I have a warm spot in my heart for Camaros, as my first new car was a '68 Camaro V8. I have a small deposit down on one of the new ones at my local Chevy dealer -- told the salesman any early model with a big V8 will do-- and will see what happens. I don't expect it to be a world class car, but fun, and not expensive by any means, so why not?

 

A guy that works for me said he was interested in buying one, are they coming out in 09?

 

Supposedly later this year as an '09 model.

 

Looking forward to seeing it on your inventory.

 

theres one main problem with the vettes/vipers/other american cars.... YOU REALLY HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO LAUNCH PROPERLY! as far as im concerned, no car out there can launch as fast as an AWD twin turbo period!

 

Four wheel drive provides a tremendous advantage, and the Porsche Turbo (the 911, or for that matter, the Cayenne Turbo) has it, as did the Mitsi 3-liter turbo of several years ago (good car, easy to drive, underrated in my book) and the current Evos and STIs, also nice cars. Four wheel drive gives incredible off the line times, and good times all the way to 60 mph, but ultimately those cars, even the Porsche Turbo,fade pretty quickly for sheer lack power.

My 'vette could break the rear wheels (345 section drag radials) loose at any speed up to the torque peak in third gear -- a bit over 80 mph, without dropping the clutch -- just floor it and the tires smoked. It was phenomenal, and fun, if a bit scary at times. What I loved most, however, was 500+ ft lbs of torque just off idle (full throttle of course, to get that much). It was just sooooo powerful at low RPM, and it only got worse as RPM built.

Launching it was damn difficult, yes, but my youngest son had the knack and got it under 10 seconds in the quarter a couple of times, when all I could do was very low tens. But the rush once it got going was phenomenal. Nothing,just nothingcould pull like it or give you the sheer sensation of "Gods own torque curve." My Camaro can do faster quarter miles because it lifts the front wheels and just catapults off the line, but the 'vette was the best I've ever seenabove 80 mph. It had 100 mph on my Carrera -- basically it pulled as hard at 100 as my Carrera does off the line: from 100 to 130 in less than 2 seconds.

By that measure, a stock Turbo isn't even in the game. Overall, though, I would prefer 4-wheel drive to 200 extra HP in anything. It makes the car so controlable, so easy to launch -- and let's face it. There are very few times where you can enjoy the fact that your car can accelerate from 100 to 150 quickly.

I loved the 'vette, but I let it go and moved on. Not sure to what though. I have a deposit on a GT40, but on the other hand, my local Porsche/Jag dealer has a Continental GTwith less than 10K on its lot . . . plan to look at that in the next day or two.

 

if you have the budget and considering a bentley, i suggest looking at the DB9's instead.

 

Yeah, I liked Astons, but the Bentley is a bit more luxurious and easier to get in and out of, and the interior of recent Astons is pretty "modern" whereas the Bentley is rather traditional, which I like.

But I think I will let the Bentley go, too. Went by and looked at it today. Gorgeous and in perfect shape. Two and a half years old, 9k miles, $119K with a bit of factory warranty left.I'm not wealthy but I could afford it, but I just don't think an 11 mpg car is proper in this world now -- that's half what my Carrera gets and I've actually been thinking it is not that great is a world where my buddy Prius can get 36. And having that $125K (with taxes) in the bank just feels better, too.

 

Back to the original question....how's everyone's 0-60 time? Any takers any cars?

 

Best I ever heard verified by a credible source for a street car was Motor Trend' test of the Lingenfelter twin-turbo 427 back about 4 years ago, a car rated by Ling at 800-850 HP: they got 0-60 in 2 seconds and the quarter mile in 9.2 seconds on slicks. I don't know how they did it - it was the same basic engine as in my vette, twin turbo rather than Procharger but both at around 10 lbs boost and 700-750 rwhp. I could never get mine anywhere near 2.0, but then I did not have all of Ling's modified suspension components on the rear, only their modified shock tower kits and reinforced half shafts

A very good firiend just picked up a new(2200 miles) Caymen S that does about 4.8 seconds to 60 using a calibrated G-Tech monitor.