July 6th 2016
I still miss the the Mistress but Violet is ALL That!
The ride is hard to compare. The Mistress' original V6 had plenty of power. Supercharged it was awesome. But the V8 has so much more in terms of how you feel and hear the power. Violet has the sound I was missing from my 77', plus the added oomph that pulls you back into the seat. The ride is firm and less forgiving than the stock 5th Gen V6. It's a lot more forgiving than the Eiback springs I had on the Mistress while still not too much sway. So far I always feel well grounded to the road. Granted, I am still taking it easy through the beak-in period.
I am surrounded by technology. There is so much to learn and it's not as intuitive as I'd like, but I expect that it can't be perfect. The Infotainment system is very nice. I like how it connects to my phone via blue tooth or using the USB which engages the Android Auto functions. I don't know if it's my phone (Nexus 5) or if it's the car, but I often get a squawk on the 1st call that will continue into the call. If I hang up and calling again the problem clears. It's buggy.
It's been a while since I've driven a stick - 20 years. Even though my 1st car was a stick and our cars overseas were mostly standard transmission cars, it took me a week (not driving every day) to stop stalling.
I'm getting into the grove now and shifting is fairly smooth. I do sometimes hear a muffled clunk that makes me wonder if it's me or if is the transmission. I'll keep an ear on it for now.
The Dual Mode exhaust is my favorite feature. Though I normally only run in sport mode, I do like the option to be a bit more subtle, like getting to work late. Not that anyone cares anyway. There is a funky rattle when I am in touring mode that bugs me. supposedly it is the baffle in the exhaust that is the issue. I'll have the dealer look at it next time I go for an oil change. I get two free and I did the first at 800 miles.
The build quality in my opinion is very good overall. There are a couple of very small paint imperfections. one on the hood that could have been a chip but so small, I tend to think it's more part of the process. There is another tiny speck on the driver side rear. The last one is under the trunk lid toward the edge closest to the window. Nothing major but I mention this because I'm so pedantic about these things.
Ha--you probably thought I was going to say anal--No Camaro fan, I'm not anal.
Something else I noticed is that the door gaps seam to be quite wide compared to my 5th Gen. Here are the door seems on a 5th Gen and 6th Gen:
The 5th Gen looks a lot tighter. The 6th Gen is wide at the top and gets tighter at the bottom. On the 6th Gen convertible, you can see the hinges of the roof cover through the gaps.
So to sum my 1st 1000 miles:
The Good: Power, Lights, Sound, Lines, Build Quality
The Bad: Exhaust Rattle, phone connection, very minor paint imperfections. Clunky Trans?
The Ugly: It's Gappy. Gas Mileage--Eh-it's a V8