The first 4 months of owning my car - pics / vids included - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Crowley · 09-29-2009, 10:35 AM

Thoughts on my car after having it for almost 4 months.

I ordered my car back on October 13th 2008 from Classic Chevy in Grapevine Texas. A lot of the other local dealers were charger 5k over MSRP or wouldn’t say what they would be selling for, but it would be at Market Value for when it comes out. Classic told me straight up MSRP and I signed the paperwork.

I picked the car up on June 6th 2009 from Classic. I drove her home and couldn’t wait to detail her and get back in the drivers seat. Coming from a BMW 135i, I couldn’t help but notice the weight of the car, but it handled pretty good for its weight. The car was put together really well and the only problems I could see was that the trunk wouldn’t close correctly and the paint quality wasn’t really that great. The trunk issue was an easy fix by adjusting the stops, the paint issue; I’d have to live with as I was enjoying the car to much.

After I had about 1000 miles on her, I decided it was time to do some upgrades. I contacted Andy at ADM Performance and had him install the ARH Catted system and tune the car. Andy was great and I knew that for any additional work on the car, I was going to have him do the work. He did a stock dyno and then the install. When he was done I had about 400rwhp and 400rwtq.

With the newfound power and sound, I enjoyed driving the car even more, however I needed more power and decided to reach out to ADM Performance again and see what he could do for me.

After the car had about 2000 miles on her, I gave the keys to Andy once again. This time he was going to install a Magnacharger 2300, ADM Blower cam, KB BAP, 160* Thermostat, and his Street intake. I also decided to go with his boost gauge. ADM tried a few different pulleys and since this was my daily driver and I wanted nice and safe, we decided on the stock 3.8 pulley. The results were outstanding, 553rwhp and 508rwtq. I get comments all the time that people can’t tell if it came from the factory like this or not. This is a testament to the work Andy does. It looks very neat and professional. Gas mileage has not suffered much at all (as long as I can keep the peddle from hitting the floor). Drivability is excellent for a daily driver and when I do put the peddle to the floor; it takes off like a bat out of hell.

Below is the stock 3.8 pulley. This is what I went with since this is my daily driver. The tune is very conservative and this is what I will run for a while.

Below is the comparision between the 3.6 and 3.4 pullys: With the 3.4 pulley we had belt slip up top or we would have made well over 600rwhp

.. look at the TQ curve for both of these ... really nice

I'd like to maybe try the 3.6 eventually since we had no slip with that ... but again .. for my daily driver we want safe

Below is the 3.4 with belt slip (see post above ). This is compared to my stock dyno and my dyno with the ARH catted system and tune.

The sound of the car with the ARH system and the stock axel back was ok, but a little too high and slightly raspy for my taste. Enter ADM again. They took the Magnaflow 3” system and matted it to the ARH system and utilized the Magnaflow xpipe. The sound was incredible. During normal driving it is pretty tame, but you know you have done something. When you get on the gas, you are rewarded with a nice deep growl (that seems to scare children).

Start up and rev to 4.5k from outside the car.

Start-up and a short drive – windows up

Getting on it a little through a few gears – windows up

This is the current state of the car. I have gone to 2 cars and coffee events here in Dallas and the car in general seems to gather a crowd (which I would expect of a good looking, highly anticipated car). Comments include how good of a job GM did inside and out to surprises on how much power the car puts down with 6.5 lbs of boost. I am enjoying this car very much and look forward to my future plans which will include suspension work and new wheels/tires or some sort of upgrade for wider meats. Traction is a definite issue right now, but sort of a fun issue to have.

To sum it all up, I think GM did a pretty good job with the camaro. They stayed pretty true to the concept. The car gets a lot of looks and currently you almost get celeberty status

. It has it's weaknesses, but you have to remember everything you are getting for the current pricetag !

I look forward to seeing my car progressing and watching what others do with their cars.

Crowley

Camaro509 · 09-29-2009, 10:54 AM

Great write up, thanks for sharing it all with us!

No other internals replaced/upgraded than what you mention?

Crowley · 09-29-2009, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camaro509

Great write up, thanks for sharing it all with us!

No other internals replaced/upgraded than what you mention?

No .. only what is mentioned.

Thanks,
Crowley

Susantroy1 · 09-29-2009, 02:51 PM

Crowley,

Very impressive!! Thanks for sharing

Number_9 · 09-29-2009, 02:54 PM

Crowley - we need to get our ADM cousins together sometime - they should know each other!

hellraiser · 09-29-2009, 02:59 PM

Now thats a muscle car...awsome! Just curious how much did you spend in mods..

caverman · 09-29-2009, 03:34 PM

Sounds wicked!

Can't wait to see it person some day.

PQ · 09-29-2009, 03:46 PM

I don't think your daughter liked it.

rjdapilmoto · 09-29-2009, 03:51 PM

The car sounds great! I'm anxiously waiting for mine to arrive...I got the VIN# from the dealer today.

My2010Maro · 09-29-2009, 03:55 PM

Im curious about the price if you can shoot me a PM or something. Thanks. It is a very impressive car, im sure it is a blast to drive

caverman · 09-29-2009, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by My2010Maro

Im curious about the price if you can shoot me a PM or something. Thanks. It is a very impressive car, im sure it is a blast to drive

You might want to give Andy a call at www.ADMPerformance.com and you he can talk to you about your options.

Not to say Crowley can't give you the answer.....not trying to step on toes.

Crowley · 09-30-2009, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by My2010Maro

Im curious about the price if you can shoot me a PM or something. Thanks. It is a very impressive car, im sure it is a blast to drive

Ping Andy at ADM .. he can steer you in the right direction and give you all of the answers.

Thanks,
Crowley

Jim Thompson · 09-30-2009, 08:54 AM

sweet ride and great story. keep it coming

ffrcobra_65 · 09-30-2009, 10:21 AM

Awesome! Thanks for the detailed write up. I can only imagine what your car feels like now when you drop the hammer. How is the traction?

09-29-2009, 10:35 AM	#1
Crowley Okie doke Drives: 2012 GT500 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: McKinney Texas Posts: 3,568 View My Garage	The first 4 months of owning my car - pics / vids included Thoughts on my car after having it for almost 4 months. I ordered my car back on October 13th 2008 from Classic Chevy in Grapevine Texas. A lot of the other local dealers were charger 5k over MSRP or wouldn’t say what they would be selling for, but it would be at Market Value for when it comes out. Classic told me straight up MSRP and I signed the paperwork. I picked the car up on June 6th 2009 from Classic. I drove her home and couldn’t wait to detail her and get back in the drivers seat. Coming from a BMW 135i, I couldn’t help but notice the weight of the car, but it handled pretty good for its weight. The car was put together really well and the only problems I could see was that the trunk wouldn’t close correctly and the paint quality wasn’t really that great. The trunk issue was an easy fix by adjusting the stops, the paint issue; I’d have to live with as I was enjoying the car to much. After I had about 1000 miles on her, I decided it was time to do some upgrades. I contacted Andy at ADM Performance and had him install the ARH Catted system and tune the car. Andy was great and I knew that for any additional work on the car, I was going to have him do the work. He did a stock dyno and then the install. When he was done I had about 400rwhp and 400rwtq. With the newfound power and sound, I enjoyed driving the car even more, however I needed more power and decided to reach out to ADM Performance again and see what he could do for me. After the car had about 2000 miles on her, I gave the keys to Andy once again. This time he was going to install a Magnacharger 2300, ADM Blower cam, KB BAP, 160* Thermostat, and his Street intake. I also decided to go with his boost gauge. ADM tried a few different pulleys and since this was my daily driver and I wanted nice and safe, we decided on the stock 3.8 pulley. The results were outstanding, 553rwhp and 508rwtq. I get comments all the time that people can’t tell if it came from the factory like this or not. This is a testament to the work Andy does. It looks very neat and professional. Gas mileage has not suffered much at all (as long as I can keep the peddle from hitting the floor). Drivability is excellent for a daily driver and when I do put the peddle to the floor; it takes off like a bat out of hell. Below is the stock 3.8 pulley. This is what I went with since this is my daily driver. The tune is very conservative and this is what I will run for a while. Below is the comparision between the 3.6 and 3.4 pullys: With the 3.4 pulley we had belt slip up top or we would have made well over 600rwhp .. look at the TQ curve for both of these ... really nice I'd like to maybe try the 3.6 eventually since we had no slip with that ... but again .. for my daily driver we want safe Below is the 3.4 with belt slip (see post above ). This is compared to my stock dyno and my dyno with the ARH catted system and tune. The sound of the car with the ARH system and the stock axel back was ok, but a little too high and slightly raspy for my taste. Enter ADM again. They took the Magnaflow 3” system and matted it to the ARH system and utilized the Magnaflow xpipe. The sound was incredible. During normal driving it is pretty tame, but you know you have done something. When you get on the gas, you are rewarded with a nice deep growl (that seems to scare children). Start up and rev to 4.5k from outside the car. Start-up and a short drive – windows up Getting on it a little through a few gears – windows up This is the current state of the car. I have gone to 2 cars and coffee events here in Dallas and the car in general seems to gather a crowd (which I would expect of a good looking, highly anticipated car). Comments include how good of a job GM did inside and out to surprises on how much power the car puts down with 6.5 lbs of boost. I am enjoying this car very much and look forward to my future plans which will include suspension work and new wheels/tires or some sort of upgrade for wider meats. Traction is a definite issue right now, but sort of a fun issue to have. To sum it all up, I think GM did a pretty good job with the camaro. They stayed pretty true to the concept. The car gets a lot of looks and currently you almost get celeberty status . It has it's weaknesses, but you have to remember everything you are getting for the current pricetag ! I look forward to seeing my car progressing and watching what others do with their cars. Crowley __________________

09-29-2009, 10:54 AM	#2
Camaro509 Drives: 2010 2SS/RS Black Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Kansas Posts: 1,085	Great write up, thanks for sharing it all with us! No other internals replaced/upgraded than what you mention? __________________ Understeer, Oversteer, Wheel Alignment (Camber etc), Torque, Horsepower, Camaro Fold for team 11108 to help find a cure! Folding@home Stanford's Research DC Program.

09-29-2009, 02:54 PM	#5
Number_9 Drives: 2010 2SS/RS L99 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Trophy Club, TX Posts: 1,464 View My Garage	Crowley - we need to get our ADM cousins together sometime - they should know each other! __________________

09-29-2009, 03:34 PM	#7
caverman Drives: '69 SS Convertible Join Date: May 2009 Location: DFW, TX Posts: 7,111	Sounds wicked! Can't wait to see it person some day. __________________ *-2010 Camaro* 2SS \| M6 \| VR w/White Stripes \| 1 3/4" KOOKS - 3" Magnaflow \| LPE 3.91 gears \| ADM tuned \| Halltech w/ADM Scoop \| Spohn/BMR Trailing Arm/Toe Rod \| BC Coilovers\| Pedders FE4 ZL1 swaybars \| Cradle/Diff/Radius Rod bushings \| VMax TB \| Morimoto Projectors \| MGW shifter \| Red Calipers Build Journal

09-29-2009, 03:46 PM	#8
PQ Booooosted. Drives: 2010 Supercharged SS Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Mobile, AL Posts: 36,716 View My Garage	I don't think your daughter liked it. __________________

09-29-2009, 02:51 PM	#4
Susantroy1 To All Veterans Drives: 2010 2LT RS Inferno Orange Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: New Port Richey Posts: 471	Crowley, Very impressive!! Thanks for sharing

09-29-2009, 02:59 PM	#6
hellraiser Drives: benz Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: canada Posts: 110	Now thats a muscle car...awsome! Just curious how much did you spend in mods..

09-29-2009, 03:51 PM	#9
rjdapilmoto DAP-ONE [COTW - 12/23/13] Drives: 2010 - 2SS/RS IOM Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 2,907 View My Garage	The car sounds great! I'm anxiously waiting for mine to arrive...I got the VIN# from the dealer today.

09-29-2009, 03:55 PM	#10
My2010Maro Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS RS Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 39	Im curious about the price if you can shoot me a PM or something. Thanks. It is a very impressive car, im sure it is a blast to drive

09-30-2009, 08:54 AM	#13
Jim Thompson Thornton Chevrolet Drives: Golf Cart Join Date: May 2009 Location: 10 mins west of Atlanta, GA Posts: 339	sweet ride and great story. keep it coming

09-30-2009, 10:21 AM	#14
ffrcobra_65 Account Suspended Drives: SuperCharged 2SS/RS IOM MN6 Join Date: May 2009 Location: CA Posts: 5,094	Awesome! Thanks for the detailed write up. I can only imagine what your car feels like now when you drop the hammer. How is the traction?

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Camaro Product Manager - interview	Moose	5th Gen Camaro SS LS LT General Discussions	11	04-04-2012 06:10 PM
Getting Antsy	Doc	5th Gen Camaro SS LS LT General Discussions	26	08-19-2009 11:49 AM
1st Car Show and meeting Al Oppenheiser!	scrming	5th Gen Camaro SS LS LT General Discussions	44	08-17-2009 04:46 PM
#4768 - Delivered and Made Ready the Right Way!	Number_9	5th Gen Camaro SS LS LT General Discussions	62	07-16-2009 02:42 AM
"The car of the future may turn out to be no car at all."	Scotsman	General Automotive + Other Cars Discussion	2	11-03-2007 12:22 AM