Greetings all. At my ripe old age, I am a newcomer to the Camaro world. I do not have a Camaro as of yet but will be getting one within a few years, however, I have tons of questions (please don't laugh at my ignorance! ) for you guys and hopefully I can learn a thing or two.

Firstly, I am planning on getting a '98-'02 SS (six speed of course!). Is there a better year to get or is it all just personal taste? I realize there a most likely countless, but what type of performance mods can I do to an SS? Many thanks.

Chris

 

2001 and higher got a different cam (from the 6.0 L truck motor) and the LS6 intake.

Those are the biggest changes for the LS1 4th gens.

 

So what does the LS6 intake and larger cam translate into for me?

Is there a certain web site that will give me information, both general and specific, about the camaro line?

Chris

 

Also forgot to ask, and again showing my ignorance here, please let me know what each mod you suggest does and which ones I should start with first. Many thanks.

Chris

 

Your first mods should be the free ones of course
First mod that you actually spend more than $20 bucks for should be some good tires, if not already equipped. If that's taken care of, then get a new air box first.

 

Greetings! Well I will tell you that this is my first LS1 f-body out of the four that I have owned. And I am GLAD that it is a 2001. There's a lot of guys on here that will tell you that the earlier years are as good as any but I lean more towards the 01-02's. The truck cam in our cars provides more low end torque (which the earlier LS1's aren't known for). Also the 01-02's have no EGR and the six speed's have the Corvette Z06 clutch assembly. When you do finally get one, as mentioned before, buy a freer flowing airlid as one of your first mods. Most get an additional 10 horses to the rear. Then exhaust and other mods are advantageous. www.installuniversity.com has some good free mods you can do to free some extra horses that in my opinion GM should have already done. It has the CAGS (computer assisted gear shift) {I believe} mod, which costs $.50 and eliminates the irritating skip shift mechanism. Anyways, get one soon! You won't regret it!

 

01+02 generally put out better #'s than the 98-00

As for what mods you want to do, my best advice to you is tell us what you want to accomplish and how much your willing to spend.

As of now an SS runs somewhere in the 13s depending on the driver. If your a great driver, you could get into the very high 12s stock or if your a really bad driver you could be in the 15s. But generally a lot of people are in the 13s

Now tell us where you want to be, and we'll do our best to help you.

10 sec- faster than any street car, but probably not legal
11 sec- faster than most any steet car
12 sec- running with Z06s and most other f-bodies and sports cars

 

Thanks for the replies guys. What type of free mods can I do?

 

What is SLP Loudmouth? Again, showing my ignorance.

Does this InstallUniversity show how to perform these free mods? If not, where may I find instructions? Many thanks.

Chris

 

Yes, www.installuniversity.com perfectly explains everything you need to know to do the mods. Probably my favorite is the (almost free) $.50 radio shack resistor mod for the CAGS. And SLP Loudmouth, one of the most popular catbacks for LS1 f-bodies, is basically a catback made by SLP (street legal performance). It looks, sounds, and installs GRRREAT! I installed mine with a buddy in about 2 hours. No welding.

 

The sheer and simple fact is that I want a six-speed, I have no belief that it will give me better performance or anything of the sort, it's just what I prefer.

I do, without a doubt, want the LS1 but I am not too picky as to the year, as long as it is an SS. I was kinda eyeing the '02 just because it was the 35th anniversary edition. Why do you say I'll get better HP/TQ from an older model as well as more flexibility?

Chris

 

If you make a comment like this, please list the specifics of how you came to this conclusion.

But again setshot50 we need to know exactly what type of fun you're looking for from your SS.

Show?
Autocrossing?
Road course racing?
Drag strip?
Street machine?
Interstellar trips through outer space?

 

I think he means to buy an older one because you would obviously pay less, but then again you will probably also get the miles with that too.

I prefer the newer LS1, you get a few parts that belong to the LS6

 

I doubt I will ever want to drag her but cruisin' by Mars on a Friday night would be kinda sweet. I might turn her into a show car but also would like her to be a pretty mean street machine.

Chris

 

So a mean street machine that looks awesome.

For street performance:
(horsepower)
- Free mods
- Air lid
- Cat Back exhaust
- Reprogram the computer
- Skip shift eliminator
(handling)
- Subframe connectors
- DMS springs
- Strut tower brace
- Bilstien shocks
- Good tires (what brand depends on budget)

For show:
- The SS already looks awesome. Don't change a thing. (But I'm biased )
- Protect it with Klasse or Zaino polish. Others like Maguire's too.