I should get a giant 24 on the hood and a black mamba on side each side of the car. now that's classy

I've put pretty close to $10K in my car - sort of the way you are describing without any cheesy stuff. If I had all that money to spend at once (or was patient enough to wait 4 years to do it) I would have gone with a turbo or SC kit without any doubt. NO DOUBT AT ALL. I like my mods and the car, but with that kind of immediate cash it's best spent on forced induction so you really feel like you got something out of the car.

That being said, if you don't want to do forced induction here's what I would recommend.

Lighter wheels and tires. If you get something really nice this could eat up half your budget. But, if you can manage to reduce +5lbs off each corner you'll feel the difference in acceleration and handling. I dropped 7lbs off each of mine and it was definitely apparent. If you don't want to go with new tires you could simply replace the wheels with something lighter at the same size and width. Or go slightly wider and have the stock tires be stretched on the new wheels till they wear out and replace them with wider tires.

Swaybars, springs and stronger endlinks. Car will handle better than ever.

Intake and exhaust. I'd look for these used since most of it is hidden from view 95% of the time. Doesn't have to look perfect, just work.

A Tune - either uprev or custom.

Upgraded sound. I would suggest the Wicked box that drops into the spare tire. I have a z enclosure box which eats up about 45% of my usable trunk space and with my 2 subs weighs in at about an extra 100lbs.

If you have any money left I'd go for lighter brake rotors. I haven't been able to find weights listed for any of the major brands (just the one vendor on here selling them for $1K a set) but shaving some more unsprung weight off the axels will increase horsepower, response, braking and cornering.
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Here's what I bought.
Greddy TiC exhaust ($1300): I'd recommend this if you don't want something too loud. This sounds AWESOME with the silencers in, but ungodly loud with them out. There are others that get better gains, but this is good enough. Plus it's 2.75" true dual so no need to upgrade when going Forced Induction later unless you're running really high boost levels.
Berk Hi Flow Cats ($200) used
Stillen G3 Intake ($250) used

19" Volk TE37SLs ($3600)
Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires ($1200ish)
These were the best additions to the car. Only thing where I felt a power upgrade.

Hotchkis Sway Bars ($350?) - don't remember how much these cost. I like them but a lot of other options are now available. These were the only ones out when I bought them in 09
SPC rear toe/camber arms ($150)
SPL Endlinks ($185)
H&R Lowering Springs ($225)
This combo changed the feel of the car a lot. On the stiffest setting the car is pretty tight, but rotates through the turns quite well. With the lowering spring I can't drive over a coke can.

Eclipse DVD deck, Infinity Kappa Perfect component speakers, 2 boston Acoustic G5 10" subs, 2 boston acoustic amps, lots of sound deadening and dynamat (about $2K). Having 2 subs is WAY overkill. One 12" sub would be better and like I said earlier I would have gone with a lighter sub and box combo. I plan to redo all this next year since my stereo seems to be fading out after 4 years now.

All total about $9,500 over the last 4 years. Like I said I really like the car, but if I had all the cash at once I would have gone forced induction without a doubt. Mods like these make the car nicer, and more unique... but forced induction makes the car a whole different car and more unique than any other combo of smaller mods. Unless you really are happy with just a "quick" car that looks good and don't want a fast car that looks good I would recommend (from my own experience) you invest that money in forced induction.

geeze you guys all sound like you have such sick set ups. I feel so simple minded. You're all gonna laugh at me but i'm SO amazed by how this thing drives. I cant imagine it being any better. I don't drive more than a 4 mile radius nor do i have a very exciting life. work is 5 miles one way. and i'm trying to find a solid martial arts studio thats going to be within 5 miles as well.

i would LOVE a turbo but it would be a waste of money. I'd make it to work in 8 minutes instead of 10 haha. Thanks for all the sweet ideas though. Definitely gonna get 22" spinners and 3 subs. Oh and we can't forget vertical doors ;)

Share the Camaro lemon story to inspire us to offer creative suggestions.

This is what you need!!!!!


Trunk Monkey Compilation - YouTube

A lot of good advice in here. The one thing I'd add for cosmetics is to body match the door handles. Those giant silver door handles just look so out of place. Mix that in with some nice headlight mods and some black badges and it will look a lot cleaner. Just don't go full blacked out...you never go full blacked out, everyone knows that.

And as others have mentioned, get some good car care products. Black is PITA to keep looking good.

Fast intentions exhaust. Do eet. Well worth the wait.

Under 10k...Go with this:
http://www.the370z.com/forced-induct...l-release.html

or

http://www.the370z.com/forced-induct...nd-2-list.html

:roflpuke2:

Something tells me you would find other places to drive if you have forced induction... :p

Also, if it's a waist of money... then why not buy the cheapest running car? You've got a sports car man! have fun with it any way you want to.

First SEARCH and Second why a Bone Stock, at least should bought a Base w/Sport Package with the money from the Slomaro fiasco. :tup:

Post 18 from TXSpeedDemon summed it up well (ZED). Add your ideas to the list and use it as a checklist.

I got a brand new 2012 camaro. V6 but top of the line. Convertible, Red interior, and RS package for the halos. Stick shift. It was my first car I owned that was stick. I have a motorcycle and i've driven stick a few times before and knew what I was doing. So it feels funny and I figure i'm rusty but 1000 miles later i realize that it's not me its the car. Car wouldn't go into 1st gear some times. It would jam and I'd have to put it into 2nd then back into 1st. 3rd gear just did not want to go a lot of the times. The auto up feature on the windows wouldn't work so I would park and expect my windows to be up and I'd realize my passenger side is wide open when I returned. Audio info would get messed up. Second gear freaked out on me once, car had 3 recalls. random warnings. you name it

I handed my 9 service records to a lawyer and he gave them to GM and that was that. Not much of a struggle. Don't get me wrong, I loved the car. I thought I would end up giving it to my kid one day and i'm only 24! to me it's my generations sexy muscle car that will be remembered by our kids.

And I don't NEED a turbo cause my motorcycle easily hits 60 in under 4 seconds :) just looks for now. and i'm trying to be responsible here guys lol

Continue to search....wait research.