1LE

Not sure if anyone remembers, but late last year I asked here for recommendations of a fun manual under $30K. Came across a Camaro SS 1LE in blue at my local dealership with the dual-mode exhaust and was absolutely floored at how good of a car it was for the money. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/general-automotive-discussion/423447-fun-manual-under-%2430k.html

Took a bit to get the car as the Goodyear F1 Supercar G2s crack in low-temps so GM stops producing this car between January and March. Ordering shuts down in November and starts back up again in Feb. Ordered it in mid Feb as soon as I was able to, from a dealership just outside of Detroit. Pulled my 8 year-old out of school a few Friday's ago, hopped a plane with him to Detroit, picked up the car, cruised the famous Woodward car cruise, then headed home the next day.

The car surpasses all expectations. The chassis is the cat's meow. All body motions are excellently controlled. The 285s up front really help the car turn in quickly and accurately. Grip is higher than I've encountered in a long time (been a while since I've been on a track with R-compound tires) and is requiring some re-wiring of the butt-meter. This is my first experience with electrically assisted steering and they've used the variable assist really nice with regards to weight in varying circumstances. Parking, for instance, can be done with a pinky, while high-speed lateral loads really stiffen the wheel up to good levels. Disabling the traction-control will apparently stiffen things up further, but I've yet to get to a track (been busy the past 4 weeks since picking her up including two road trips).

And the sound out of the LS3 is worth the entire price of admission by itself. Better than any 8-cylinder Ferrari in my opinion (yes, I know, I know) and on par with some of the better V12s.

 

Had a second set of wheels that I'm throwing all-seasons on (just for running winter months as a DD) already in my possession before I actually got the car. Don't worry, I'm covered.

 

As long as he has the budget for the tires, he should be good to go. From the TireRack, replacement rubber is a little under $1100 and the 220-treadwear Goodyears are lasting people who DON'T do burnouts and the like, about 9 to 12K miles.

 

Agree. Have almost 13K miles on mine now. Absolutely amazing car for the money.