Baby it? Muscle it around? Beat it? Race it?

[Hemlawk]

I'm wondering how you guys treat your Camaro. Is there a line that you won't cross? Is there a difference between muscling it around and beating the heck out of it?

I have friends with opposite opinions on performance cars. Friend #1 says they are performance machines built to withstand the punishment of a lead foot. Friend #2 says they are delicate and not ment to be beat on. So friend #1 drives his 2001 T/A like it's stolen and friend #2 drivers his 2004 GTO like a grandma. Personally I would be in the middle. Drive it like a normal person and get on it once and a while.

[Easy Go]

Originally Posted by Hemlawk

...Drive it like a normal person and get on it once and a while.

That's exactly what I do. I rarely let the engine go above 4000 rpm and 90% of the time I keep it under 3000. I'm still at 1500-1600 miles after a couple months of ownership so I'm cautious about being too aggressive with it - but I think there's nothing wrong with stretching your legs once in a while.

[2ndgenz28]

Nothing wrong with driving it nice and enjoying the ride.

But if you can't beat it like a redheaded step chip and have it survive, something is wrong.

[2010 SSRS]

I drive mine normal most of the time and then when I feel like getting crazy, I hammer through the gears, these Camaro's are just so awesome, they can be enjoyed by anyones driving style

[Rogue Leader]

I drive It like I stole it 100% of the time, GM Engineered it to take this kind of abuse.

I sold my 2000 Z51 Vette with 100k miles on it, they were the hardest miles a street car have ever seen. I broke nearly every traffic law imagineable in it with a smile on my face!

[Angrybird 12]

Mine won't be raced, but it won't be babied either...

[full of days]

I burble around town short shifting at or under the speed limit.

On ramps to the interstate is the usual rip thru the power band.

My exhaust/header/intake combo really draws attention (both good and bad) and I dont really step on it in town. Country roads on a Saturday morning are another thing all together

[ljustin293]

Originally Posted by Skyman 08

Mine won't be raced, but it won't be babied either...

most of the time I drive normal..but I get on it every now and then.

[Vinnysrt8]

I know when i get mine ill take eneasy on it for a 1000 miles then im going to drive it like i stole it just like my jeep.

[Andro]

I race her then baby her after she wins.Lol.

[Dave Coyle]

To each his own! Every one has there own idea on how to break in their car. I broke mine in like I plan on driving it, some times just normal driving and most of the time hammering it. I had to put her away for the winter with 970 miles on her and she is really just starting to come alive!!!!

[Merc]

Drive like I stole it most of the time, which includes trips to the track a few times a year. Been parked for 3 months now in the garage. Baby it time of the year.

[Nicholas]

If your going to baby a Camaro get a freakin LT... I anticipated for over a month waiting for break in then around 1500 miles ive been driving it like I stole it... these cars are built to stand this kind of performance.. why bother buying a muscle car if your going to drive like gramps?

[robertway]

Depends upon what you consider beating on it.

If you're dropping the clutch launching from traffic lights at 3000 rpms,
If you're downshifting without rev matching and lunging everyone in the car forward,
If you're lugging the engine during your "spirited driving" instead of choosing the right gear,
You're beating on it in a way that will shorten its useful life

If you're easing into your hard launches so you hook up good and avoid wheel hop,
If you're running the car through its rpm range into the 5000s when accelerating and running through the gears,
If you're downshifting and rev matching coming into a turn and then ripping it through the turn,
If you're choosing gears that keep the car in it power band when driving it hard and not lugging it, and you use quality gas and maintain a regular maintenance cycle (oil changes),
You're not beating on the car, you're driving it with the intention it was built for, performance.

After only about 15 miles on my car I spent the first 500 miles working her through her paces. I commute on the interstate everyday and every third exit on the highway I would drop off and get right back on, each time starting from a rolling start in first and then getting on it hard until I was sure I got hooked up and then opened the throttle and ran it up through the high 5000's before shifting and running up through third which brought me to a speed "around" the flow of traffic. Did this over and over again to and from work, by the time I had 500 miles on it I had probably 35-40 of these really hard accelerations to break it in and then I changed the oil at 1300 miles, wanted to change it right around 500 but didn't get to it until 1300. I don't consider what I did "beating on the car". Dropping the clutch, wheel hopping at launch, downshifting without rev-matching (big jolt to the drivetrain), and lugging it all over the place is beating on the car. In my daily driving I mostly just cruise around, but I also look for EVERY reason to run her up into the 5000s, within the confines of the law that is