[HartfordRacingCaptain]

Originally Posted by Thill444

I am in CT near in the Hartford suburbs. Been here a little over a year but came from Minnesota. Winter here is cake

Sweet, I'm from Farmington. You should pop over to the CT section: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=290183

[DavidinGA]

What about a used CTS-V?

4 doors, real usable space and smoke ZL1's all day long (the old ones lol) with a few cheap mods.

2nd gen V can be modded to around 650hp for stupid cheap (pulley, tune, E85 flex, cai, etc)

[Mcmillion]

I know this is not exactly what you asked. I went from a C7 Z06 to a Camaro Zl1 and have been very happy. I have a 5 yr old who I take to pre-school or the in-laws every morning on the way to work so I really only had Sundays to drive the vette. As amazing as driving the car was I valued my family time a bit more. Now we go on little Sunday cruises all together and I drive the Zl1 most of the week and it's a blast. I just have a few miles of Hwy to work and the rest is city driving, some medical circumstances forced my decision to get an A10 but it has been really nice when sitting in traffic and shifting with paddles at WOT is fairly rewarding. The Mag ride on the Camaro I feel is much more comfortable and I always have it in Sport and always drove the Z06 in touring. I cant believe the car is stiff enough to do the "3 wheel motion" when I angle down the driveway and still ride nicer than some luxury cars I have been in. Good luck with your decision, so many great options, it's a great time to be a car guy!

[Thill444]

Originally Posted by Mcmillion

I know this is not exactly what you asked. I went from a C7 Z06 to a Camaro Zl1 and have been very happy. I have a 5 yr old who I take to pre-school or the in-laws every morning on the way to work so I really only had Sundays to drive the vette. As amazing as driving the car was I valued my family time a bit more. Now we go on little Sunday cruises all together and I drive the Zl1 most of the week and it's a blast. I just have a few miles of Hwy to work and the rest is city driving, some medical circumstances forced my decision to get an A10 but it has been really nice when sitting in traffic and shifting with paddles at WOT is fairly rewarding. The Mag ride on the Camaro I feel is much more comfortable and I always have it in Sport and always drove the Z06 in touring. I cant believe the car is stiff enough to do the "3 wheel motion" when I angle down the driveway and still ride nicer than some luxury cars I have been in. Good luck with your decision, so many great options, it's a great time to be a car guy!

Thanks for sharing that, it really is good to hear from actual C7 owners who switched over.

Dang it now you guys have me looking at ZL1 availablity and pricing

I am going to test drive a 1SS 1LE next week but the dealer also has a 2SS 1LE. The 2SS would be more than I want to spend, but I like some of the options.

[nate.the.great]

As someone who is 5'11" with a 4 and 6 year old... I can't even fit the 4 year old behind me, so in order to drive with the both of them I put the 6 year old in the front seat (where he lives the dream) and the 4 year old in the back seat. I'm actually not that concerned with the 6 year old in the front seat. The airbag would never touch him in an accident as he's in a booster with his seatbelt on.

However, my wife was not having it. There's no way she was ok with a 6 year old in the front seat, so we bought a third car, an older Lexus SUV and now I wish I bought a Vette instead of a Camaro. My Camaro has a little less than 4k on it, and I would trade you if we were closer.

Basically, what I'm saying is that the Camaro is barely more practical than the Vette. If you want practicality, then get the SS Sedan, ATS-V, or an Audi S4. I love the Camaro chassis, it is phenomenal, and you can get that chassis in a sedan by buying an ATS-V. The Audi S4 is also an excellent car. It doesn't really elicit any sort of passion or emotional response, but it's just all around excellent.

[Thill444]

Originally Posted by HartfordRacingCaptain

Sweet, I'm from Farmington. You should pop over to the CT section: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=290183

Thanks I will check that out, I am in West Simsbury so very close. Probably pass you on the road sometimes

[enzia35]

If you don't drive it, then get rid of it...

[Thill444]

Originally Posted by nate.the.great

As someone who is 5'11" with a 4 and 6 year old... I can't even fit the 4 year old behind me, so in order to drive with the both of them I put the 6 year old in the front seat (where he lives the dream) and the 4 year old in the back seat. I'm actually not that concerned with the 6 year old in the front seat. The airbag would never touch him in an accident as he's in a booster with his seatbelt on.

However, my wife was not having it. There's no way she was ok with a 6 year old in the front seat, so we bought a third car, an older Lexus SUV and now I wish I bought a Vette instead of a Camaro. My Camaro has a little less than 4k on it, and I would trade you if we were closer.

Basically, what I'm saying is that the Camaro is barely more practical than the Vette. If you want practicality, then get the SS Sedan, ATS-V, or an Audi S4. I love the Camaro chassis, it is phenomenal, and you can get that chassis in a sedan by buying an ATS-V. The Audi S4 is also an excellent car. It doesn't really elicit any sort of passion or emotional response, but it's just all around excellent.

Let me say this. It's very rare for me to have more than one kid in the car. And on the rare times I do I would just drive my wife's minivan or the Fit (or Wrangler if I get rid of the Fit) or the kids could suck it up for a few miles. 3-4 days a week I will have one kid in the back for about 15 minutes max on non-highway roads.

If I was going to have more than one kid all the time I would get something else.

I am going to look into an ATS-V. That's a good recommendation actually. No V8 though right? Audi scares me. I did one before (CPO) and the car was always in the shop for one issue or another. Service department and dealer experience was great but I just don't have time and patience to constantly be dealing with car problems. I had the same issue with BMW and have sworn off German cars for awhile.

[Thill444]

Originally Posted by enzia35

If you don't drive it, then get rid of it...

See that's what I keep coming back to. I love the Vette. I would own another in a heartbeat once the kids are gone. I want something I can daily drive and can throw at least one small kid in the back when the need arises.

I have owned a ton of sporty sedans (BMW, Audi, WRX (twice), Golf R, etc). I know they are practical but none of them compare to a C7 or Camaro SS (gen 6).

Being honest the 2SS I drove (no magride) was way more impressive than I expected. It was more comfortable than my C7, but felt very close in terms of handling dynamics. It was blast on a very tight backroad. Almost same power. I liked the manual 6 speed in the 2SS more than my C7 M7. I think the 1LE should get me on par than my Z51 w/magride. It's that good.

I would likely have to get an M2 or better to even get close to a 1LE handling and those are $55-65K easy.

[closs2sx]

I went from a 2013 zl1 to a 2015 z06 z07 pkg car and it was night and day difference just in handling alone. It feels like you sit on the roof to drive and it drives like a dump truck compared to the z06. I thought it was an awesome handling car and it is but the z06 is just that much better. I hope I am not disappointed with the zl1 1le. All won’t be totally lost as I am keeping the z06 but I hope the zl1 1le is comparable

[Battlezone580]

If you can get a ZL1, even a used one would be fine. Nothing better than a supercharged V8 my friend!

If you want a track car get the ZL1 1LE, for the price its the best track car you can get as of today.

SS 1LE is also a very well rounded car, and the 1LE package adds a nice look to the Camaro.

[Hops]

Like the discussion about kids in the back seat, so glad there are those out there able to do it with the new camaro! I've never understood the assumed requirement of getting a huge sedan or suv once kids are on the way. I had to fight this with my bmw 1 series, and i'm glad i did. We had no problems with 2 kids. (I guess i should add i'm 5'8") Really, a sports coupe is perfect for small kids, because well they're small.... duh. Although, having them rear facing seat the first 2 years does take more room, limiting a smaller adult in the front passenger seat.
I don't think it's asking to change the character or performance of the camaro by keeping a semi usable back seat for kids. I hear many say it's worthless they should design the car without it, get an SS or ATS, but i think they would miss out on many sales (definitely mine!). Although, with the C8 likely being a much more expensive mid engined almost exotic car, i wonder if the next generation camaro will become a 2 seater filling in the gap a base low optioned $50k corvette filled.

[BlaqWhole]

I would say look into a used CTS-V or a 5th Gen ZL1.

[redcoats1976]

Originally Posted by BlaqWhole

I would say look into a used CTS-V or a 5th Gen ZL1.

pretty good advice here.i tested a lightly used vette and liked it until my wife said"what if you need to pick up the grandkids"?the 5th gen is slightly larger inside and only a couple of hundred pounds heavier,and the rear seats are useable.