I miss having torque.

[KI4NPZ]

I used to hate V6's. I thought they sounded awful, and where gutless pigs, while V8's sounded like a glorious symphony of automotive goodness--and I still do. However, this Camaro has to be the best sounding V6 that I have ever heard! I had this Grand Prix GTP one time, and though it was a lot of fun, I thought it sounded horrible.

Sometimes I think that maybe I should have spent the extra money on getting an SS, but that's usually when I'm sitting at my desk reading about cars and watching YouTube videos. When I get behind the wheel, I'm like naah, I love this car. It sounds great--especially compared to other V6 cars I've owned or heard. Its plenty quick, comfortable and I love the design of the interior.

Every now and then though, I do miss having a lot of torque. I once had this black 1994 Z28 with 4.10 gears and an M6. Holy shit balls that car was a friggin' blast to drive. Easilly broke the 275's on 17x11s anytime by punching the throttle a bit. Hanging the ass end out on just about every turn and enjoying the occasional smokey burnout. I'm not in my 20's anymore, and my 40+ year-old ass doesn't have the need for shenanigans (except every once in a while). Its a little harder to get this new car to break 'em loose.

Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts with you this morning after an enjoyable commute to work on some icy roads Thanks for listening.

[maddoggyusa]

once you think about switching to a V8.... it's just a matter of time

[KI4NPZ]

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. I tend to be a little impulsive with car purchases, much to the dismay of my wife. But before I trade this car for a quicker model, I need to procure a pickup truck for those tasks that are appropriate for one.

[acammer]

I've had a bunch of Camaro's, two 3rd gens (Stock TPI350, then a small cam 305/stalled/3.73), a 4th gen (stock LT1/M6), and now the 5th gen. The 5th gen has way more power than any of the other cars - a margin of at least 150whp. However, it's also the most tractable of any Camaro I've had - it really puts power down well. Both my third gen's were pretty easy to get loose, and my '96 Z/28 would wag the tail really easily, but the 5th gen is really nicely glued to the road. It's obviously the heaviest of any of them, and wears a little wider tire, but I think they've gotten really good at dialing the chassis in well.

Torque sure is addicting. My daily is a '07 Impala SS, which has the LS4. That thing is a serious torque monster - they have a really mild cam and a truck-ish intake, which makes for monsterous low end power. They also used a pretty aggressive stall converter which amplifies that even more. Trying to force all that down the front tires is sort of comical - but it does make a fun daily driver, surprising the Honda boys!

[JLSuperfly]

Originally Posted by maddoggyusa

once you think about switching to a V8.... it's just a matter of time

This is so true. Good luck OP.

[KI4NPZ]

Originally Posted by acammer

the most tractable of any Camaro I've had - it really puts power down well. Both my third gen's were pretty easy to get loose, and my '96 Z/28 would wag the tail really easily, but the 5th gen is really nicely glued to the road. It's obviously the heaviest of any of them, and wears a little wider tire, but I think they've gotten really good at dialing the chassis in well.

That's certainly something to think about if I decide that I need to trade up. Probably has a lot to do with switching to IRS. Thanks for sharing your impressions.

[LBJ]

Put in a set of 391gears

[SSEssence]

I debated getting a v6 for the cost savings, but once I test drove the SS, it was over.

[KI4NPZ]

I'm sure I would have had the same results if I had driven one.

I was actually going to buy a cheap commuter car, since I was sick of filling up my 5.9L Ram at 10mpg to drive to work every day.

I had my eye on a new Dart--just wanted an economical daily. My wife pointed to the CPO Camaro stickered for $19k and said "you would probably enjoy driving that a lot more." She knows me pretty well. So glad I listened to her. I'm sure that I would be miserable with that new Dart after a short while.

If I would have test drove an SS, I would have had to beg and plead with her to spend a lot more--or go with an older model which I didn't want to do after all the sweat and tears I had to put into that POS Ram to keep it running.

The Ram is gone now. It was too much of a piece of crap to keep. Now I find myself in need of a replacement pickup.

[KI4NPZ]

Originally Posted by LBJ

Put in a set of 391gears

That's great advice. Putting gears in the Z28 seemed like the biggest bang for the buck mod that I did to that thing--and it had a ton of mods.
What's the best source for V6 gears these days?

[qcman]

Originally Posted by SSEssence

I debated getting a v6 for the cost savings, but once I test drove the SS, it was over.

Thats what happened in my case. I started out with the intent of buying a V6 and my big sister (who owned a few Camaros) told me to test drive a V8 before I bought one.

I never did get around to testing a V6 after that... Op you have a very nice car and if its a daily I think its a good overall car for that. I wouldn't want to daily my SS but thats mainly as I want it to last a long time hopefully.

A lot of V6 guys claim that adding the VTC throttle controller really wakes them up so that may be worth a look or perhaps the Overkill tune. I don't know how well a tune wakes up the V6 but it sure woke up my SS.

[KI4NPZ]

Originally Posted by qcman

Op you have a very nice car and if its a daily I think its a good overall car for that. I wouldn't want to daily my SS but thats mainly as I want it to last a long time hopefully.

A lot of V6 guys claim that adding the VTC throttle controller really wakes them up so that may be worth a look or perhaps the Overkill tune. I don't know how well a tune wakes up the V6 but it sure woke up my SS.

Thank you! It is my daily, and I love commuting with it! The VTC is pretty inexpensive--might look into it, thanks!

[JLSuperfly]

Originally Posted by KI4NPZ

Thank you! It is my daily, and I love commuting with it! The VTC is pretty inexpensive--might look into it, thanks!

Check the member's classified here from time to time. I have seen good deals from members selling their used units.

[Jazzzed]

Originally Posted by KI4NPZ

That's great advice. Putting gears in the Z28 seemed like the biggest bang for the buck mod that I did to that thing--and it had a ton of mods.
What's the best source for V6 gears these days?

Sorry for the newb question... but when guys are talking about 3.91 gears, are we talking about transmission gears or differential gears?