Another option that I ordered with the car was a set of Rally Stripes. I always thought they were installed at the factory. But thanks to Camaro5, I learned ahead of time that not only were they dealer installed, but they were also matte black and didn’t extend past the hood or over the spoiler in the back. I asked my dealer to hold off on installing the factory stripes, and opted to go with the “Bumble Bee” stripes made famous in the first Transformers movie. So on June 24, 2009, the new stripes were on.
While I was working on them, a UPS driver pulled up with a large box containing the next mod – SLP’s Loudmouth I axle back exhaust which was installed that Saturday, June 26th. Nothing like taking a reciprocating saw to a brand new exhaust system, but man did it give Bee some growl. Since the car was up in the air, I also threw in a skip-shift eliminator because that only seems to engage when you’re make a left turn going up hill and the last gear you want to be in is 4th. But a $30 part to save on a gas-guzzler tax is a pretty good tradeoff.
The rest of that summer was spent cruising around, hitting up local car shows, and really just enjoying the car. Without many other 5th Gens on the road yet, it was always fun to see people’s reactions. Kids’ faces would light up as they shouted, “Bumble Bee!” Even going to a store or sitting at a traffic light, people would pay stop and ask about the car.
I finished off the first season with one last mod. On November 13, 2009 I had the windows tinted. I went with 20% all around (except the windshield because that is just begging for a cop to pull you over in this area).
