I was about to buy the 2010 Camaro SS, but with GM in ruins. . .

I am leaning toward the 2010 Shelby gt500 (convertible for me, grabber blue). Is anyone else having reservations about the Camaro? Am I worried over nothing? What is the worst case scenario buying a car from this nearly bankrupt company? The Camaro is much cheaper than the Shelby, and just a tad slower @ 0-60. & faster with the automatic oddly.

[edit on 12-5-2009 by sexysadie]

Honestly if youre gonna drop like 50k on a shelby, I'd go for a higher end, like an m3 or something. Shelbys a nice car but way too slow for it roots. Underpowered for its weight imo.

reply to post by truttseeker


Agreed, the curb weight of the Shelby is estimated at 3900 lbs with 540 HP. Still, I could be wrong but doesn’t the M3 hit 60 @ just under 4.5 seconds? Supposedly the 2010 Shelby makes it around 4.1. Yet, I like that the BMW can reach 185 mph, where the Shelby is limited to 155 mph. I hear the M3 is tuned for better handling and balance which is cool, but I imo the 2010 version of the Shelby is a prettier car, not that Prettiness matters.

lol well if youre gonna pay 60 you might as well bite the bullet and pay the extra 30k and buy a nissan gtr. owns everything.

reply to post by truttseeker


Never a truer word has been written.

If your going to be spending that kind of money you've got to go for the Nissan GT-R 0-60 @ 3.5s, 200mph top end from 480 bhp and it will pull 1.1 G's in the corner, the car is superlative, it wipes the floor with the Porsche 911 Turbo.

lol the gtr1 turbo, and runs with cars twice its price. But honestly if youre going to buy a shelby, buy a 370z, but an exhaust, breaks, new ecu, cold air intake and even look at a turbo. Doing this youre showing a car that can destroy a shelby, a camaro, and probably even keep even with a gtr. All for the price of a shelby.

I would go with the Camaro, i believe it comes in at around 3800 lbs, while the GT500 is closer to 4100lbs to my knowledge. Sure the Shelby has more power, but with a live rear axle the Camaro beats it like a red-headed step child in the twisties (independent rear suspension). The Camaro is no slouch in the 1/4 either Car and Driver and Motor Trend both have the 'Maro at 13.0 flat at 109-110 for the 6 speed i believe and 13.1 at 109 for the auto. Curiously the auto has a "different" motor they are both 6.2 liter V8s but the 6 speed has the LS3 straight out of the Corvette making 426 hp while the auto has the L98 (i think that is what it is called although I'm not too sure) which makes "only" 400 hp. The magazines have the new Shelby doing between 12.6 and 12.9 in the 1/4 at 112 to 113 mph. Get the Camaro through on a mean sounding exhaust and a cold air intake and you will be blowing most GT500 drivers away. Not to mention you will still save $20,000, look cooler, sound better, and there is always doing what Ford "has" to do to make there cars fast...add a blower. Do that and that Camaro will run with most exotics (Ferraris, Lambos, Porsches, etc) on the highway and the drag strip.
I must say i am a little biased, i will always love GM, even if there comes a time when there is no GM to love anymore lol. I drive a mildly modded 2005 GTO with around 500 hp to the flywheel (around 400 to the wheels) and i have ran two of the last generation GT500s with 500hp and they are definitely fast but i have taken both by a half car to a whole car from a roll and 1 to 2 cars from a dead stop (i run 12.5-12.7 at 111-113mph in the 1/4.) They were both stock or close to it. That being said if your interested in the ease of modding your car and you have the money to get the Shelby, cars with stock superchargers are much easier to mod (in the sense that you can make more power for less cash as far as mods go) The same $3,000 in mods to a stock naturally aspirated (excluding forced induction which is usually much more than $3,000 especially for chevy small blocks and supporting mods or N20) that will get you around 50-70 whp will get you around 100-120 whp or perhaps more on many cars with stock forced induction. Either way i doubt you will be disappointed.

Originally posted by truttseeker
lol the gtr1 turbo, and runs with cars twice its price. But honestly if youre going to buy a shelby, buy a 370z, but an exhaust, breaks, new ecu, cold air intake and even look at a turbo. Doing this youre showing a car that can destroy a shelby, a camaro, and probably even keep even with a gtr. All for the price of a shelby.

Unless you are "for sure" going to turbocharge that 370Z your going to have trouble "destroying" a Camaro or GT500, and theres no way that it would keep up with a GT-R without a turbo/blower or some drastic naturally aspirated engine mods (heads, cams, intake manifold etc) and im not even sure that it is possible to make that much power with out forced induction on those V-6's, im not really an expert on most import motors though.

[edit on 19-5-2009 by The Loge]

I know that with the Nismo edition of the 370, its going to be above 350, and theyre putting a new ecu, cold air, and an exhaust. The speedo goes up to 180 already on a stock one. The Nismo ECU is definitely going to be detuned, because its proven on the GT-R that they rediculously detune import cars to make them US Spec. But if you can get an aftermarket ECU and a custom made exhaust, youll be running with a GT-500 definitely--especially considering a GT-500 is governed somewhere below 160.


Sidenote, if youre going to pay 55,000 like you are on a GT-500 then youd be able to afford to put everything in a 370z, and maybe even a new stereo.

Speedos have no part in determining how fast a car will go/is. My GTOs speedo says 200 but i doubt it would do 180. My Eagle Talons speedo says 170 but it might get to 125. Just making a point. Im sorry but exhaust, intake, and ecu modifications will not put a 370Z or a nismo for that matter on par acceleration and speed wise with a GT500. Say the nismo has 350hp full header back exhaust and a good CAI will put it at around 400 (wishfully thinking) all that changing or tuning an ECU will do (which can be done with handheld tuners or on a laptop with HPtuners by yourself or at a dyno shop) is change your air/fuel ratio, shift points, top speed limiters, redline limiters, idle RPM, and on a N/A car thats about it. It would be a miracle if a 370Z/Nismo made 440 hp TO THE MOTOR after those modifications. That is still 100hp less than a new GT500 that being said HP isnt everything. Bonestock i would wager that a Z would whoop a GT500 on a road course or autocross. The GT500 probably weighs around 500-700lbs more than the Z (not exactly sure but seems like a good guess) and the general rule of thumb is 100lbs=10hp so the GT500 still has a 30-50 hp advantage in a straight line. It would be a good/fun race but i would put my money on the Cobra, not to mention that at 510lb ft of torque i would guess it would have at least a 140lb ft tq advantage. Dont believe me? Go to a Z car forum and see what guys with CAI, exhaust, and a chip or tune make hp and tq wise and run in the 1/4. The GT500 is doing 12.7 at 118mph according to motortrend. It might be close but i doubt it surpasses it. You may be able to go faster eventually but the GT500 will get to 155 faster, that being said if the GT500 owner took the limiter off that car would easily hit 175-180 with the gear ratio that it has.

[edit on 19-5-2009 by The Loge]

If youre going to drop as much into a 370z as youd spend on a gt500, then I'm sure the 370 would be well worth the cost. You will have an all around better car.

I will agree with that.

Thanks for the advise everyone! I am considering the gt r, especially after seeing what a beast it is on the road. Still, when I compare it to the Z06 which looks so cool I cant decide. It may very well come down to the financing, and working with a dealership that doesn’t annoy me. After reading what the loge said, I figured I’d go the cheaper route and buy the camaro, but when I got to the dealership they were trying to tell me their SS was like $45,000 and they wouldn’t budge, and that for $34k I could buy their v6, so of course I walked out.





[edit on 22-5-2009 by sexysadie]

Yeah one of the guys i work with went to go pick up an Camaro, and theyre jacking the prices on those things WAYYYY up. So, with my reenlistment bonus Im probably going to go pick up a GT-R. Not only are they almost as fast as a corvette, but they can also drive in the snow.