Picked one up yesterday. Appearance wise, the damn things is gorgeuos. It has the ground effects, black with red stripes, cowl hood, and the exhaust tips that flush with the bumper. Inside the seats are red and black from the back, and has SS Symbols on the headrest. The door panels are black and have body vinyl over the window switch which is awesome. It is red and has lights that come on at night on the door panels which is also sweet. I took it to Walmart for 30 minutes, and came out to see a crowd walking around the car and telling me how bad *** it looks.

On to the performance. I hate it. It is incredibly hard not to speed in it. Speed limit is 40, and it really feels like I am doing 20. That's one thing, the other, this thing doesn't pull you into the seat barely at WOT. If you were to impress your friends while they are in the passenger seat, it's not going to happen. The car doesn't scream that much like I expected it to. For 32k, I expected a lot more in performance. Got it in this morning and at cold start i heard loud lifter noise, but luckly I am still under factory warranty ( no, I didn't get any higher than 6k rpm). Never real got on it from a roll, maybe once from 20 but got til 70 and let off.

Suspension: I love it, it turns smooth and you don't feel any body roll what so ever. There are plenty of bumps where I live, and honestly it was pretty firm.

Comfort: I am 6ft 4 and my head is hitting the headliner. But I have plenty of leg space.

Sound: from the back it sounds pretty good. But inside the car all you hear is a plain v8.

Electronics, etc: it would be nice if they made a factory blue tooth system for these cars. Power sunroof is pretty damn big, paddle shift is also a cool feature. Headlights are projector lights and have blue halo rings once you turn the car on from remote start. Tai lights are led.

Under the hood: very organized, looks like it's easy to work on your motor while it is still in the car. I didn't do anything yet, but took a peak for about a minute and that's all that went through my mind at the time. I'll post some pics soon, after I get it back from the stealership and get some problems fixed in it.

 

Congrats on the buy, you get the ls3 or the auto? The L99 was having lifter issues so it sounds like you got the auto. They need to be tuned bad, also do a fuse pull to reset the computer and get your tune back to 93. Very good chance they put crap gas in the car and you wont believe how much it kills the performance. Headers and a intake really change this car, the stock exhaust plain SUCKs!

 

I bought it for my uncle but drove it around for a few days to test it. If it were mine it would be yellow 6-spd and already modified the hell out of. Dad and I are looking for another 6 -spd one to do a firebird conversion.

 

Thats why I went with the g8. If youre gonna have a boat it might as well have 4 doors and useable space.

 

Why is this thread in the internal section? Not trying to be a mod but I don't think it belongs here bud.

 

If it's a 2SS, it does have factory bluetooth...that's standard on the 2SS and 2LT...optional on the 1SS and 1LT. You just can't pair devices while the vehicle is in motion. I use the factory bluetooth in mine every time I drive it to pair to my cell phone...including using voice dialing, and using name recognition for the phone book I have stored in the car...I tap the button on the wheel, the stereo mutes and the GM lady voice says "ready"...I say "call work" or whoever...and it makes it happen...if it's noisy and unsure what you said, it will repeat who it's going to call and ask you to say yes or no first.

If it's not pulling that hard...it's a few things...the suspension does NOT kick the way older cars do. I noticed right away in my 2010...the car just doesn't lift the front and squat in the rear as hard as any other car I've ever had does...so you don't get that feeling of acceleration from gravity pulling you into the seat...meanwhile though, when my 2010 was STOCK, it beat my old 2000 LS1 from a roll on the highway...my 2000 LS1 had long tubes, true duals, LS6 intake, SLP cold air everything, and very very thoroughly tuned.

The automatic cars are NOT as quick as the stick cars on the highway...they really kick *** off the line, but the L99 runs out of steam up top while the LS3 cars pull away...also as was mentioned about the "fuse pull"...I think everyone overhypes it a bit...I've never had to do mine...but it is possible that the car is running from the low octane spark tables. It WILL eventually correct itself, and I've read that the 2012's are WAY better than the 2010's and 2011's were about that...but simply resetting the PCM when you know there's good fuel in the car will let you know right away...you'll either really feel a difference, or you won't...the difference in spark from high octane to low octane is huge...so it gives up a lot of power.

 

Ya, let's not go there.

 

I mainly put it here for the lifter noise, to see if it's common. Warranty goes out in 10k miles and I don't want to disappoint my uncle

 

Exactly. The car is quick but you just can't feel it

 

...but it does have bluetooth

 

I has an 11 for about a year. Got sick of it and sold it. It ran 11's but felt like a Camry driving around. No sporty feel.

 

The lifter noise is from the AFM system. Have the car tuned and ask to have the AFM system shut off. The lifters will always be engaged then and the noise wont be as bad, but there will still be some noise but I don't notice it now. Its very common and don't have to worry about it. The valve covers should be taken off and lifters inspected once a year after 20,000 miles.

Make sure you find a tuner who has a good reputation for tranny tunes. Your skull will bounce off the head rest every time it shifts a gear with a good tranny tune.

The reason an L99 is faster off the line but then pukes out is the VVT system. You can have a static cam put in and get rid of the AFM lifters and the VVT system. That will give you the same top end as the LS3 but you lose the jump of the line.

I would wait a few years before making that decision. The reason the VVT system dies out at high speeds is because it uses oil from the oil pump to move the cam. At higher speeds the torque on the cam over powers the Hydraulics from the oil pump and you lose power. The after market people are working hard to over come this, WHEN they do a VVT motor will be the only one to have.

 

I'm paired now. Thanks

 

Thanks! I'll see what the stealership says once they are through

 

As mentioned - Long Tube Headers, a Cold Air Intake, & Dyno Tune really "wake the car up" from a performance perspective, its like a totally new vehicle!

I gained 54HP with these additions (LS3) - the quicker acceleration feels more than 54HP......

 

how do you feel about the visibility? as in being able to see out of it? i'm 6'2, 165, and when i sit in either of my friends 2010's, i can't see all that well. looking through the windshield, i feel like i'm looking through the drivers slot in a sherman tank.

i liked the way the seats in their cars kind of "hug" me into place though. i love the outside. i can't stand the interior though, except the gauge pack down by the shifter.
one is a 6 cylinder auto, the other's a v8 6 speed. that one's gonna see mods. my friend said no....but i could see the look on his face.

 

My dad is 6ft and he can see fine. Did you try raising your seat? I fit perfectly in it. If only my head didnt hit the roof i'd get one personally for me.

 

would he feel anything different than what you're talking about if he had a manual?

 

Yes. A Dyno tune on a manual will give more rwhp. Most I have seen have gone from a before tune of 350 to 370, and after tune 400 to 420 rwhp. The only number that counts is the amount of gain since Dyno's all read different.

 

I'm 6' tall, 140-145, and I don't find visibility to be a problem at all...it took me a WHILE to find where I wanted the drivers seat...in my 4th gen it was easy...all the way down, all the way back, then adjust the recline until the wheel was comfortable...but in the 2010, it took much more expirimenting to really feel right in the car...but I'm leg tall, so my head isn't really close to the ceiling. My car has a sunroof too, though I don't think there's a difference in headroom since the glass goes outside the car, so the headliner isn't lowered from a car without a sunroof.

I've had everyone I know ask me about the visibility...my only issue was the first 2 or 3 days driving the car, I wasn't REALLY positive where the front corners of it were, so I took turns in parking lots a little careful, but after that, it's been fine.