After 3 years with my V6, up to a SS: Upgrade Review

[A Town]

And it begins.

[thepirate]

Good review. I upgraded after a year with the v6, but I did LOVE the v6. It is an amazing car. Just can't wait to get headers and a tune for my ls3. I'm excited for these new triple y header thing a ma bobs that people are talking about.

[bigd1276]

I did the exact same thing at the 3 year mark. Loved my 2LT RS but decided it was time to trade up to the roar of the SS. That was a year ago and have no regrets on both owning my 2LT or trading up.

[TSSUNAMI]

Great review OP!

Congrats on your SS, welcome to the Permagrin club.

[Cam#7]

To the original post, I would assume the starting dead zone on your new Camaro is the "Hill Assist". I had rental Toureg recently that had hill assist and I didn't like it one bit. I have 2011 2LT manual and thought hill assist would be nice, but not now.

[TastyBake]

Originally Posted by DarkneSS

I had my V6 for 3 years and 50,000 miles (49,345) and yesterday I traded up to a 2SS/RS. I figured I'd post my honest review as it might be helpful to someone.

The SS handles the same, as it should. It does seem tighter than the stock V6 suspension but it is not a night and day difference. I had BMR springs on the V6 that will go on my SS when I get the chance, I imagine it will still handle the same.

The V6 brakes much shorter than the 8, I could tell that immediately. However the pedal feel is softer and mushy making it difficult to achieve precision without a lot of seat time. The SS brakes are more precise and the pedal feels stiff and thus more sporty.

Interestingly there is also a big difference in gas pedal feel, not necessarily power related. The SS requires you press the pedal slightly more to achieve more than about 5-10% throttle. The 6 doesn't have this sort of "deadzone." I'm assuming it must be a sort of safety feature on the SS because once you press that pedal far enough, the kraken is released.

This thing PULLS. The V6 LLT legitimately pulls you and your passenger into your seats. The V8 LS3 however smashes you in. The difference will put a huge smile on an enthusiast's face, no doubt. It really scares you at higher MPH because you really start to feel it pulling your body into the seat and you realize how insanely fast it can go. The 6 creeps up to higher MPH and gives you a chance to think about what you are doing, the SS DOES NOT.

So all in all, if you can afford it and you are a person who likes to go fast, the SS is your car.

I must say though, if you don't drive like you're in the fast and the furious and speed isn't too big a deal for you, the V6 is probably actually the better car overall. A loaded up 2LT RS should be just fine for the average driver. The SS is really for the person who tinkers with their car every weekend, who doesn't know how many times they've been to the track, or how many tickets they have gotten...

When I rented an identical SS (fully loaded like mine), I had the same experiences. You had to press it further down to get that 5% power but it was plenty.
The V6 has a delay, not a dead zone but the ported throttle body fixes that.

But you must respect SS's power. If are not used to that power and floor it, you will go from 15 to 50 mph in just 3 or so seconds. Gotta be able to react quick enough.

When cruising the streets, the SS behaved almost the exactly the same as the V6 but with a *feel* of less low range than I would have expected probably due to extra weight (dunno). Turning was ok to me.

[oachalon]

The throttle response is from the torque management that gm has in the tune for the v8s. If you get a tune that "lack" of low end torque disappears. The factory tune limits the amount of torque at lower rpms.

Night and day difference before and after a tune.

[beany323]

i went from a 6 to the 1le. not feeling what you saw. I hit the gas, it goes. like a bat.
granted my 6 was a auto and this a stick.

for me the cost of the upgrade was way worth it. it took the pain of skipping the zl1 easier.

[DRKS1D3]

Originally Posted by suzook

Nothing wrong with the v6...its a great motor...but.....i feed my v8 regular, and average 22 mpg. Im getting 26 on hwy, and 18 city

You put 87 octane in your SS? Man, you're killing the entire experience.

[Wolvie70]

Originally Posted by yellowrs

+1
Getting around 18 mpg in the city and up to 30 mpg on the freeway

U are getting 30 mpg from the SS? At what speed, I assume not at freeway speeds

[suzook]

Originally Posted by DRKS1D3

You put 87 octane in your SS? Man, you're killing the entire experience.

Its fine with me...people over exaggerate the effects of 87...not to mention..everyone is gonna get 87 instead of the 93 they are paying for....trust me...it happens everywhere...all the time.

[DRKS1D3]

Originally Posted by suzook

Its fine with me...people over exaggerate the effects of 87...not to mention..everyone is gonna get 87 instead of the 93 they are paying for....trust me...it happens everywhere...all the time.

So all the talk of the fuse pull on here is just a myth? Unlikely. I'm not causing a fight or anything , I just don't understand why you'd buy an SS and run 87 in it all the time. If you're trying to save money, there are better alternatives. Why not just buy the V6 and save yourself a Hell of a lot more money there? Anyone else want to chime in here?

[blackswan]

I think he's saying that the gas stations are giving you 87 even though you're paying for 93. Could be...

[DRKS1D3]

Originally Posted by blackswan

I think he's saying that the gas stations are giving you 87 even though you're paying for 93. Could be...

That is quite the conspiracy theory.