VERY New to the 5th Gen Camaro SS Help Please

[2011SS2SS]

I just bought a 2011 Camaro SS w/2SS last Friday. It has been coming a flood here in KY since. Today was the 1st nice day I could actually drive the car & give it any real throttle. Being honest, it just does not seem to have the power I thought it would have....

Here are the specifics.

2011 Camaro SS w/2SS 6 speed manual w/51K miles. It is VERY stock. The only mod it has right now is Flow Master mufflers... So again, very stock. I have ordered a Cold Air Inductions cold air intake for it & am currently looking into headers & a tune.

Here's my question. I really thought this thing would light the tires up stock. Right now in "Competitive Mode" it will turn a tire a little, but not much. Chirps in 2nd, but that is about it... I was expecting more. I have not tried it with both traction control & stability control off... I am not one to constantly beat on a car. However, what is the use of a powerful car if you do not have some fun with it?? Anyway, I am just curious if it should be doing better, or if it is just designed to hook like this... It feels powerful, but I really thought it would be tearing tires up... LOL. I know this may sound kind of childish in nature. But I just want to make sure I am not missing something.

I will be giving it a thorough tune up next weekend to make sure everything is as good as possible. I was just wanting to get an idea from people who know far more than me. To this point the most powerful car I have owned was a 96 Corvette...

[2011SS2SS]

I am also curious as to what mods helps these cars the most... Any help is greatly appreciated. I will be looking around the forum tonight. I just found it moments ago. I am a car guy & do most of my work myself. However, I like to know as much as possible... This is a new world for me & I want to know anything you are willing to throw at me.

This car will mostly be a fun cruise the back roads car for me with an occasional trip to the drag strip. I also have a buddy who has a son that just bought an 08 Corvette base auto... He talks all kind of trash & I want to make sure this, cheaper than his vette, car out runs him... LOL.

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

Turn them both off it will make you smile a lot wider. You might consider doing the fuse pull to reset the fuel map and make sure your running the 93 octane tune. If a previous owner or even yourself ran 87 thru it it will be in the low octane map. Run a couple tanks of 93 thru it and pull the number 5 and 20 fuses in the under hood fuse box for several hours or over night. If it was in the low map you’ll immediately know the difference.
Headers, cam and cold air intakes wake these cars up quite a bit. One of the Best bang for you buck in my opinion is an LSA supercharger kit from a 5th gen ZL1. It’s a bolt on and a tune and can get 150 wheel hp pretty easy. Add a smaller pulley, cam and headers to that and you’ll turn your car into a monster.

[Greenhornet2]

CAI longtube headers and a tune is good for around 30-40whp. Stock they have plenty of power to spin the tires. Competitive mode will keep you from spinning them hard. Traction control off is all you need. That said, these cars hook very well stock. My car would not break loose without some clutch dumping. Even with my supercharger it hooked pretty well with the stock tires its not from lack of power. They also have a wheel hop power limiter so sometimes if you spin and get wheel hop it will cut power on you. If you want to spin. One tap on Traction control turns it off, rev to 4k and quickly release the clutch as you floor it and hold on, once she breaks loose she will spin while bouncing off the rev limiter until you let off or the tires catch up to your speed.

[Avenging Orange]

Is it auto or manual?

[Greenhornet2]

It's manual

[Rock-It Man]

In competitive mode, traction control is already off, just some limited stability control is on which should not affect straight line acceleration.

Hooked up tires are good for acceleration. Spin them and you lose time. You should take your car to the drag strip and get some objective measure of acceleration. Report back on your time slip.

[102SS]

Someone probably ran regular gas in it at some point and the car reverts to a less aggressive timing table.

The good news is its an easy fix...just pull your #5 and #20 fuses and let her sit for an hour or so then re install them and you should have all your 426hp back

[TheFlyingBananaSS]

Wait, you said you are disappointed with the car in competitive mode. Then the very next sentence you say you have not turned off both the traction control and stabilitrac at the same time yet.
I'm confused

[Greenhornet2]

Originally Posted by TheFlyingBananaSS

Wait, you said you are disappointed with the car in competitive mode. Then the very next sentence you say you have not turned off both the traction control and stabilitrac at the same time yet.
I'm confused

Why is that confusing? Competitive mode is two taps on the TC and doesn't shut it all off, gives you launch control and some stability control, all off is like an 8 second hold and shuts it all off.

[pyroguy]

As others have said, do the 5 and 20 fuse pull after running all potential low octane gas out of the tank and filling with 91/93 octane fuel. Secondly, push and hold the traction button for 7-10 seconds, until the stabili-trak AND traction control turn off. Thirdly, two words Torque Management. GM has what is called "torque management" tuned into the computers of these cars in an effort to minimize broken parts and help with softer starts. It is WAY over done and the cars can feel sluggish. Your tune should help with this.

[2011SS2SS]

Thanks to everyone who chimed in... Some really good info in there. I did the fuse pull over night last night... I found that the car responded VERY well... I turned off traction control & stability control both... And it was a lot more of a wild ride than I expected... In "Competitive Mode" there is still stability control enabled so it was hooking & pulling great, but I was shocked how well it kept traction... Without both on; it is a different story completely.... I did not get any wheel hop, but it was whipping around in the road pretty well all the way to 4th where it settled down & only gave a small chirp. I really believe the fuse pull helped wake up the car. I filled it with 93 when I picked it up. However, I am betting the guy I bought it from ran 87 in it... I have ran it down to a 1/4 tank pretty quickly & then did the fuse pull. I really feel a difference.

Thanks for all the help guys. I am in KY & the closest drag strip is about 40 miles away & is closed right now. As soon as they open I plan to take it for a trip down & will post slips.

I think I am going to love this forum... I am just getting used to the car & there seems to be a lot of knowledgeable people & info here. I need & appreciate it!!

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

Glad it worked for you! Just an fyi I do the fuse pull every oil change just because you never know for sure exactly what grade your getting from the pump regardless of what you pay for.

[102SS]

I had the same thing happen to me but I was at the dragstrip and I thought I had bought a dog.

Came on here did a few searches and learned a few tricks went back to the strip and ran a 13.08 stock!

Glad we could help