The Adventures of my Camaro in China

[lscamaro]

The ported throttle body is definitely a nice upgrade. Id do a little research on the vmax black isolator and see if the install is for you. Thats another mod thats not that hard to install at all and provides great gains. The iceolator is also small enough that you could fit it in a carry on lol.

Whats the process for inspection that you have to go through?

[rocknroll_jeph]

Originally Posted by lscamaro

The ported throttle body is definitely a nice upgrade. Id do a little research on the vmax black isolator and see if the install is for you. Thats another mod thats not that hard to install at all and provides great gains. The iceolator is also small enough that you could fit it in a carry on lol.

Whats the process for inspection that you have to go through?

Thanks, I will defiantly look into that. My wife spends money on high end bags and shoes, I spend it on my car! Anything that will make me smile even more is usually worth it.

As for the inspection, they check to see that all of the measurements are correct for the wheel size as well as light brightness and level, they check the exhaust gas (don't really know what that is called) and see if the engine bay has correct components. I will have to put on the stock air filter when I get it inspected. Basically, any kind of modification isn't allowed, but usually they don't care or don't know what has been changed. Especially in a car that there is only a handful of in the country. In the past I have had to go back a few times because I didn't revert the car to stock at the inspection.

[prtsman133]

Very cool story. Keep enjoying the Camaro!!

[rocknroll_jeph]

Today's update. I am on vacation! I'm a teacher, we need spring break as much as the kids do. That is why I have been so active with my Camaro lately. Anyway, today I had my lower splitter installed. I don't think it will do much for downforce but it looks good, and that makes me happy. I have ordered a rear spoiler to match but that hasn't arrived yet. I think that will be all for cosmetic changes. I'm very pleased with the way my car looks and drives now. I just hope that I won't have to take it all off when it comes time to get the car inspected. My last car I didn't modify nearly as much.

[rocknroll_jeph]

I finally installed one of the last exterior modifications that I have planned for my Camaro. A carbon fiber spoiler... installation wasn't too difficult- thanks to reading through some build threads I found on this site. Others have complained of incorrect fit when buying cheap parts. Here in China we don't have much of a selection when it comes to getting parts for our cars and I went with the cheapest one I could find anyway! It was just over $120, which included shipping. The fit was a bit tight, but over all once I got it aligned it went right into place. The hardest part was getting the stock spoiler off. There is a very annoying retaining tab which was a challenge to manipulate. In the end it took me about 45 minutes to start the process, realize I should have looked online for directions, read directions, find tools and then actually do the work. Oh yeah, and it was my birthday. Being along and working on my car was a good present to myself.

[rocknroll_jeph]

Recently I have been going on some fun roadtrips. This weekend I went up to the great wall. It was hard to get a pic with the wall in the back but I'll attach what I have. Has anyone else taken their car to interesting places? I wouldn't mind seeing other member's cars as well.

[homero89]

Originally Posted by rocknroll_jeph

Recently I have been going on some fun roadtrips. This weekend I went up to the great wall. It was hard to get a pic with the wall in the back but I'll attach what I have. Has anyone else taken their car to interesting places? I wouldn't mind seeing other member's cars as well.

Damn, your camaro looks super clean. I read your story and have to say car ownership outside the states suck. i am originally from Colombia, and an imported car there usually cost 3 times what it costs here.
Would def like to see pics of your car in more places in china. its very interesting seeing a muscle car in places where small cars seem the norm.

[rocknroll_jeph]

Well, it was bound to happen. My car was rear ended... the lady driving the Kia SUV said she thought she could make it around me (but obviously couldn't) when I was waiting to make a left hand turn. She was extremely kind and appolegetic, as well as being the manager for an insurance company so I didn't file a report. The damage was very small at least, and her insurance covers everything. I don't know what it would be in the states, but it is costing over $1200 just to replace the bumper. It has been nearly 2 weeks and I don't have my car back! It is difficult to get parts in China, eventhough the car was offically bought (non-gray market). Hopefully I will be back terrorizing the roads soon!

Having already waited 2 weeks, the initial shock of being in my first accident has already worn off and looking at the damage now is laughable, still at the time it felt like my car was totaled!

[rocknroll_jeph]

Today was an epic day for me! I finally got the afterburner taillights wired up, I installed them over a year ago and have been too busy or distracted to finish the job. I don't know why I waited so long, I just want to stare at them all the time now that they are functioning! It took me more than a few hours to put them in the tail lamps last winter, and I don't feel too comfortable around wiring so I just left them be. Today I took my car to my new favorite shop and they put 3 guys on it and it still took them nearly and hour to complete- and didn't charge me for the work. I couldn't be happier in the end. Well, not true... I became happier later because when I got home I also received my Vitesse throttle control. After few minutes of fighting, I realized that you need to be smarter, not stronger and installed it properly in about 5 minutes, and what a difference it made! feels like the car is a couple hundred pounds lighter! Yeah, it was a good day! Thats not all. Before going home I also visited where my friend works which is kind of like a Walmart of supercars here in China... a row of Aston Martins... next row is Bentleys then Rolls Royces .. Ferrari Enzo here, Laferrari there... a few lambos... its pretty much gear head heaven. Surprisingly amongst all of the super cars there is a gen 1 Camaro with a massive Weiland blower on it. How or why that car is in China is beyond me... can't be driven on the street and won't be raced. Kind of a shame really. Still I loved seeing it. I was wearing my camaro 5 hoodie today, unfortunately i had a jacket on over it. Oh, and the weather was nice and there was little pollution! I love living in China and I love my Camaro!

[Buck Heard]

Great story Jeph. Subscribed!

[SSE 4 2SS]

Holy Mackeral, I'm thinking you have the patience of JOB... Awesome read...

[Bad@ssCamaro]

Patience has its rewards. Congrats on making it through the bureaucracy and finally getting to experience and enjoy Camaro ownership. Thanks for sharing your story and helping some of us appreciate what we have here in the States. (except for cheap labor )


Bad@ss

[sbubbaklein]

great story, love the pics of China, post some more

[rocknroll_jeph]

Wow, it has been a great couple of days for my Camaro. On Saturday I installed the Afterburner tail lights and have been in love with the new look every since. I attached a picture with a bit of Chinese architecture in the back ground for those wanting to see more of Camaros in China. I also added the Vitesse throttle control and was very pleased with the result. I had it turned up to 5 for most of the weekend. I also received my Hypertech tuner on the same day, but because my PC is dead and no one I know uses a PC anymore I had to wait until I got to work on Monday to update it. Many people recommended me using a different tuner but I still went with Hypertech- even though I think the name is a bit silly: Hyper, Power and Max all in the same name... it seems like something a middle school student came up with, but names aside for me the device is more user friendly, I don't need a PC to use it, it had everything I wanted and needed in the box as well as being cheaper than the others out there. I now have the car tuned for my K&N CAI, premium fuel as well as increasing the shift firmness. Now my car is absolutely amazing. To me it feels like after using the same razor blade to shave for a few months then switching to a sharp new blade. It does the same job but it just feels better in so many ways. My wife complains all the time and questions why I keep buying stuff for the car and didn't just get a "better car". I think most of us here know the feeling of starting with a great platform and making it tailored to suit you, create the image the way you want, doing (most of) the work yourself. It is more rewarding to drive and makes me feel better knowing that I have my car set up just the way I want. My car is nearly perfect. After reprogramming the car I dialed the throttle control down to 3 and it is an absolute joy to drive. The shifts are now more aggressive but not annoying, the response is just right and there is now more lower end torque so when given a bit of throttle at low RPMs it stays in gear more often instead of down shifting and revving up. I think that this new setting may result in wanting new tires because they seem to break away quite easily. Could also be because they are P-zeros and it is just around freezing now. I'll see how they react in the warmer months.

My car is my daily driver, and I couldn't have asked for a better car or set up for me. It makes going to work a pleasure and getting off work something to look forward to. The car started as a blank slate and I feel I created something that represents me and who I am. the car is stunning to look at, a blast to drive and hopefully will be with me for a long time.

Enjoy the pictures of a car set up in metric, Americans... Do your speedometers go up to 240?