BaseballDude

Hi. Newbie poster here. Within the next 6-8 months I will be buying my graduating senior a new Camaro (part of a deal I made with him quite a few years back..."Earn a college scholarship and I'll buy you a new car."). Well, he's about to commit to a D1 baseball program so he's done his half of the deal.

I daily drive an '02 Z06 (~425HP) and I shudder at the thought of my son having that much at his age (I drove 2nd Gen Camaros when I was his age and that was more than enough to get me in trouble). So the deal is he'll get the 300HP V6 (it will save my a** on auto insurance, too). But I'd like to give it the SS look on the exterior (scoop/slit on leading upper edge of front fascia, possible wheel upgrade, etc.). I believe the hoods are identical, but I can't tell looking at the GM web site.

Does anyone here know what are the subtle body differences between a standard RS and the SS? Appreciate the inputs, thanks!

-Dean

2010_5thgen

if you buy the v6 with the rs package, the only difference between that and the ss would be the front bumper. i dont know if it has been done but i dont see why you couldnt buy a ss bumper (front) and replace it with the v6 bumper. the rs package on the v6 gives you every thing that you see on the ss(spoiler,20" wheels, halo lights,and darker tail lamps). the only other small difference would be the ss, badges. the v6 with rs package has a red RS badge. the ss with RS package has a red SS badge. the hood and everything else is the same on both cars. just the bumper is the only difference really.




edit: oh yeah , the brakes are another noticable difference. the ss has the 4 piston brembo brakes and the v6 version has the 2 picton up front and single piston in the rear.

BaseballDude

Thanks for the response. You validated everything that I thought was true.

So my game plan is to locate a silver RS, throw on the black stripes and the SS front bumper cover, sell the factory RS bumper cover and call it a day. Junior may want the Victory Red version (my favorite choice), but he won't have the personal time to really take care of it. Silver is (generally) more forgiving when parked outside. He currently drives a white '02 V6/5 spd Camaro hardtop (that we bought used) at the moment and that car is a dirt magnet. LOL

I'm okay with the brake differences and would leave those as they come.

2010_5thgen

check around on ebay. every now and then youll find a bumper on there . i saw one last week for about 250. or even post on some forums. im sure there are some guys who will trade a ss front end for a v6 front.

BaseballDude

Hopefully the cars are too new where the bumpers on FleaBay are actual GM units and not the cheap Chinese knock-offs. My son recently punctured his front cover and I went cheap on the re-do (trying to save $500). The replacement panels from China are just that...crap. If we didn't plan on unloading that car in the next year or two, I would have bought better quality.

2010_5thgen

the ones on ebay were actual bumpers off of the cars. so in a sense they were used.

BaseballDude

Thanks again for the assistance.