22.XX shipped each) to do the first oil change at around 1,500 miles, then again at 3,000 before switching to following the OLM. Picked up a AC Delco filter for the first change, but looking to switch to Fram Ultra at the 3K change when I get there in Spring most likely. Also planning on doing a drain/fill of the rear-diff fluid around 1,500... Seems to be suggested on various forums due to the initial wear metals and break-in occuring (with the appropriate A/C Delco Fluid).

Replenished all my detailing gear to keep up with this one... Will be giving it's first wash this week, along with a a bit of light correction (to remove some of the light swirls and such from the dealer pre-delivery 'detail'). Will be going at it with Meg's M205 prior to the Meguiar's ceramic sealant. I am impressed though, I have not seen any orange peel and the finish across the entire car is like glass. But maybe once I wash/detail it, I will notice some more flaws ;)
On the ceramic..try a small area low on the sides. Ceramics are difficult to apply on black or dark cars without leaving streaks.
 
On the ceramic..try a small area low on the sides. Ceramics are difficult to apply on black or dark cars without leaving streaks.

Seems to be that is usually caused by using too much product. I had that happen to me once or twice with NXT and M21 in the past, but a change in technique took care of the issue.

But I will for sure do a smaller test spot before committing to the entire car. I'm sure it will be just fine, though.
 
Did you trade in the Camry at the Chevy dealer?

Nope, we still have it. They did offer $20K (basically $21,800 with the tax 'benefit'). Compare to say, Carvana who offered $22K even for it. The buy-out is around $18.5K from Toyota Financial.

But the girlfriend decided she wanted to take the lease over and use that as her car for the next few months or until the lease is up next year then decide if we give it back, buy it out, etc... I didn't care either way, it was up to her what she wanted to do.

Works for me, as I now have a nice winter beater when the snow flies with the Mazda 3 (or the Camry if needed) and can leave the Camaro in the garage!
 
That’s a great fleet with the M3, Camry and Camaro! I think you said the Camry is an SE hybrid unless I’m mistaken. Hopefully rust isn’t an issue with the M3 since I know what it’s like in the rust belt.
 
That’s a great fleet with the M3, Camry and Camaro! I think you said the Camry is an SE hybrid unless I’m mistaken. Hopefully rust isn’t an issue with the M3 since I know what it’s like in the rust belt.

The M3 is doing quite good, actually. It has many, many years of service left no question. Rust wise, aside from seized caliper bleed screws needing a bit of heat/cold spray and replacement, as well as breaking a few fasteners to remove the plastic paneling underneath, all else is good. Nothing looks bad, major component wise. Burns zero oil inbetween oil changes.

Just did a bunch of preventative stuff the past year or so (new spark plugs, brake fluid change, pads/rotors, coolant change, PS fluid change, battery, tires). So won't really need anything for a bit now... The AC doesn't work (compressor gave out last year) and there is a short in the airbag harness, so the light blinks... But not worth the cost to replace considering the value of the car. So beater status, it is! Great to take the dog to/from the park as such, so he can throw all his hair all over that... He's a husky, so he's got plenty!

The Camry is a Hybrid SE, yes. So you basically get 40 MPG regardless of driving city/highway and of course, no concern with reliability. So I'm happier she will be driving this over the M3 for her commute due to the airbag light and such in the M3. I think she is really enjoying it though!

Girlfriend is interested in something new next year, probably, unless she plans to keep the Camry. But the M3 will stick around regardless until it doesn't make sense to keep it. We shall see!
 
On the ceramic..try a small area low on the sides. Ceramics are difficult to apply on black or dark cars without leaving streaks.

On Friday, detailed the Camaro and had zero issue with the Ceramic sealant/wax. No streaking, hazing, etc... Probably was one of the best easy on/off products I have used. This was applied after I went over the car with Meguiar's M205 to remove dealer-induced swirls/scratches. Cleaned up perfectly, but man, this clear coat is SOFT. No effort at all to remove scratches/swirls, but even M205 (which isn't that aggressive) with my finishing pads (softest) tend to leave micro-marring behind. Basically invisible except with intense xenon/LED light source, but I gotta pick up an even less aggressive polish for getting a flawless finish. This was applied with the DA Polisher, for reference.

In other news, just passed 500 miles! Went on a beautiful drive yesterday to Eastern-NY and back, about 4.5 hours round trip. Completely comfortable drive, so much fun. Pushed it a few times on clear roadways and I just can't get over how capable this vehicle is. I really am reconsidering finding a track at some point to really push this thing even more. Now that I am over the 500, will push the RPM a bit more now once fully warmed up.

So I was curious with a longer drive how it would do comfort wise, but zero issue here. Even with my 6'5" frame, completely comfortable. Plenty of legroom (I can fully extend my left leg straight, which is insane). Seats were comfy the entire way and the driving/cruising experience was just fantastic with the wonderful audio system, sound of the exhaust cracklin' and poppin' and the beautiful fall colors all around us. A+ from me!

Plenty of stares, which was fun. Again, Camaro's are far more rare around this area. On our drive, no exaggeration, we saw probably a 12-15 Challengers, 8 Mustangs and a single other Camaro.

So this week it will see it's first oil change most likely. I have M1 5W-30 ready to go in! Will do the next change around 1,500-2,000 and then use the OLM from then on.
 
Sounds like your having a blast in that thing! How is the A10 doing for ya? I drove both and liked both a lot. For a daily driver i would get the A10. A weekend car? 6MT.
 
The A10 is fantastic. Lightning fast shifts, no hunting. Really impressed with it.

Even the paddle shifters are great. Nearly instantaneous and it goes where you want it to go. I have not run into a "safety shift" or protection, yet. But again, taking it pretty easy and not even sure this car would do that.

But no regret at all with the A10. The 6MT was on my radar, but at the end of the day, I wanted that auto!
 
Just a final update... Got my LPO items installed this morning I ordered with the car, which was the front splitter extension and black lug nuts. Last week I got the tires swapped out from the Goodyear Summer Run-Flats to Michelin A/S 3+'s. Did my first oil change at 500 mile as planned (currently at 850 miles) and now the only thing left to do on my "to do" list is get window tint done at some point... But I will probably just hold off until Spring... I'd like to darken it up a little bit, debating on 35% or 50% on the side windows and 35% in the rear. I had 50% installed on my Camry and while a lot of people would say "why bother", it looks fantastic and offers just enough privacy without attention (Ohio is limited to 50% driver/passenger). Also, I find sometimes too dark of tint looks a bit cheesy, IMO. Camaro cabin is so dark anyway, it wouldn't need much.


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All great ideas on those changes you made. Will any protective film be added to the car?

Thanks!

Nope, no film here. I just accept the fact I will get rock chips and whatever else as my 'almost daily driver'. It's not a show car, I bought it to drive and have fun with! A bit of Dr. Color Chip and my detailing products and that will be my defense. Honestly, swirls/scratches bother me a lot more than rock chips as someone who has been detailing for 15+ years!

My brother had film applied to his 4-Runner TRD and I just hate the fact you can 'see' the film, and rock chips still show up anyway, it's just in the film versus on the clear/paint. Visually, it doesn't benefit that much and I just think it's a bit more hassle than it's worth. Front bumper is all plastic anyway, so not like it will rust. I get why people would add it, but I will just repair/detail and do my best to keep up on it all when needed.

When the bumper or whatever gets bad enough, I can always just get it re-painted or something.
 
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Nice. I will be interested in hearing how you like the Michelin A/S 3+ tires. I'm considering them as a replacement for the stock Pirelli tires on my 14 Mustang GT. The Pirelli's are super loud and I want something that is much quieter.
 
Nice. I will be interested in hearing how you like the Michelin A/S 3+ tires. I'm considering them as a replacement for the stock Pirelli tires on my 14 Mustang GT. The Pirelli's are super loud and I want something that is much quieter.

At least for the past week or so, initial impressions are good. Road noise is improved over the summer run-flats, but I wouldn't consider them a quiet tire at this point. But in general, the Camaro has minimal sound deadening it appears. Lots of noise especially from the rear tires (with both sets of tires).

Handling has been fantastic so far with some spirited driving on some windy roads, including some nice hairpin turns at higher rates of speed. Tires don't skip a beat and traction is fantastic. Drove in some heavy rain back from the dealer and no traction issues there as well, but I don't recall any standing water that would push the performance of the tires. As far as full-on acceleration, I have yet to do a full 0-60 run with the pedal mashed to the floor, but that is upcoming soon enough.

But so far, so good! Wish they were a little more quiet, but it's a nice improvement over the Goodyear Asymmetric 3's ROF that came with the car. I think given the low profile tires and lack of deadening in the car itself, I will only get it so quiet without really sacrificing tire performance for quietness. Took the Camry into work today and noted to my girlfriend how quiet the ride was, she said she didn't notice between the Camry/Camaro the difference. But I know I am very sensitive to road noise in general, so I just always tend to pay attention to it.

We will see how they hold up long term, though. Curious how long I will get out of the tires, considering the staggered (can't rotate front-to-back) setup. So I assume the rears will wear much quicker than the fronts. If I can get ~20K out of them though, I will be happy. That was my norm with my Scion xB and just performance all-season tires...
 
If you are really motivated to reduce the road noise you could get some car audio dampening stuff like Dynamat, or Stinger Road Kill as a more affordable option. Just gotta take out the interior, do tons of work, put it all back.
 
Thanks!

Nope, no film here. I just accept the fact I will get rock chips and whatever else as my 'almost daily driver'. It's not a show car, I bought it to drive and have fun with! A bit of Dr. Color Chip and my detailing products and that will be my defense. Honestly, swirls/scratches bother me a lot more than rock chips as someone who has been detailing for 15+ years!

My brother had film applied to his 4-Runner TRD and I just hate the fact you can 'see' the film, and rock chips still show up anyway, it's just in the film versus on the clear/paint. Visually, it doesn't benefit that much and I just think it's a bit more hassle than it's worth. Front bumper is all plastic anyway, so not like it will rust. I get why people would add it, but I will just repair/detail and do my best to keep up on it all when needed.

When the bumper or whatever gets bad enough, I can always just get it re-painted or something.
Depends on the film and the type of installation. STEK, GSWF, Suntek and a few others are nearly invisible as long as you do a custom kit with all seams wrapped.
 
At least for the past week or so, initial impressions are good. Road noise is improved over the summer run-flats, but I wouldn't consider them a quiet tire at this point. But in general, the Camaro has minimal sound deadening it appears. Lots of noise especially from the rear tires (with both sets of tires).

Handling has been fantastic so far with some spirited driving on some windy roads, including some nice hairpin turns at higher rates of speed. Tires don't skip a beat and traction is fantastic. Drove in some heavy rain back from the dealer and no traction issues there as well, but I don't recall any standing water that would push the performance of the tires. As far as full-on acceleration, I have yet to do a full 0-60 run with the pedal mashed to the floor, but that is upcoming soon enough.

But so far, so good! Wish they were a little more quiet, but it's a nice improvement over the Goodyear Asymmetric 3's ROF that came with the car. I think given the low profile tires and lack of deadening in the car itself, I will only get it so quiet without really sacrificing tire performance for quietness. Took the Camry into work today and noted to my girlfriend how quiet the ride was, she said she didn't notice between the Camry/Camaro the difference. But I know I am very sensitive to road noise in general, so I just always tend to pay attention to it.

We will see how they hold up long term, though. Curious how long I will get out of the tires, considering the staggered (can't rotate front-to-back) setup. So I assume the rears will wear much quicker than the fronts. If I can get ~20K out of them though, I will be happy. That was my norm with my Scion xB and just performance all-season tires...
I guess I will have to do some more research on replacement tires for my car. I believe the Mustang also has minimal sound deadening which probably contributes to the noise. The funny thing though is that my fiancee has a 2007 Mustang GT and her original tires were the same Pirelli tires just in 17" vs my 19" and she had no tire noise that you could hear inside. Her car is a premium model vs my base model which I don't know if there is any sound deadening differences between the models.

I'm still not convinced I don't have a mechanical problem of some sort like the rear end or carrier bearing for the two piece drive shaft but I've taken it to several shops and they all say tire noise.
 
Enjoy your new car. Was shopping on line for Camaros with a stick. It's annoying because many dealers do not filter out automatics even when you specify that you only want a stick. Seems they make Camaros with a 4 a v-6 and a v8. the V8 would be too much hp for me but I wonder which you would recommend between the 4 and the 6 with a stick.
 
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