A lot of questions about the 5th Gen Camaro!

[str8himalaya]

Originally Posted by Eddymel1998

There is one major advantage to the autos is that the l99 engine (pretty much just an ls3 with few changes) comes with variable valve timing and active fuel management, the latter of which is kinda junk in long terms and will almost certainly get tuned down the line maybe cause lifter problems, but the former means you can use the Texas speed cams, they don't produce as much peak power as an ls3 cam would but they give you a very smooth powerband.

I’ve been reading up on this and there is some benefit from the L99 for the reason you said. I was a bit concerned about canning the automatic but it sounds like it won’t be a huge issue. The AFM/DOD stuff has always sucked on Chevys for some reason (at least when I was driving them). Good to know Texas speed makes a good L99 cam, I’ve heard they are really good to work with!

[str8himalaya]

Originally Posted by The_bald_eagle_machine

With Prices coming down... 15 to 20k can get you a decent SS car with maybe 100k-140k miles. Will it need a little work? If you plan to mod it then the answer is yes. Stock L99 auto makes about 360-370rwhp and the LS3 manual cars make about 390ish rwhp. My car is a stock motor Ls3 Manual and with just headers, exhaust, cold air intake and a proper tune makes 430 rwhp. It is alot of fun to drive at that hp rating. Throw a nice cam in it, refresh the valvetrain while your in there and it'll make ballpark 480rwhp if its an LS3 manual car. these cars are pretty stout and most of us drive them pretty hard and they handle the power just fine. Anything over 600 rwhp and you will start breaking parts and have to upgrade alot of stuff to handle the power.

This is exactly what I have been finding lately. 120-140k in miles for around 12,500-15,000. Even seen some 2010s with lower miles (50k) for about 20 grand or so, with a little wiggle room. A lot of them are autos, but sounds like I can still get plenty of decent mods on the L99, definitely want to tune out the DOD stuff.

[Blue 13]

The L99 has slightly lower compression than the LS3 so it takes to forced induction better. But absolutely get rid of the DOD by doing it right; new cam, lifters, springs, trunions,….

[Eddymel1998]

One negative to keep in mind with the auto is that transmission has a max HP range where the internal clutch disks start slipping, there are kits to replace those with more aggressive ones to stop that but doing a transmission rebuilt is not really the easiest of jobs, simple support mods like transmission oil cooler or even a deeper pan can help from what I read.

[anth331]

I put headers a Z/28 CAI and a DynoSteve tune It was so much faster after these mods on my 12 2SS

[NiteProwlerSS]

I just recently bought a 5th gen Camaro, I wanted a M6 mainly because of the LS3 instead of L99.

[Eddymel1998]

I bought an automatic for the dumbest most petty reason known to men, I was always into cars even while young but didn't get into the hobby until few years back issue is that the hobby is full of people who would stare daggers at you if came close to their cars at an auto show as a kid, those that act like you're lesser for not knowing a dictionary full of abbreviations and terms, stuff like that, and the biggest one was always those saying that the only worthwhile cars were manuals, I still have friends who go on long-winded rants about how an automatic transmission is absolutely worthless, so for me this was my petty little reason, to show that you can totally have a fun and fast auto car. Not to say either is better then other I just think both have their place and just got tired of hearing same thing over and over again.

[Danial]

Originally Posted by Eddymel1998

I bought an automatic for the dumbest most petty reason known to men, I was always into cars even while young but didn't get into the hobby until few years back issue is that the hobby is full of people who would stare daggers at you if came close to their cars at an auto show as a kid, those that act like you're lesser for not knowing a dictionary full of abbreviations and terms, stuff like that, and the biggest one was always those saying that the only worthwhile cars were manuals, I still have friends who go on long-winded rants about how an automatic transmission is absolutely worthless, so for me this was my petty little reason, to show that you can totally have a fun and fast auto car. Not to say either is better then other I just think both have their place and just got tired of hearing same thing over and over again.

My daily Camaro is an automatic. Honestly, I wasn't particularly impressed with its response overall...for the first year and a half that I owned it. And then one day I actually figured out how to truly use the paddle shifters - and talk about opening my eyes! My other Camaro, the garage queen, is a manual and I do prefer that action, but damn, I learned a new respect for the A6 trannies in these cars.

[xstuntman]

Eleven years and two blown out knees later I'm glad I got the auto.
Not sure I appreciate Gods sense of humor on the subject tho.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Automatic for me! Bought it because I have bad knees and didn't want to be dealing with the clutch anymore in traffic. Plus I have always heard, and know, you will never out shift an auto no matter how good you are! Unless you have a Lenco or Jericho transmission suck as the prostock cars run. Plus with the paddle shifters she is a ton of fun if you want to drive it as a manual. Running a TSP Stage 3 LS3 cam with a 4500 stall with a trans cooler and she is a blast to drive. It just come down to each persons preference.