[Robin]

I apologize in advance for this long post, but I have no one else to talk to about this, all my friends are import crazy and would suggest that i get a 350z or something. To my best ability I'm trying to break it all down to see what would be right for me, a vette or ss camaro.
Recently, I'm seeing a lot of 06' vettes for about 33-35K with under 20,000 miles, which IMO is a pretty good deal. Although official pricing of the SS are not out, it would be a pretty good guess that it would be around in the same area as a vette, maybe 2 or 3k less. My biggest problem with the camaro is the weight, 3800 lbs, that pretty heavy for me. The vette weighs almost 500 lbs less, and presumably handles better. Not to mention the vette is better in the slaloms, 0-60, and 1/4 mile. For the past 6 months I've had my eye on the SS, but during the last month, the vette has been looking just a tad bit better for me. Practicality is not an issue for me, vette or camaro, this will not be a daily driver(i have a toyota for that). Honestly, I probably won't even push the car hard every time that I drive it, but occasionally will stomp the throttle when no one is around, or maybe if a ricer comes along. Oddly, I know that if I had a corvette, I see myself driving less aggressively than with a camaro. This is mostly due to the fact the I KNOW that a corvette can stomp just about any car (excluding super cars). The car runs like 12.8 on the quarter. The camaro is estimated somewhere between 13-13.3. If it ran a 13.3, I would consider that slow, at least for a SS camaro. Evo's and STI's run those times, and where I live, there's tons of them, and knowing that they can hang with an SS taints my image of the camaro. I mean don't get me wrong, I think Evos and sti's are amazing cars, but...c'mon, were talking about a camaro. Even the last generation camaro ran in the high 12's. I guess more importantly, handling is more of a priority. I know that the corvette handles really really well, even though as Jeremy Clarkson has said it has "Vietnamese suspension." Weight spoils handling and a camaro is pretty heavy. I don't smash the gas pedal a lot, but I do drive pretty fast on turns, not like drifting or anything, but I like to see how tightly the tires grip. Where I live there are a lot of winding roads, and I like to drive on these roads when I'm stressed, and I do get stressed quite frequently. I also believe that a car that handles very well contributes into the fun factor of driving, at least for me it does. I drove the G8 GT not too long ago, and that car felt too big on the road, and I really thought that the handling sucked, there seemed to be too much oversteer for me. I like how the 350z handles, but I don't like the car. Even though I haven't driven the SS, I would assume that it would handle closely like the G8. But god, I sure do love the interior of the SS, it is just magnanimous. The vette's interior is a little too tacky for me, but it doesn't bother me that much. I guess what it really boils down to is do I buy a corvette, which has practically everything that I want in a car, but get it used, or do I buy a brand new SS that is pretty close to what I want. I've never had a used car before so my first perception is a bit cynical. Even though the camaro is not due out for another 6 or 7 months, I would like to have a definite answer ASAP. If I've overlooked any factors that would possibly help me come closer to a conclusion, that would greatly help. Any input or feedback would be greatly appreciated as well. I thank you for taking time to read this long post.