General Comments:
When I got the car it wasn't in the best of shape due to a rather stupid teenage owner. Absolutely NO preventative maintenance was done at all, and despite the rear differential being bone dry, the dieing battery, engine oil that was well over due for change, and transmission fluid as black as the over due oil this Camaro ran the 300 mile trip back home with absolutely no problem. Since then I have had put this car through a major tune up and had it inspected by a mechanic and now it runs great. The durability of this vehicle is absolutely amazing, it took years of teenage abuse and with 154,000 miles it still runs with no problems, I must say the reliability of this car is up to par with the Japanese competitors.
With that said on to the bad. Chevrolet is made by GM so of course the Camaro has rather poor quality interior, the materials are cheap and don't fit well together, also consequently there are rattles, but there not bad. I must say the interior reminds me of a base line Kia.
My car is not a V8 it is a 3.4 liter V6 automatic and though it has more than enough power and performance for me, many people expect that I have a lot more under the hood. Though this may be a problem for some I find the fuel economy of the V6 (20 city/28 freeway) far out weighs the horsepower loss of not getting a V8. Don't let the V6 scare you away the v6 Camaro is still quite fast (especially in stick) and even Americans like myself have to be concious about gas consumption.
This car is by far one of the best deals I have ever gotten, it runs fine and it only cost me $1600 plus only $65 a month for liability insurance (I'm 21, have a bad driving record, and live in the city).
28th Sep 2005, 01:27
Check out www.firebirdv6.com
This is an online community of fourth gen V6 Camaro/Firebird owners, and they typically have engines/transmissions for sale on the forums, as well as a great wealth of knowledge on V6 Camaro/Firebirds.
In my opinion, if you're going to pay thousands for an engine swap, you might as well toss in an LT1 V8. The gas mileage is surprisingly good for a 5.7 liter engine (only a 2-4 mpg loss), and there is little to no difference in the transmission and body between the V6 and the V8 Camaro.