Well, "Robin" and I broke up (my '15 USB RCF)



Traded her in for a new (slightly used) 2016 Chevy Camaro SS



I would've never thought about it...never even looked at the Gen 6 Camaro. As a matter of fact, I was actually at the Chevy dealer with my 24 year old son, Keith Jr.,
and we were checking it out. It's fully loaded. 6.2L V-8. 455 HP/455 Ft.Lbs. Torque. 0-60 4 secs. $38K!
The SS was less than what I put down on my RC?!

I was shocked at how similar it drove, felt compared to the Lexus. All that and more - except a bit less refined (more loud and obnoxious?) - which I actually like

All of the amenities - Heated/Cool seats, decent sound, RECARO seats, etc.

Anyway - I had a blast with my RCF in the two years that I had her. It was also much more of a pleasure to get the opportunity to meet some of you guys at
the Escondido meet this past year!

Keith Gipson - signing out!

 

Congrats on the new car I guess. Hopefully buyers remorse wont set in after a week.

Don't Let their performance specs wow you. I raced two SS camero (some bolt on) on the drag way and beat them both by .2 and .3 sec (they ran 13 and 13.1)
If you plan to mod, then thats a different story with cheap infinite potential

 

Yeah - so far so good. My biggest concern was the ride quality. Took it on a trip up north (7 hours) and it was pretty good. Those Recaro seats are very comfortable.
So far the only complaint I have is the visibility - the top has that "Camaro chop" to it - but they did address it somewhat in the Gen 6 (previous ones were really bad)

First mod is a super-charger (either Procharger or Magnuson, haven't made up my mind yet). +150 HP. The car is already "torquey" as hell.
I especially like the TONS of very affordable, tried and true after-market parts. Plus - it's a Chevy, so working on it is going to be a piece of cake.

Admittedly - another concern is Quality/Reliability down the line. I mean - my RCF was a (Toyota) Lexus. How much more solid can you get?

But that's offset by the "bang for the buck", lower maintenance, insurance, car payment, etc. So far I don't feel that I've given up that much with the trade.

Added benefit is that this car is decidedly kicking the crap out the BMW M4 in terms of value/performance. Not that I place much on the car reviews - but again, at $38K out the door, the
value is hard to beat. Will be taking her out to Willow in the summer to compare to my old RC.

Best wishes!

 

congrats. i like the way camaro looks from the outside and the performance. but once you look under neath the car and some of the interior parts, you start to see where they saved money. I help friends with camaros and mustangs put on exhaust and stuff like that. especially compared to the rc-f. not biased at all, another car that is made even better from underneath is the m3. i guess I'm picky with things like that. i spend a lot of time underneath the car cleaning it from time to time.

 

from what you described, i think the ss does suit you better. Enjoy the new ride

 

Congrats on the new ride !
if you don't mind me asking, how much did you get your 15 rcf as a trade in?
new ride looks really nice too

 

The Camaro is a great car, you will definitely enjoy it!

 

Congrats! Definitely take it to Cunningham motor sports for a cam and blower package!

I actually raced my fiends 16ss and it was fairly close, I love the rcf but it's missing that raw power factor although it's quick. This is why I haven't sold my Shelby 😅

 

Got mid blue book, $55K. It had over 30K miles on it, so I was okay with what I got.

 

Nice change and enjoy your new ride and it is a great thing to have choices in what one wants to drive.

 

Congrats! I've seriously been considering the new ZL1, the car is an absolute beast and puts down some serious power and numbers. I've seen a few claims where it's running mid 3's 0-60 and low to mid 11 second quarter mile times for about 65K. I'm enjoying the RCF but looking for more performance, just kind of worried about "downgrading" from a Lexus but I'm not even sure that's the case anymore.

 

Looks Nice (though I've said i'll Never get another Black car) & I couldn't imagine going from Lexus to a Camaro but it sounds like you know Exactly what you got & all the lil' Extra Goodies you can get to make it Really GO. It Definitely is Great to be able to get all these bolt on's at a Reasonable Price & NOT have to wait 4-6 wks to get them in! Congrats & check back in when you get your Goodies added

 

I went the other way, had a 2012 Camaro and it was a lemon law buy back so I went to a Lexus RCF. my last 3 GMs have been bought back because GM techs can't seem to fix their cars. This Lexus is my first ever import, I have only ever owned American Muscle cars.
The Lexus is a far more refined vehicle, the Camaro's are nice, but they are what they are, American Muscle, loud, harsh, and made with cheaper materials.

I wish you luck with your new toy, but buyer beware, GM dealerships are nothing like Lexus.

 

That's incredible! I've never had that much problems with cars. And have owned a large variety, foreign and domestic.

I guess I never have taken my cars to dealers, whatever the brand. Have been lucky and had the same mechanic for 20+ years (for stuff that I absolutely can't do myself).

My Camaro is the 2nd GM car I've had (I had a Buick Skylark - I think that what is was, back in '88). My Dad swore by his Pontiac Bonneville, and was definitely an old school
(Proudly) "Made in the USA" kinda guy.

I've owned a variety of cars over the last 40+ years, including:

1971 VW Beetle
1977 Ford (Mercury) Capri (my "roaring 20's, whale-tail, Centerlines, "Wink" mirror, you get the idea)
1985 Mitsubishi Mirage (cheap/reliable College transpo)
1988 Buick Skylark
1991 Nissan 240SX (Hands down my FAVORITE!)
1995 Ford Thunderbird SVE! (WHY did I sell that car!!!???)
2000 Chrysler 300M
2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS V-6
2003 Ford Taurus SHO
2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse (4-cyl)
2008 Toyota RAV4
2015 Lexus RCF
2016 Chevy Camaro SS (current)

All of these cars went 150K+ miles with no major issues, except one - which I'll get into in a minute.

I change the oil + filter (myself) every 3K to 5K miles.

Engine oil:
Either Pennzoil, Mobil 1 or Valvoline SYNPOWER. The latest choice (for the SS) was Pennzoil ULTRA Platinum,
The RCF was the exception, since I had a pre-paid maintenance plan with it. I (reluctantly) took it to the dealer
to have the oil changed.

Ironically - the ONLY car on the list that I had major issues with (the Ford Taurus came close 2nd) was the TOYOTA RAV4!?

OIL CONSUMPTION / Defective RINGS

On their 2AZ engines, Toyota considered oil consumption to be "NORMAL" at one quart of oil used per 1,200 miles or LESS of "normal driving, which
is total BS. Toyota (like most manufacturers) refuses to use the "R" (RECALL) word and I believe there is a class-action lawsuit over this. My RAV4 (which I still have) - BLEW UP
exactly one month ago (at least it made it to 160K miles), so it's back at home now with a new (re-built) engine ($1,600). I know the oil consumption issue contributed to it because
I bought the car used and it was down 2+ quarts, and when I first added oil to it - I noticed the dipstick had a "crust" of burned oil on it.

For the past 4 years of owning it I "babied" the engine, dropping the oil pan, cleaning the pickup, which would get fouled every year.
De-"Sludging" the journals/internals in it periodically. My wife and I had to keep oil in the back of the car and constantly check and top it off (I'm talking weekly).

Needless to say, I discussed the issue with my mechanic (who was aware of the 2AZ engine issue) and he bored the block out and fitted over-sized (NEW) pistons and RINGS on the re-built
engine. Normally on the "break-in" I would drive-the-hell-out-of-it for the first 500 miles, but my mechanic told me to take it easy, don't drive
over 50 MPH, vary the speed, etc. It started "rod-knocking" after only a week, so I had to take it back. My mechanic said that given the history of the engine, he decided then
to buy another used block, ditch mine and re-build that one. I've got it back (the 2nd time) and it's been good for about two weeks.

I still have the 09 Mitsu Eclipse, it's running well - my step-son's gonna take it as his first car. It's got close to 200K+ miles on it.
Rebuilt the engine myself about a year ago as a Thanksgiving/Christmas vacation "project".

What were the issues with your GM's, particularly your Camaro - if I might ask?

 

Miss that GM rumble with my IS-F....I had two modified GTO's 04 with LS6 heads/cam and my 06 GTO...