Okay guys, things are beginning to pick up. It is mid February now, and the weather is getting a little better each day. I have some teasers for you guys today. Got many shipments delivered to my door the past week, and here are some of them:
Can you see the difference? If you can't don't worry, there will be a full post on this one =D
Yes... now you are getting the picture...
WHAT? Performance Brakes?! =O
Sneak peak...
Usually I don't review products until after they have been installed. That way I can make sure I don't miss any aspects. However, since I have so many mods coming in at the same time, please forgive me if I spit out a comment or two on the products. Don't take my accidental comments at face value, wait for the full review! Also, to keep you guys up to date, my tune has shipped, and is on its way here as we speak. Before I tune the car, I need to do another 0-60 run, for a good comparison of the car tuned and un-tuned.
Due to many people complaining on youtube that the Dashhawk wasn't accurate at reading 0-60 times. I will be doing another 0-60 with the Dashhawk running side by side with this iPhone App called "Dynolicious". It is an accelerometer based application. Before you all say, "That isn't accurate either!", I would like you to search up Dynolicious on youtube, and see for yourself how good it is. Eitherway, if the numbers on the two devices are similar, then the Dashhawk is accurate. However, if the Dashhawk is pulling a faster time than the iPhone App, I will withdraw my current 0-60 standing at 5.42 seconds and change it to whatever the iPhone reads. My 5.42 was with just the Injen CAI installed, no Corsa's Catback Exhaust yet. The stock car pulled 5.44 seconds, so I'm hoping the new run will be a bit quicker again.
I've gotten the fender Grand Sport stripes here as well, which I have not yet applied. Still have to wash my car before I apply it. Only two major mods left for this year you guys, tints and spoiler.
Since the Injen CAI install, I've been feeling like I've been losing power compared to the stock airbox. However, many people that I've talked to told me that the "feel" of the car isn't an accurate indication of how fast I'm really going. People told me the only way to see how much improvement your car has gained is by going to the dyno. I suppose that's one way to do it, but since I don't feel like paying for a dyno, I did the next best thing: I gave my car another test run.
I only did a total number of two runs last night, this was the first try, 0-60 MPH in 5.42 seconds. The second was a complete failure attempt. As you can recall, the fastest I got on my full stock Camaro was 0-60 in 5.44 seconds. Therefore, the night felt like a failure. However, I will say this, I believe my launching technique wasn't sharp enough for this particular run. I felt almost hesitant to really floor my pedal. Well, 5.42 seconds is only 0.03 seconds away from hitting 5.3, and if I can get 5.3 the Injen would be suprisingly good. Also, if you really think about it, adding a bolt-on with an additional 10 HP and 10 lbs-ft shouldn't really be super obvious in such a short range test. It would probably be more evident on a 1/4 mile run.
Obviously I have been seeming kind of negative about the Injen, other than its sound. Well as I have said earlier, the power isn't that evident. However, I almost feel like the sound of the new intake makes you feel like you have more power. Forget the dynos and the speed tests, driving really is about how you feel in the car while driving. If the dyno says you've gained 10 additional horses, then by all means, "yay?". What if you FEEL slower though? What if you feel like your car is more sluggish? That takes the fun out of your driving, and it makes you worried something is wrong all the time, no? That was how I felt when I first installed it, but not so much anymore. You see, the whole time I was worried about the Injen because I was expecting too much from it. I was pushing the Injen in ways that I had not with my stock car. Therefore I came to the conclusion that it had to be broken. I'm convinced I'm wrong now though. Perhaps the ECU needed a couple days of driving to get used to the new intake. Eitherway the new intake sounds like a whole new level of beast.
I will shoot a video from inside the cabin soon, windows up and windows down, for you to hear the new sound of the intake. I can not even begin to describe to you how good it sounds.
A couple posts ago, I'd reviewed a universal OBDII display monitor called the Dashhawk. I mentioned at the end of the post that I tried out one of the performance tests, the 0-60 test. At the time, I did terribly and got 0-60 in 6.66 seconds. This number was definately not good enough for me. The advertised 0-60 time for the V6 Camaro is 6.1 seconds. What was I supposed to do now? I did know for a fact that this car can run 0-60 faster than 6.1 seconds. There is a guy well known in the Camaro community for being a very experienced V6 owner. Online we call him Scrming or V6John. I'd advise any Camaro owner to check out his website. He thoroughly documents all of his mods, experiments, and findings on the site.
In one of John's posts, he shows that the car gets to 6 seconds on a warmer day. However, with a lower temperature, John was able to get 0-60 in 5.68 seconds. That is really good! John also says that, strangely, he's never seen a car react so differently with cold air before; which I too, have noticed. On a warmer day, the Camaro would feel a bit more sluggish. However, on a cool day... the car tears through the pavement with no regret. Keeping this cold air theory in mind, and with the help of John on launching techniques, I decided to give my 0-60 run another shot.
John told me that when he did his run, he left his Traction Control on, because he didn't want wheelspin at the start of the line. Which made sense to me, but I had to respectfully try it with the T/C off. However, even with T/C on, I still made an interesting run.
Yeah baby! That looks pretty darn fast to me... The monitor couldn't stop at 60 MPH because my car was going too fast for it to calculate each individual information sample. Remember, keep in mind this was with T/C ON! The problem with T/C is it slows down your wheels automatically if you get it fast enough to wheelspin. So in the end, it really depends how you launch. If launch too fast with T/C on or off, you are going to get a bit of a slow down. The tricky part is getting to know your car, and knowing how much your car can take before it spins out. With the Traction Control on, I was still very happy with the time. However, the night was still young, so I gave it another go.
It was 11:41 PM and 61 degrees out, a very cool night to really push the Camaro. I took the liberty of taking a picture as evidence of my time and temperature. So I park the car in place. A click click here, click click there, setting up all the parameters for me to start the 0-60 test. My brother was on the sidewalk, taking a video with his cellphone, patiently waiting for me to drive by. The night was quiet, I saw the straight arrow road in front of me, and I focused. Remembering what John had said, keeping my left foot on the brake, right foot rev'ing the engine. My T/C was off now, and I shifted into Sport mode. My Dashhawk tells me to start whenever I'm ready. I was determined to make this second run better than my first. Foot off the brake and off I go! Results? Very pleasing =)
Keep in mind my car is completely 100% stock! No springs, no intake, headers, or exhausts. I talked to John again, and in one of his messages, he tells me he's gotten 0-60 in 5.29 seconds. However, this was with all the mods he had done up to date. He has an Injen intake, which I'll be recieving soon, JBA headers, MRT V2 Axleback exhaust, H&R Sport lowering springs, and a Trifecta Tune for the V6. Needless to say, the extra speed the bolt-ons provided, was completely worth it in my opinion.
In conclusion, I have beaten the advertised 6.1 seconds, and I am satisfied. However, I think I was still too light on the pedal. I believe I can reach 5.3 seconds... Optimistic? maybe, but I am aiming to eventually beat the 0-60 time for the Camaro SS which is rated at 5.0 seconds. This is going to be one long and fun journey!
