So as I posted in the "how much car can you afford?" thread, the old '95 Olds LSS hit the bucket and I had to find something. Originally I was really leaning towards the Cruze ECO. However, after driving a 2011 Camaro, I couldn't resist upgrading.

It's black/black, V6/6-speed manual. Originally I thought I wanted a 1LT with a few options, but there were none within 3 hours of where I live (apparently no one wants V6/manual). So after realizing the 2LT was only about $700 more than the 1LT equipped how I would want it, I went searching for a 2LT with manual transmission. I found one about 75 miles away and contacted the local dealer about it. It was also the only 2LT/manual within 3 hours.

Only options it has are floor mats that are definitely a nice upgrade over the stock ones and a spare tire.

I took it home June 30th. Hadn't had time to detail it until this past weekend/week so I didn't take any pics until tonight. It was built in Nov. 2010 and thus sat on the lot forever. With that, it probably got washed with wash mitts full of dirt quite a few times. Thus, it had tons of swirl marks all over it. After probably 10 hours (wash, clay, wash, polish with 2 types of polish, wash, wax) it looks pretty damn good.

Only mods I have done are taking off the front plate and plugging them with these little plastic things from Lowe's (you can barely tell from 10 feet away), which I guess isn't really a mod, and I put black vinyl overlays over the bowties. Only other thing I might do is blacking out the side markers and possibly tail lights, at least for the time being.

I get about 19.5 mpg, all in town driving. Not Cruze ECO mileage, but also much better than 14mpg I used to get in the GTO.

Anyways, pictures:

Looks very good there on Abbey Fields, Northie. Congratulations and best of luck with it.

Congrats, Northie!

Enjoy it.

Nice Ride. Congrats.

What happened to the GTO?

Awesome choice--congrats!

V6 with stick is not the most common, as you found--but the 2LT is a nice upgrade with heated leather, HUD, etc.

Edited July 23, 201114 yr by caddycruiser

Way to go man.

Good for you, but haha i read it as "two liter turbo"

What happened to the GTO?

My dad drives it. He's driven it pretty much since I went to college 5 years ago except sometimes in the summer when I would get to drive it. It just recently crossed the 30k mile mark. I considered driving it instead, but I'm getting much better MPG with the Camaro, it's more fun to drive because of the stick, rides and drives better, and looks better. Also, insurance with a V8 for a 23 year old is pretty insane.

Speaking of insurance, somehow a 1LT Camaro was less to insure than a Cruze Eco. I'm guessing perhaps because the Cruze has so many airbags and they're very costly to fix. A 2LT was about $100 more per 6 months than the Cruze, and about $120 more than the 1LT.

Awesome choice--congrats!

V6 with stick is not the most common, as you found--but the 2LT is a nice uograde with heated leather, etc.

Yes, I'm really happy I got the 2LT instead. I sort of wanted a sunroof, but I got everything else I wanted on the 1LT, plus HUD (which is awesome), leather, heated seats, ambient lighting (which is really cool at night), and the 4 gauge cluster on the center console, which I think looks pretty cool and helps to tie the center stack into the console. I think that's all you get on 2LT that I wanted on a 1LT (upgraded radio is std on 2LT, along with 19" wheels and connectivity package). For $700 I'd rather have the 2LT with no sunroof and the additional upgrades.

How is the driver's seat in that Camaro? You know, positioning, comfort, support etc.

The driver's seat is plenty comfortable. The GTO seats are better, but the GTO seats are pretty much unbeatable.

You definitely sit in the seat rather than on the seat. Side bolstering is pretty good, could be a bit better (GTO's is better). I don't think there is a lumber support adjuster, which is odd but I guess I don't feel like I need it.

Coming from the GTO, most seats seem awful. I can't complain about the Camaro's, so I suppose they're pretty good.

I will say I sat in my sister's Cruze today and the seats were way less comfortable than the Camaro's.

I'm 6'0 tall in case you were wondering.

Glad that the GTO is still around - wish mine was.

Best all-around car I ever owned.

Congrats Northstar!! It's nice to see more new Camaros around here

Black Camaros look fantastic when they're clean and shiny, but man is the color high maintenance. Congrats.

Glad that the GTO is still around - wish mine was.

Best all-around car I ever owned.

Agreed. I completely take my wife's 2006 GTO for granted. Still super-reliable at 60k miles and a lot of fun to drive.

Edited August 13, 201114 yr by Chevy Nick

Wow!