Hello, Newbie Checking In

[Flip Martian]

Hi all, just joined up. My daily driver is a bog standard 1999 Honda Civic 1.6SE but I have a 1999 Chevy Camaro for fun driving. Its a standard euro spec 5.7 litre V8 305 bhp model; the only mod I've made is to change the exhaust for something that has more "V8 burble".

Anyway, hi all!

[Flip Martian]

Cheers for the welcome! Yeah I have to stop myself yapping on about what a fun car it is...

0-60 is officially 5.4 or 5.1, can't remember. 0-100 is under 14 seconds. Not tried either on a track though. The in gear acceleration is superb - power always on tap at any speed and the big V8 barely murmurs. I can cruise at 70 (ahem) and be around 2000 rpm or under. The LS-1 engine is just wonderful... I'll shut up before I start off again!

[Flip Martian]

I'll dig some more pics out then...

MPG? I've had 30.4 max so far - don't think I went too far above national speed limits at the time; worst (after doing silly speeds) was 18.9. Generally, with a mix of town and motorway driving I get somewhere between 22 and 26 without being too careful. Not bad for a big V8 really.

[Flip Martian]

Sounds lovely! Mine's an automatic - tbh this is my first car over 2 litres/4 cyls so I was happy enough with an auto this time. Standard 16" chrome plated alloys on mine - although 1 is lifting so I'm losing about 2 psi a day on it... No-one round here seems to be able to refurb it so it looks like I'll need to scout around for a replacement. Someone did suggest replacing with 17" (better choice of tyre apparently) but the other 3 are still in great nick and I do like the chrome alloys! And I can't afford to replace all of 'em!

Got some pics of the twin pipe exhaust I got put on mine - I'll stick 'em up later.

[Flip Martian]

okeydokey, as requested - some more pics.



The back, showing the new exhaust:-



This one shows it a bit better:-




Incidentally, if anyone wants to see my pics of some American classics, you can see them here (don't worry, I'm not selling anything!):-

http://flipmartian.smugmug.com/gallery/3532461_frVCG#199782263_93Rrn 

[Flip Martian]

LuS1fer said:

Shame some people can't see past what they think is "Japanese" styling because in the flesh, their size banishes any such notion and it's a beautiful car to drive.

You should junk the rear silencer and just have straight pipes. Better access underneath and the car sounds lovely.

Well only one person so far has said "it looks like a Mazda"...but I can see the vague likeness (at the back, anyway). As you say, the sheer size makes it a far more impressive beast in the flesh.

[Flip Martian]

MX3 I'd certainly agree with. Both nice cars (but not a Camaro!).

Some hopefully better pics to show off a bit more detail:-

Loooong bonnet (sorry - hood) and t tops



Aggressive front end



Shows off the wheels a bit



That's these wheels...



Our cars...



The cockpit (passenger seat has 1 of the leather seat protectors we use)



The euro model radio/cassette 12 cd changer (with missing volume knob)

Edited by Flip Martian on Thursday 26th June 18:47

[Flip Martian]

Thanks, yeah I'm really lucky.

Nope, it was on ebay a year ago now while I was looking for a good late 4th gen Transam. The auction ended without selling, I'd been looking for about 5 months with no luck so I contacted the seller and went to view (knowing they were the same cars underneath). To drive, I liked it as much as the Transams I'd tried (in fact they seem ever so slightly roomier inside) so after a 2nd viewing we made a deal we were both happy with.

[Flip Martian]

Yeah a friend of a friend was passing on loads of advice - and was saying the same thing about Transams and Camaros. He prefers Camaros as they're more "pure" (he has an old 2nd gen I think). Gave me loads of good advice about what to look for and what to walk away from - walked away from 2 outwardly gorgeous Transams as a result.

Mind you the Camaro ended up about 2k cheaper than either of them...

[Flip Martian]

I know what you mean.... I'm lucky - no kids yet and my OH likes the Camaro too.