Took delivery of my 2010 Camaro L99 about 3 weeks ago and now it has a little over 1000 miles on it. I sold a bone stock 2005 GTO to get it. I was pleased to see the tests show that the New Camaro was 3 tenths quicker in the quarter mile then the GTO. I got the car and it did feel slower than my GTO, but it also felt smoother. I did not want to push it until I got a few miles on it. My son has a 2000 Trans Am with 325 horsepower. We raced several times when I had the GTO and I would beat him by about 4 car lengths. The power just did not seem to be there in the new Camaro so I had my son meet me at our favorite racing spot within the the last hour. Sure enough he pulled me out of the hole and beat me by almost 4 car lengths. The engine is defiantly not producing 400 ponies and the shifts are weak.

Does anyone know what the problem could be? I will be calling the dealer in the morning. Any help would be appreciated.

 

your camaro has 400hp (automatic),correct?Well you'll have to take in account of its' weight and the drivetrain loss compared to the GTO which is a slightly lighter car.His T/A is also a lighter car. Does his T/A have the WS6 package?That would also help him.

 

Yes it does have the automatic. It is my understanding the weight within 100 pounds of each other. My son's car is not a WS6. I know all the tests on the GTO said that it ran 13.40 in the quarter mile and all the tests on the automatic Camaro ran 13.10. So my conclusion is that the Camaro is faster then the GTO. It feels like it is slower and after racing my son it proves it. Something just does not seem right.

 

A 2005 GTO had a curb weight of 3725 lbs. A 2010 SS A6 weighs 3913 lbs. They both make 400 HP. You may have a slight gearing advantage, but the GTO has a significant weight advantage, thus it should be no surprise that a 2005 GTO would beat a 2010 A6 Camaro SS.

Your son's 2000 T/A should come in at ~3500 lbs, and though it is rated at only 305 HP, we all know the LS1's made closer to 350, thus it is going to be a very good race for the A6 Camaro SS too.

 

You should expect the LS3 to be pretty tight for several thousand miles. If it does not come to life after about 5k miles then you may have a problem. My guess is it will come to life just fine. Also you should remember that the Camaro is heavier then the GTO which combined with a new engine can effect the level of accellaration. Give it some time and you will be fine.

 

Though your point remains valid, his car is an A6, and thus an L99 - not an LS3.

 

I'm curious how much torque management is built into this new L99 6L80 combo.
I think the car will need more than 1k miles to fully open up.

Not to get into bench racing too much as there are quite a few variables involved here but if you think the car has a legitimate problem then that's different.

 

Honestly, what does it matter? Who cares how fast it is, drive slow so people can see it!

 

What about all the electronic nannies? Did you shut all of those off?

I remember when I first bought my C/E. It didn't feel very fast. My buddies (who own a garage) told me that the ECMs learn your style of driving. We were planning a trip to the track and they told me to drive it hard for a couple of days before we went, that way the ECM could learn the new driving style. That could be part of your problem. You've probably been babying it for break-in, which is what I would do as well. But now it's time to train the ECM to a new driving style.
Turn off all the nannies and drive the car hard for a few days, then ask your son for a rematch. See if anything changes. And please report back.

It really made a difference in my car.

 

Hmmmm....don't think so. WOT is WOT to the car...no matter if it has been to WOT 2 times today or 10 times today. Or yesterday. Certainly things like good/bad air or bad gas can make a difference, but the car doesn't get faster just because you floor it all the time.

 

Actually, these cars do learn shift points via your driving habits. They have adaptive ECM! I use to work at a GM dealer and had to reprogram the shift points on other GM products after flashing the ECM's. It's still the same thing for the most part as far as the Camaro is concerned.

If I'm not mistaken, I thought there was a switch for controling the performance; ie: Sport, Touring, Comfort switch. That without a doubt will have an effect on the performance and shift points as well.

Don't know if you have or not, but I would read the owners manual!

 

Ok. So if I beat on a car regularly, instead of say....once per week....my shift points might change from 5800 rpm to 6200 rpm because the adapative ECM knows that I'm someone that beats on the car regularly and I want to go faster?

 

You sound skeptical. I am myself. I've never heard of this, but I suppose it's possible to design the electronics to do this. Why not just have the car shift at 6200 under WOT all the time though? Why should the limits of the car be less just because I normally choose to drive it that way?

 

I think that is because he is...and possibly being facetious.

 

I'm not a computer programmer, I don't know the exact science behind it.

What I do know, is that GM has been using this on many other vehicles in the past, and did say that the Camaro would have this.

If you really want to test this all out; disconnect the battery of your vehicle for 15 minute (it is a longer amount of time then the five minute SES clear). Then go drive your vehicle like your grandmother would after having hip surgery. After you have driven around for about 20-30 minutes, try a quarter mile off a light some where (would be great to have a G-Tech with you). Then repeat the battery thing, and drive your car like you stole it from the dealer for about 20-30 minutes, repeat quarter mile "Testing." There will be a slight difference. If your not really "In Tune" with cars, you might not notice any difference, but the vehicle ECM data does!