Driver Break-in period

[Corpunk]

Question to the new and recent owners out there:


With every new car I've owned there has been a learning curve. Eventually I get to the point where I feel comfortable and can maneuver effortlessly. It took me a short while to get used to my previous car, a zippy ’06 Civic Si and once I did I had a great time with it.

The Camaro, however, has challenged me more than any other. This isn’t my first Camaro but it’s been a while. My first was a severely beat-up ’70 and a half that most of the teenagers in my High school had owned at one point or another that I sold after I couldn’t figure out how to re-wire the dashboard instrument cluster (long story). No, this Camaro is different and I’m just now, after over 6 months of daily driving, getting used to it.

First off the dammed thing scared the crap out of me. I wasn’t used to the power or the seating position. I felt I was driving an F-16 from the back of the plane with the after-burners always on. Once I got a handle on throttle positions at different speeds life was a lot easier. And now that I’ve had time with the car I’m not as nervous parking it in the garage or breaking the rear tires loose.

So now I can enjoy the handling and the power without worrying about it flying out from under me, but it took a while. Ya gotta respect the car or it’ll kill ya!

Am I alone in taking longer to get used to their Camaro?


Cheers

[Steve Dallas]

That long, probably.

It took me about a week before I truly felt comfortable. Part of it was finding the shift points, and being smooth in my shifts, both upshift and downshifting. Though I've driven cars with wide tires before, it'd been a while, and the car definately wanted to follow "ruts" in the road. And, learning the blind spots and how to deal with them took a little while as well.

[aet08]

took me two days of my girlfriend at the time complaining about hitting her head on the headrest... before i told her to get out of my car. I still drive the same lol

[stevea]

The only thing I found different was the smaller windows. Alot of people make such a big deal over the "power", "blind spots" etc etc. It's a car, granted a nice car, a great handling car, fast car. But when it's all said and done..... it's a car. Some people can drive and enjoy it but seems alot can't.

"First off the dammed thing scared the crap out of me"

Come on dude, how can you master something you are scared of?

[4_EVER_3]

The only thing that I had to get used to was the stiff suspension. I owned a 2001 Monte SS before I ordered mine and there is a huge difference. I think the tires leave the road on the bad highways we have up here in the freezer called Fargo!

[OHIOSS]

The only time I had a problem was pulling the car out of the dealer showroom. I ordered my Camaro in January 2009 and it finally came in on 6/17/09. The dealer put the car in the showroom so other customers could check it out. I had not driven the new Camaro yet because when I ordered it there were hardly none on the road. I was REALLY nervous trying to judge the distances. It took me a couple of days to get used to everything.

Russ

[Scottishgames]

Originally Posted by stevea

The only thing I found different was the smaller windows. Alot of people make such a big deal over the "power", "blind spots" etc etc. It's a car, granted a nice car, a great handling car, fast car. But when it's all said and done..... it's a car. Some people can drive and enjoy it but seems alot can't.

"First off the dammed thing scared the crap out of me"

Come on dude, how can you master something you are scared of?

I also heard the same things about the small windows and blind spots but having a streetrod with a 4 inch chop and blind spots it was easy for me to get used to driving the Camaro.

[dcarlos55]

Took me about 2 days to get used to the clutch. It's been 30+ years since I last had a stick shift car.

I read a lot of stuff about visibility issues and was a little worried about that until I actually drove one. Wasn't an issue for me at all.

The best part of the whole thing was the first time I really got on it with my wife in the car. Her response was "Do it again". Gotta love that.

The only other thing I can say about the Camaro is "I LOVE THIS CAR".

[Macrackie]

I have 2000 miles on in about 6 weeks very comfortable with everything about the car except I can't seem to master the clutch when trying to drive slow around town. Still stall it once in awhile and 1-2 and 2-3 shift is jerky. Just seems to have a funky clutch feel. My first experiance with a hydrolic clutch setup. Stomping on the thing and banging the gears all is well.

[SILVERHAWK]

Yeah, a week is about right. I tried out everything in that time period. Took the car out of traction control just to see what I could do and not do with all the power. Never know when that system might fail. This is by far the most powerful car I have ever owned. Far cry from my '97 V6 or my Interceptor.

[halo8hkk]

the lack of visibility was my only issue but only took a cupple of days to get used to.

[Johnnyma45]

I'm always trying to judge the curbs in front and around me, but besides that the low position doesn't bother me. Got used to it fast!

[BigCarrot]

I went from a 180 HP barely weighing a ton Toyota Celica to a 426 HP over 2 Ton Chevy Camaro. The power took some getting used to, but it's fun now!

[shl4Z28]

Originally Posted by dcarlos55

The best part of the whole thing was the first time I really got on it with my wife in the car. Her response was "Do it again". Gotta love that.

Hope you took the Scotchgaurd option