Impalacat

I'm knew to this board, just found it, I'm a classic car person, and just sold a 62 ImpalaS.S. and still have a 66 Impala396 and a 72 Mustang, and I have been thinking about sellin em all and buying a 2000 or newer Z-28 or S.S camaro, I found one that is a 02 S.S. SLP, I could use any info concerning these cars, such as, do the manual and auto tranny cars have the same H.P., whats the difference between a Z and a SS, any suspension diff between the 2, Your opinions on a conv. or HDT, basiclly, I would like to know what is good about them what is bad and what to stay away from and so on, and what does SLP stand for, do these motors have piston slap like the trucks?
Thanks

mrsneakyz28

First off SLP is a company (street legal performance) that makes aftermarket parts for camaros and firebirds. They also have a deal with gm and make the slp ss. If you are comparing a z28 and an ss you will find that an 02 z28 will have 310 hp and an ss will have about 325. There is really no difference in performance between the z and the ss. The differences are only the hood, spoiler, wheels, emblems, and perhaps a few supsension differences. No hp difference between tranny's either. But you will find that the auto will have 2.73 gears as the M6 will have 3.42's. You were looking at a slp ss which has about 345 hp. The difference is an intake kit and a cat-back from slp. They are also much more rare and will be worth more. As far as convertible I would stay away from those especially if you are plan to race alot. They are a bit heavier and won't handle as well as one with t-tops or a hardtop. If you plan on doing autocross then hardtop is the way to go, but I prefer the t-tops. If you do plan to purchase an ls1 camaro I think you will be pleased with the performance of any model, they run low to mid 13's out of the factory. They are easy to uprgrade and pretty cheap too. You can purchase an airbox lid for less than 100 and bolt-on about 10rwhp. If you can afford it though go for the slp ss. Hope I could help.

99blackSS

On the auto SSs 3.23s are the standard rear end gear ratio. Extra options could be ordered from SLP. A search on this forum would help, the differences are discussed often.

camaronewbiess

the 98-02 camaro/firebird LS1s dyno about 335-345 hp to the flywheel stock...they were vastly underrated at 310/325 so Chevy could sell more corvettes (350hp). Also, 6 speed is the way to go.

Impalacat

Thanks guys, you've enlightened me some, as I know absolutely nothin about these camaro,s, they do look good, and I'll bet there fast,as far as a auto or 6 spd, I don't know, 10 yrs ago I would have looked at the 6 spd only, but.I'm a little older and my right knee is wore out, so I'm a left foot breaker, especially when I'm on these windy Sierra Nevada Mts. so I'm thinkin auto, I would not be drag racin at all, at least not on a strip,I'm more of a (want to be)pro touring type, 99 black, nice lookin ride, the slp I was lookin at is black, I just love the way the exaust comes out in the middle of the back. I'm really torn,I don't want to get rid of my 66 Impala, but the wife says no more cars, till I get rid of some What about the firebirds, are they as fast as the camaros? do they still make the black hawk or fire hawk or what ever they called it, and are they heavyer than the camaros? I wasn't really interested in a conv.(I'm a 2 dr Hardtop guy) but the wife has bugged me about a conv. If you think of any thing else let me know! Agian, Thanks Guys, for your time and knowledge

camaronewbiess

firebirds are equivalent to camaros firebird formulas/trans ams are equivalent to camaro z28s and trans am ws6 is equivalent to camaro ss. They both went to the LS1 engine in 1998. They both retired in 2002. The weight is within 100 pounds of each other I think. It's all in which one you can find a deal on/which one you think looks nicer. Both Great cars...and you won't find a better bang for your buck.

99blackSS

Verts are heavier then hard tops, get t-tops.

That exhaust that you saw that comes out the middle is the highest option SS exhaust. I think that option also came with a SLP air lid.