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November 12, 2016

Hit the drag strip to do some testing of the 2016 2SS Camaro's performance in stock form. I was pretty impressed with a 12.093 at 114.43MPH.

 

 

 

June 1, 2016

After owning the Nissan 370Z for nearly 5 years, I began to look for something to replace it. I test drove newer Mustangs and expected it to be the winner, but was a bit dissappointed in some of the quality, the handling, and I personally don't care for the design of the rear end of the car. I'm not a Vette fan, so that was out. I began to think I'd just keep the 370Z for a while longer. I take the Challenger out for Sunday cruises just about every week, and there was a brand new Chevy dealer in the area. I drove by just to have somewhere to go and I saw the new Camaro sitting out front. Surprisingly they were open, so I went for a test ride in a 2SS model with the 8 speed auto, magnetic ride control, and dual-mode performance exhaust. I was BLOWN AWAY.

 

 

I spent a week researching the car to learn about all the new enhancemetnts like the new LT1 6.2L V8 with direct injection allowing 11.5:1 compression on premium fuel. It belts out 455HP and 455TQ. The Gen6 Camaro is also much lighter than it's predecessor with the 2SS weighing in at 3685 lbs. The technology package included in the 2SS is ridiculous. I haven't purchased a new car since 2009 and I was pretty amazed at how much technology has progressed during that time. The voice controls are easy to use and you don't have to repeat yourself 10 times either. The LCD dash with all the various configurations is nice as well. There are easter egg timers you have to hunt for and turn on that allow 1/4 mile, 0-60, 0-100, 0-100-0, lap timers, etc that can also be enabled. Four drive modes with steering, suspension, and exhaust all becoming more aggressive as you work through them from Touring to Track. There's a smart phone app for both Android and Apple that allow the smart phone to link to the car and become the GPS on the car's 8" touch screen, play music, etc. No need to even consider a nav system as an option anymore as your Google Maps are right there and always up to date. It even works with voice recognition. This Gen6 Camaro only weighs about 200lbs more than the 370Z did, but it has a real trunk, back seats, and 120 more horses. It was clear this was the car for me to become the new daily driver.

 

 

I reached out to one of our ChallengerFest sponsors, Laukemper Motors in Mound City, MO to discuss options. I worked with Lee Brown, and talk about an easy car deal. The experience was actually FUN for a change. Lee asked what I was interested in, took notes, pulled the order sheet, and sent me an extremely fair price on the first discussion. No frustrating haggling back and forth. We discussed options to trade my 370Z and Lee worked his magic again giving me a phenomenal trade making the deal a piece of cake. Icing on the cake, Lee informed me there were "bonuses" to be found on Chevy's website if I poked around on their build and price menu. Sure enough after a day or so I got a "Private Offer" pop up window good for another $1000 off the car! I've known a lot of people who purchased from Lee and Laukemper and all have had rave reviews, now I see why. Laukemper sells both Mopar and Chevy so if you're looking for one of the baddest muscle cars around, or just need a new pickup or daily driver, I highly recommend you reach out to them. Tell them Speedy sent ya :) The car was delivered from Laukemper safe and sound on June 1, 2016 and the 370Z left with them to go find it's new owner.

 

The options I ticked were:

 

-2SS

-Automatic 8 speed trans

-Hyper Blue Metallic Color

-20" 5 spoke grey painted wheels

-Magnetic ride control

-Dual-mode performance exhaust

-Silver rally stripes

 

 

 

The shipping weight on mine was actually 3634! I do plan to take it down to the scales with a full tank of fuel to know the true actual weight, so stay tuned for that. The 8 speed auto shifts VERY fast and is a blast to drive standard, or in manual mode with the paddles or stick used to control the gear. This transmission does not upshift if you approach redline in manual mode unless you tell it to do so, it WILL hit the rev limiter, so be aware of that when spirited driving. The dual-mode performance exhaust was DEFINITELY a worthwhile option. I wasn't sure how it would actually sound but was intriqued by its ability to change tone and volume based on drive mode or driver selection. I gotta tell you this thing sounds really good. I'm actually surprised GM got away with it with all the noise regs car makers have to meet. It has a very unique bark to it. I'll get some video of it and post it up soon to share. As a bonus, the rear black valance is changed from dull black to a shiny material when the NPP dual-mode exhaust box is ticked on the order sheet.

 

 

The interior is a great place to be. The seats hold you pretty well, although could use a bit more side bolstering. The leather is very soft and supple and there's a lot of it. Stitching accents in the seat, match the leather shift knob, steering wheel, and dash pad. The seats are both heated and cooled and the steering wheel is heated as well. I love the retro looking a/c vents and you set the temp by turning the bezel which I thought was a nice touch. Driver and passenger can set their desired temp independantly as well and there's a small digital readout on each side of the dash noting the target temperature. The rest of the buttons are straight across the center of the dash in a simple but elegant layout. Interior lighting highlights are customizable and change color based on drive mode as well with touring being blue, sport being red, and track being amber. There's a fourth mode called snow/ice but you'd be nuts to drive one of these in that kind of weather.

 

 

Head up display (HUD) is also included which is a pretty slick feature. Like everything else in the car there are several modes you can select which change the information displayed from radio information to compass and nav. I prefer the performance view whcih gives a digital RPM gauge, g-force, speed, and gear indicator. You can adjust the position on the windshield as well as the transparency to suit as well. When you change radio stations, it tells you what's playing as well as caller ID when a call comes in.

 

 

That's it for now. I plan to get the car to the track soon to see how it'll do. Online reading indicates this thing should hit high 11s without too much fuss so that's what I'm gonna shoot for. Stay tuned for track results and we'll see you out there.