I wouldn't even pour money into upgrades for that dinky little 3.4 liter V6. I would wait until I could afford a Z28 if you want performance.

 

Agreed. Theres much more to a car than speed. Could always work on the cosmetic aspect of it. Make it look good. Inside and out. I have the 3.4 and have no intention on loading it up with performance parts. Ill do everything needed to keep it in running condition and thats about it performance wise. For the record, Im 18 too, having a car that could go over 100 would be awesome, but in reality, theres no where I would personally drive it that fast. just my $.02

 

I have a 3.8L, and while that engine does have performance potential over the 3.4L it is a daily driver that is smooth and quiet. I am not going to worry about how fast my car goes... I know it can break 100 easy and I do not need to make it happen. What I do want to be able to do is get close to 1G on a skidpad and make my car handle like it is on rails. I will autocross my car, which is not about top speed but about being able to negotiate corners and hold speed into and out of them. V6s win autocrosses all the time, they are not the fastest cars out there on the track but they do have advantages over a V8. Be thankful you have a Camaro, and take it from guys like Caotic... You can still have fun with a 3.4L and get into enough trouble.

Massey

 

Imagine that a teenager that wants his car to go faster and a father that does not want it to go faster, pretty unbelievable.

He will get all the information he wants once he stops asking question and starts searching. Fathers can only do so much, part of growing up is learning not to make mistakes. As a father you can make the decision not to help or support car mods but if he really want to control what was done to the car he should have not given it to him. He should have bought it let him use it until he paid it off. That way any time the hood is open he could say "What are you doing to my car". One thing I have learned about kids is giving then things, like a car, is a mistake. They learn nothing from the process. Make them work for it and they will repest and enjoy the car more.

Papa Gorn

 

My folks never gave me a car or even helped on buying / maintaining / insuring one. The rules in my house growing up was that if any of us kids wanted to drive, we had to be able to pay for everything on our own. Worked pretty good if you ask me, as myself and my siblings may not have had the nicest first cars (who does?), but we seriously learned the value of working for what we had. Now that we are all closer to the grave than the cradle, our cars are all pretty much pristine.

Now, that being said, if my folks had bought me a Camaro when I was 16 (legal age to drive) I would have taken it in a heartbeat.

Connor is only asking what any future gearhead would ask at his age. I am sure we can all remember when our dreams were bigger than our knowledge and pocketbook. I agree with other posters that the 3.4 is a lousy engine to hop-up.

To Connor, you have a pretty cool first car. You don't need to be out there racing the ricers with their "fart-cans". Spend your time cleaning your car and learning how to maintain it (brakes, engine, steering, suspension, etc) and you will be years ahead in knowledge when your checkbook catches up with your dreams. In a few years your 3.4 will most likely be in someone else's driveway and you will be onto something better. After a couple more years, you will be able to build your hotrod in your own garage and then you can start having some fun.

BTW - $100 bucks a month for insurance? Wow, that really sucks. I only spend $600 a year to cover three cars and a motorcycle. I guess getting older doesn't have to suck.

 

I spun out my V6 Mustang (96') driving too fast into school when it was rainy....it was scary as hell, luckily all I did was pop against the side of the curb. I depressed the clutch and braked at the same time, obviously panicking...needless to say after that I started driving safer, and will be looking for a large parking lot to mess around in the SS to see how I handle the power boost.

Just turned 18, btw.

 

Gorn, I agree with you that he wants to go faster and what not and there is nothing we can do. But with what we told him the first time, I know I would have went to another forum.

 

Without hijacking this thread - Massey PLEASE do a thread about what you are going to do to change the handling on your car. I would LOVE to autocross my V6. I used to do that with my MINI. My Camaro may never have "go kart handling" but it could be so much more than it is...

 

what I know about making the Camaro handle better I have learned from this site and Camaro Performers Mag. Use the search feature here and also check out the CPM website for all the info you are gonna need. I will not make a write up on the subject until I can say for sure that the parts I add to my car actually made a difference.

Massey