ROLNSLO's FUN44

[rolnslo]

Thought I'd start my own thread here...

Ordered 4/24/09:

Victory Red Exterior
Black Interior
1LT trim
6sp. manual
RS package
C&C package
BA audio upgrade

Got the news today (7/6/09) that my car arrived at the dealership and I will be picking it tomorrow evening. I'll add pics soon.

Planned upgrades:
Window Tint - Ceramic - 35% doors, 15% quarters and rear
Personalized Plates - FUN44 (play on the Smart ForTwo)
Exhaust - Flowmaster HP-2 mufflers
Graphics - RiderGraphix hood spears - dark metallic gray

Let the financial bleeding begin...

[Tran]

Congrats!! Now the expensive part starts

[rolnslo]

DELIVERED TODAY!!

Picked it up this evening with 10 miles on it. Going to have to get used to driving a stick again after years of automatics. Only stalled it once on the way home but I'm blaming my wife for that since she called my cell phone right before the stop light changed to green and distracted me.

[GothamCamaro]

Congrats man! Looks great!

[rolnslo]

I'm going to attempt to track my gas mileage for my v6 2010 Camaro with the 6-speed manual transmission using this post.

Picked it up with 10.8 miles on it. Full tank of gas.

7-12-09 282.4 miles 13.567 gallons 20.81 mpg (~ 50% City, 50% Highway)
7-18-09 576.8 miles 14.644 gallons 20.10 mpg (~ 55% City, 45% Highway)
7-22-09 847.6 miles 12.859 gallons 21.06 mpg (~ 45% City, 55% Highway)
8-02-09 1107.6 miles 11.783 gallons 22.06 mpg (~ 45% City, 55% Highway)
8-05-09 1441.9 miles 13.972 gallons 23.92 mpg (~ 25% City, 75% Highway)
8-11-09 1750.1 miles 14.178 gallons 21.74 mpg (~ 40% City, 60% Highway, +2 dyno pulls up to 150mph, oil change (Mobil 1 Synthetic) @ 1500 miles)
8-15-09 2079.2 miles 15.424 gallons 21.34 mpg (~ 45% City, 55% Highway)
8-23-09 2378.6 miles 13.448 gallons 22.26 mpg
8-28-09 2645.9 miles 13.190 gallons 20.27 mpg
9-04-09 2964.5 miles 14.773 gallons 21.57 mpg
9-13-09 3262.1 miles 13.887 gallons 21.43 mpg <---- At this point, 151.745 gallons used over 3262.1 miles ==== 21.5 mpg overall ---->
9-19-09 3547.0 miles 14.547 gallons 19.58 mpg
9-23-09 3821.7 miles 13.661 gallons 20.11 mpg
10-1-09 4128.3 miles 14.825 gallons 20.68 mpg
10-7-09 4425.8 miles 14.143 gallons 21.04 mpg <---- Tank of 93 octane
10-11-09 4558.1 miles 6.860 gallons 19.29 mpg
10-11-09 4951.3 miles 15.594 gallons 25.21 mpg <---- Road trip to Austin, TX and back (rained entire trip) <- At this point, 231.375 gallons used over 4591.3 miles = 21.4 mpg overall ->
10-19-09 5251.1 miles 14.651 gallons 20.46 mpg
10-25-09 5514.3 miles 12.683 gallons 20.74 mpg
10-31-09 5795.7 miles 13.312 gallons 21.13 mpg
11-7-09 6080.4 miles 13.616 galllons 20.90 mpg
11-15-09 6377.3 miles 14.091 gallons 21.06 mpg
11-20-09 6648.2 miles 13.407 gallons 20.21 mpg <---- New Solo Mach XL cat-back exhaust installed @ 6447 miles, 4 dyno runs (240.56hp/224ftlb)
11-29-09 6893.3 miles 10.865 gallons 22.56 mpg
12-3-09 7080.4 miles 9.450 gallons 19.80 mpg
12-11-09 7388.6 miles 14.554 gallons 21.17 mpg
12-16-09 7737.6 miles 15.088 gallons 23.12 mpg <---- Oil change (Mobil 1 Synthetic) @ 7701 miles
12-22-09 8045.8 miles 13.693 gallons 22.51 mpg <---- At this point, 376.785 gallons used over 8045.8 miles ==== 21.354 mpg overall ---->
01-03-10 8377.8 miles 15.574 gallons 21.32 mpg
01-12-10 8663.4 miles 13.198 gallons 21.64 mpg
01-19-10 8964.1 miles 13.756 gallons 21.86 mpg
01-25-10 9180.5 miles 10.481 gallons 20.65 mpg
02-01-10 9497.1 miles 14.964 gallons 21.16 mpg <---- At this point, 444.758 gallons used over 9497.1 miles ==== 21.353 mpg overall ---->
02-06-10 9780.1 miles 13.378 gallons 21.15 mpg
02-12-10 10087.2 miles 15.456 gallons 19.87 mpg
02-20-10 10368.6 miles 13.613 gallons 20.67 mpg
03-02-10 10691.1 miles 15.570 gallons 20.71 mpg
03-11-10 11001.6 miles 14.505 gallons 21.41 mpg
03-17-10 11311.0 miles 13.395 gallons 23.10 mpg <---- Have to love spring break...traffic for work is much lighter.
03-25-10 11649.8 miles 15.537 gallons 21.81 mpg
03-31-10 11980.9 miles 14.583 gallons 22.70 mpg
04-07-10 12341.6 miles 15.598 gallons 23.12 mpg <---- Oil change at 12234 miles, Switched to dino oil for more frequent changes
04-14-10 12637.3 miles 13.765 gallons 21.48 mpg
04-20-10 12944.7 miles 13.950 gallons 22.04 mpg
04-26-10 13239.8 miles 13.492 gallons 21.87 mpg
05-12-10 13535.6 miles 13.899 gallons 21.28 mpg
05-27-10 13818.5 miles 14.268 gallons 19.83 mpg <---- 93 octane, New Transmission installed at 13798 miles
06-05-10 14140.4 miles 15.370 gallons 20.94 mpg <---- 93 octane
06-07-10 14449.3 miles 12.693 gallons 24.34 mpg <---- 93 octane, Road trip for the weekend.
06-14-10 14794.6 miles 15.392 gallons 22.43 mpg <---- Back to good ol' 87 octane
06-22-10 15090.6 miles 13.261 gallons 22.32 mpg <---- At this point, 702.483 gallons used over 15090.6 miles ==== 21.482 mpg overall ---->
06-28-10 15368.6 miles 13.679 gallons 20.32 mpg <---- Oil change at 15342 miles.
07-09-10 15698.1 miles 15.519 gallons 21.23 mpg
07-17-10 16011.5 miles 15.256 gallons 20.54 mpg
07-26-10 16337.3 miles 14.807 gallons 22.00 mpg
08-02-10 16691.5 miles 16.013 gallons 22.12 mpg <---- 93 octane
08-09-10 16974.0 miles 13.802 gallons 20.47 mpg
08-15-10 17283.0 miles 15.396 gallons 20.07 mpg <---- New AC Delco air filter @ 17165 miles
08-20-10 17559.1 miles 14.376 gallons 19.21 mpg <---- Ugh...F'ng horrible traffic back and forth to work this week...when does everyone go back to school?
08-26-10 17876.0 miles 15.007 gallons 21.12 mpg
08-29-10 18058.1 miles 8.841 gallons 20.60 mpg
09-01-10 18397.0 miles 15.958 gallons 21.24 mpg <---- 93 octane (just because)
09-06-10 18677.4 miles 12.715 gallons 22.05 mpg <---- 15k service + oil change @ 18441 miles (oops and a waste of $$$).
09-14-10 19012.8 miles 16.193 gallons 20.71 mpg <---- 93 octane (just because it was dang near empty)
09-18-10 19253.2 miles 12.060 gallons 19.93 mpg <---- 93 octane
09-23-10 19641.4 miles 16.733 gallons 23.20 mpg <---- 93 octane
09-29-10 19955.2 miles 14.842 gallons 21.14 mpg
09-30-10 20002.1 miles 2.276 gallons 20.61 mpg <---- 20k miles!! Avg MPH 28.5, 935.956 gallons used - 21.371 mpg overall
10-07-10 20305.8 miles 15.181 gallons 20.01 mpg
10-14-10 20675.5 miles 16.786 gallons 22.02 mpg <---- 93 octane
10-20-10 21020.4 miles 15.609 gallons 22.10 mpg <---- 2 dyno pulls up to 150mph on 10/16/10 (251hp/232ftlb) @ ARD Houston
10-23-10 21212.1 miles 9.138 gallons 20.98 mpg
10-27-10 21576.9 miles 15.197 gallons 24.00 mpg
10-30-10 21804.4 miles 10.663 gallons 21.34 mpg
11-05-10 22143.4 miles 14.347 gallons 23.63 mpg
11-12-10 22459.8 miles 14.330 gallons 22.01 mpg
11-19-10 22786.4 miles 15.476 gallons 21.10 mpg
11-28-10 23067.4 miles 13.298 gallons 21.13 mpg
12-04-10 23373.4 miles 14.500 gallons 21.10 mpg
12-12-10 23713.4 miles 16.218 gallons 20.96 mpg
12-17-10 24033.6 miles 15.334 gallons 20.88 mpg
01-03-11 24324.0 miles 12.796 gallons 22.69 mpg
01-10-11 24641.6 miles 14.815 gallons 21.44 mpg
01-17-11 24945.5 miles 14.454 gallons 21.03 mpg <---- oil change @ 24710 miles, hit 25k miles today as well.
01-24-11 25282.7 miles 15.193 gallons 22.19 mpg
01-31-11 25621.8 miles 15.595 gallons 21.74 mpg
02-08-11 25876.8 miles 12.182 gallons 20.93 mpg <---- New tires @ 25749 miles, Hankook Ventus ST RHO6 275/40R20 all the way around
02-17-11 26212.1 miles 16.012 gallons 20.94 mpg
02-18-11 26335.8 miles 5.153 gallons 24.01 mpg <---- Installed Vararam test V6 intake. Mileage includes idle time & testing drives plus freeway miles out and back.
02-23-11 26524.4 miles 8.423 gallons 22.39 mpg
02-26-11 26672.7 miles 7.393 gallons 20.06 mpg <---- Includes idle time and test drives for revised Vararam intake.
03-02-11 26982.3 miles 14.521 gallons 21.32 mpg
03-06-11 27238.4 miles 11.969 gallons 21.40 mpg
03-11-11 27546.3 miles 13.857 gallons 22.22 mpg
03-14-11 27717.8 miles 7.284 gallons 23.54 mpg
03-16-11 27897.6 miles 8.532 gallons 21.07 mpg <---- Includes idle time and test drives for revised Vararam intake.
03-23-11 28240.5 miles 15.167 gallons 22.61 mpg <---- Oil change @ 28145 miles
03-29-11 28630.0 miles 16.927 gallons 23.01 mpg
03-31-11 28718.6 miles 4.588 gallons 19.31 mpg <---- Purposely tried to burn off as much fuel as possible before going to the dyno
04-01-11 28802.9 miles 4.130 gallons 20.41 mpg <---- Multiple dyno runs for Vararam intake plus putting miles on the stock intake setup
04-04-11 29054.1 miles 11.253 gallons 22.32 mpg <---- Filled up for trip out to C5Fest II, Chandler, AZ
04-12-11 29418.2 miles 15.356 gallons 23.71 mpg
04-13-11 29711.8 miles 11.274 gallons 26.04 mpg
04-13-11 29814.8 miles 4.474 gallons 23.02 mpg
04-13-11 30012.8 miles 9.006 gallons 21.96 mpg
04-14-11 30301.2 miles 12.633 gallons 22.83 mpg
04-14-11 30529.1 miles 9.106 gallons 25.03 mpg
04-17-11 30785.8 miles 11.014 gallons 23.31 mpg <---- Leaving C5FestII, headed to Northern AZ and NM
04-19-11 31039.3 miles 10.635 gallons 23.84 mpg
04-20-11 31385.0 miles 11.541 gallons 29.95 mpg
04-21-11 31624.8 miles 8.728 gallons 27.47 mpg
04-23-11 31986.9 miles 12.715 gallons 28.48 mpg
04-23-11 32363.5 miles 15.500 gallons 24.30 mpg
04-24-11 32650.2 miles 11.066 gallons 25.91 mpg <---- Back from C5FestII - Best road trip EVER!
04-29-11 32968.7 miles 14.980 gallons 21.26 mpg
05-02-11 33172.0 miles 9.259 gallons 21.96 mpg
05-07-11 33649.6 miles 26.533 gallons 18.00 mpg <---- Missing fill-up info, car was at Vararam for intake testing.
<<<<< Missing fill up info for about 2k miles - car was at Vararam for intake design/updating/testing >>>>>
05-31-11 36094.1 miles 13.826 gallons 24.30 mpg
06-04-11 36354.4 miles 12.501 gallons 20.82 mpg
06-09-11 36671.1 miles 14.548 gallons 21.77 mpg <---- Final production Vararam intake installed!!
06-16-11 37000.4 miles 15.454 gallons 21.31 mpg <---- Oil change @ 37032 miles.
06-22-11 37343.2 miles 15.737 gallons 21.78 mpg <---- Back to regular 87 octane
06-27-11 37693.2 miles 15.583 gallons 22.46 mpg
07-06-11 38032.2 miles 16.181 gallons 20.95 mpg
07-14-11 38357.1 miles 14.664 gallons 22.16 mpg
07-22-11 38670.2 miles 15.635 gallons 20.03 mpg
07-27-11 38937.4 miles 12.274 gallons 21.77 mpg
08-04-11 39240.6 miles 15.030 gallons 20.17 mpg

[mlee]

AWESOME... get that bluetooth pared up and those phone calls won't be a problem LOL.

Congrats and enjoy breaking her in!!!!! See you around town...

[rolnslo]

Plans are moving right along....

Got the window tint done last Saturday (7/11/09). Looks good! Extremely happy with how it turned out. Will post pictures once I get the car cleaned up this weekend.

Ordered the personalized plates today - should be on the car in a couple of weeks. Going to pick up the standard plates at the dealership on the way home today.

Cowl hood stripes arrived yesterday from RiderGraphix. He was kind enough to also throw in matching vinyl for the front/rear bowties. Plan on putting those on Saturday morning after I wash the car. Pictures to follow.

Kind of in a quandry about the plans for the Flowmaster HP-2 exhaust set up I wanted to do. I got a response from the VP of R&D at Flowmaster today and he said they had a test v6 in last week but couldn't get the sound they wanted after trying a bunch of mufflers, including the HP-2's. Too much "rap" during hard acceleration. May have to rethink that plan. I'm living with the stock setup for now but even my wife told me it just isn't right for the car ...She said maybe she'll get everyone to pool money together for my birthday/Christmas so I can get the stock exhaust replaced.

Busy weekend planned and I'm hoping it doesn't rain so I can wrap up the current exterior mods before Monday.

[rolnslo]

Got everything cleaned up this weekend and finished the first round of Zaino. Two coats of Z5 followed by one coat of Z2.

[TAG UR IT]

Dayum, man! Looks GREAT!

[Watchamacoolitt]

wow that looks amazing!

[Baughman]

Victory red looks gorgeous all Zaino-ed up!!! I also really like those hood stripes. Very nicely done man and congrats on the car. Can't wait to see some more progress.

[GMtothecore]

Looks like a winner! Hood stripes are sharp along with the bowties.

[Mindz]

Looks amazing. I love that color. Good choice!

[rolnslo]

Thanks to Late Model Racecraft's grand re-opening event on 8/8/09, I was able to get my car up the dyno. I'm not exactly pleased with the results but they are what they are. The printout from LMR only shows HP and MPH so I manually calculated out the torque and RPM values, using Excel, from the original graph.

Peak: 236.56 hp / 227.05 lb-ft

At least the torque curve is super flat but the drivetrain HP loss is a lot higher than I expected it to be...~22%.

I wonder how much the break-in procedure had to do with the numbers. I followed the GM recommended steps (under 4k rpm for 1500 miles, vary speed, etc...). I wonder if I should have just got on it from the beginning instead....Oh well, too late now.

Someday I may run on the dyno again to see how things change over time but for now, I'm going to just enjoy the ride and remember that I didn't buy the v6 for it's performance numbers.

[rolnslo]

At this point, 151.745 gallons used over 3262.1 miles ==== 21.5 mpg overall.

That's right in line with where I expected to be given my driving habits and my typical commute to work (23 miles each way - back roads with stop lights/signs, stop & go freeway, city streets). Given that I replaced my '97 C1500 (5.7L V8 AT), which averaged 13.8mpg over the same driving conditions, I'm pretty happy.

I used 84.6 gallons of gas less than I would have with my truck and basically cut $203 in fuel cost out of my budget over the last 9 weeks (approximately $90/month).

Now, it's time to start figuring out what to do about that exhaust note. Flowmaster should have their new mufflers designed specifically for the V6 Camaro out in the next couple of weeks. Hope it sounds good...guess we'll see.

[rolnslo]

First trip in for service @ 6150 miles...11-09-09 to 11-10-09 @ Classic Chevrolet Sugar Land.

1. Take care of the TSB for HVAC update (freezing up on long drives) and add loctite to the spoiler nuts to keep them tight.
2. Update PDIM software from v.CC to v.CE <-- Not done. Didn't have right equipment to do work.
3. Investigate clunk sound when hitting speed bumps and turning at the same time.

Results:
1. TSB work completed.
2. PDIM not done.
3. Spring insulators (bushings) not seated properly. Reseated and lubed contact points.

[rolnslo]

Mach XL cat-back exhaust system is on it's way from SOLO Performance. Should be here tomorrow. Once it's delivered, I'll contact G-Force Motorsports in Pearland, TX to setup a time for them to install it plus do a before/after dyno comparison. Videos and impressions to follow...

[rolnslo]

First off...big thanks to SOLO Performance for the Mach XL cat-back system. Awesome sound and easy install!

I had G-Force Motorsports install my Mach XL system yesterday morning. Comments from them were that these aftermarket kits rarely fit right straight out of the box and can be a pain to install...then they did my exhaust. 17 minutes. That's it...from the time the stock exhaust was off to the time my car was back on the ground and fired up for the first time. They were pleased with the smooth bends, perfect alignment and quick install.

This shop normally works on high power V8s so my V6 was a different sound than they are used to. The first comment out of the tech's mouth after he fired up the car for the first time...."That's unique!". I couldn't help but laugh since that was the type of sound I was going for.

As for dyno results, didn't gain anything and didn't lose anything. That's a good thing since it means that the GM design makes anything behind the cats somewhat invisible to the engine and that adding this exhaust kit didn't mess that up. I really wasn't looking for any gains with this kit, just for sound improvements and to get rid of those stupid looking cans under the rearend.

First impressions...

Initially, the exhaust sounded a bit "boomy" inside the car when I'd get on it. I wasn't quite ready for the change in sound but that's not necessarily a bad thing considering the stealth mode the stock exhaust provided. With the stock exhaust, I couldn't even hear it if I had the radio on, even at a low volume. With the Mach XL, you know it's there when you hit the go pedal but it quietly fades into the background when just cruising along in any gear. I like that. If I want to hear it, I can. If I'm just cruising along, it doesn't overpower the interior with excess sound. Nice balance. Even on my commute in this morning, the exhaust wasn't overbearing while in stop and go traffic but once the bottlenecks opened up...sweet sound!

Cold starts...Definitely louder than stock until the idle drops down from the high idle to normal.

Deceleration sounds...what can I say...it's awesome!

Overall, 100% satisfied with the Mach XL. I don't feel like I'm driving in stealth mode anymore and the sound is certainly fitting for the performance V6 that sits under the hood of a great looking exterior. It used to be that the only people who would turn to look at the car were ones that were already looking in my general direction. Now people turn to find the sound, then they see the car. Even on the drive home from work last night, I took off from a stop sign and a group of 3 guys walking on the sidewalk whipped their heads around before I was even 100 ft from them.

I'll try to get some more video to post this weekend but for now, this is what I've got up on Youtube. It was way too windy yesterday and most of the video I have was ruined by wind noise.

Dyno runs (notice that the dyno whine overwhelms the stock exhaust):




Cold starts:

[rolnslo]

Since GM has been busy building the Camaro for about 9 months now, I thought I'd check and see how "unique" my build combination was so far using http://camaro.spasticsquirrel.com/.

1 of 65233: All 2010 Camaros in database
1 of 8928: 1LT
1 of 1191: 1LT/M6
1 of 546: 1LT/M6/RS
1 of 66: 1LT/M6/RS/VR_ext
1 of 54: 1LT/M6/RS/VR_ext/Blk_int
1 of 38: 1LT/M6/RS/VR_ext/Blk_int/NoStripes
1 of 31: 1LT/M6/RS/VR_ext/Blk_int/NoStripes/NoSunRoof
1 of 29: 1LT/M6/RS/VR_ext/Blk_int/NoStripes/NoSunRoof/NoR6P
1 of 2: 1LT/M6/RS/VR_ext/Blk_int/NoStripes/NoSunRoof/NoR6P - IN TEXAS

Not too bad. 1 of 2 in Texas and probably the only one like it here with hood spears and a Solo cat-back exhaust.

[rolnslo]

Hit 10,000 miles as I got to work this morning.

Average speed over those 10k miles...29.0mph (ugh! ).

No major (or even minor, really) problems and I'm as happy with it as the day I picked it up!

Hoping the weather warms back up soon and the sun comes out, my poor car needs a good cleaning and a fresh coat or two of Zaino. It's 40 degrees and raining today here in Houston.

Onward to 20,000 miles now...

:5thgenvert:

[rolnslo]

Great day yesterday for a car show - 1st Annual Camaro Show at the Kemah Boardwalk! Sunny, 85 and surrounded by dozens of other awesome 2010 Camaros.

[mlee]

Looking Good... was a great show...

[rolnslo]

Well, crap! Car's in the shop.

I took it in for 3 issues:

1. Fish out the loose spoiler nuts that fell off and apply the LOCTITE that they were supposed to when I brought the car in for the TSB work back in Nov '09.
2. Replace the cover at the base of the driver's side windshield wiper that broke/fell off.
3. Look into why 2nd gear was so much more difficult to shift into than any other gear.

Took the tech for a test drive yesterday morning and explained what the shifter felt like going into 2nd. He hopped in to give it a shot and immediately managed to grind the gears going into 2nd.

"Yep, I'd say there's a problem here..." Well, duh!

He tried a second time but backed off the shift when he felt the resistance going into 2nd. He called the GM engineers yesterday to see if they could offer any assistance in figuring out the problem. Call was returned this morning....

• Known issue with the V6-M6 transmission.
• Problem is likely with the 1,2 syncro.
• Pull transmission, tear down, inspect and replace parts as needed.
• Out of commission until Monday at least, depending on parts availability.

Obviously, the delay in building the V6 M6 Camaros last spring didn't matter much, since they originally held up production for issues that people are still seeing. http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?p=433444

Will update once they tear into the tranny and figure out what needs to be done.

[T_MECO]

good luck man - hope you get it back on the road soon

[rolnslo]

Latest update on my Camaro...

1. Transmission pulled from car. (cat-back exhaust and drive shaft were removed so the tranny could be removed).
2. Torn down and inspected.
3. 2nd gear is shot. Said I was lucky it was still usable when I brought it in.
4. GM Regional Rep was in town this week doing audits and took a look at the transmission/parts.
5. Dealer can't order new replacement part because the part number for 2nd gear was not available in the system. (Sounds like someone accidentally deleted the part from the system on GM's side.)
6. Dealer located new transmission in stock in Houston.
7. GM Rep to find out if they can pull the needed part from the assembly line and have it shipped (could possibly take up to 30 days).
8. GM Rep to also investigate if dealer can just install new transmission that was located locally. Kind of a cost thing, really.
9. Hoping to have answer on direction (part or new transmission) within a day or two.

In the meantime, I get to drive around in a loaner 2010 Malibu. It is everything I didn't want in my next car when I bought the Camaro. It's screams "I don't care what I drive and want to blend in", it's quiet, it's practically gutless, it's light and airy inside, and it has 4 doors.

But it's full of win for GM though...well built, great MPGs (sweet spot is around 45 mph where average MPG can be maintained for miles between 43 and 48mpg.

I can't wait to get my Camaro back. At least Classic Chevrolet is taking care of me and keeping me up to date on the work.