thinking of getting a Z28

ok guys, here's the deal. I've always wanted a Camaro, but after I finally had enough cash to buy a good high performance car after owning an Escort for two years I fell in love with a neighbors mitsubishi 3000GT. The mistu has a V6 pushing about 230hp with just an intake and is front wheel drive, and weighs a few pounds less than a Camaro. The car does an embarrasing 0-60 in 7.8 seconds and a 1/4 mile in a little over 16. Now, after owning the 3000GT for several months now I'm tired of the high cost of maintenence and the utter lack of power in such a fast looking car. I've decided to sell the 3000GT and buy a Z28.

Now, here's my inquiry. What are the biggest immediate differences in these two cars? Exactly how much quicker and faster is an LT1 or an LS1 than my 222hp V6 3000GT? And what kind of fuel economy and insurance costs and maintenence am I looking at for one of these machines? Does anyone consider this to be a significant step up in performance, or is there a cheaper, faster car on the used car market out there? If there is, please let me know (prefferably American, I live near Miami and I'm sick of the Ricers all over the place, oh, and can an LT1 outrun most rice burners?). Thanks for the help guys.

lt1 definatlely out runs a rice burner. I have an 00z28 so it has the ls1 its faster than the lt1. I will say that hp difference is a bout 70 to 80 horses depending on many things. 98-2000 Z28 comes with 305 hp 01-02 come with 310 hp. I live in Tx so our 1/4 mi times are probably different. I will say this fuel economy is not the greatest. i can do 200 miles on 3/4 tank. 00's are supposed to leak oil but my doesn't also supposed to have a piston problem. Maintenancee depends on who owned it before. You could end up with a peice of crap or you could get one that will alst you for ever. Only problem is the spark plugs they are hard to get out. But its up to you. Take a ride in one you will see why they are the best. I love my car and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

will you trade it for mine?

Well, I'm pretty set on getting the Camaro by now, so what exactly are the specs and 0-60 and 1/4 mile and so on on different fourth gen models?

The ls1 is said to go 0-60 in 5.2 seconds and 1/4 mile times in the average are 13's depending on your take off the weather and your tires and of course driving skills. For example i live in Tx its really hot and humid. Awesome runs for us are high 13's.

Z28's will burn an NA 3000gt all day long...as well as %75 of all other rice burners. Now, if you're going to take on a 300gt VR4 (300hp, twin turbo, AWD) you may want to think before you lay down the slip (haha 2f2f). Z28's are awesome; I loved my 94 Camaro 3.4 v6, but it was a little sluggish for me, so I had to sell it. However, if it had been a 94 Z28, I think I woulda kept it after all! Right now I'm looking into Eclipse GST/GSX's--also interesting cars that can handle 400 hp on stock internals (and weigh 2800-3000lbs). You may want to take a look at those too before you decide for sure on the Z28.

Another car you may want to check out is the Dodge Neon SRT-4 (just called the SRT-4, but looks like a neon, for identification purposes). Yes, it is a neon--turbo. And yes, it is rated at 230 hp stock, which many people say is an under-rating. With intake, headers, and exhaust, you could be looking at around 250 hp+ in a car that is lighter than a Z28. But it looks like a neon. Haha, it's worth lookin at anyway.

there awesome cars the one major problem is opti spark. i bought my car and had it go out shortly after. havent gotten to fixin it yet. other then that i couldnt be happier. all you should do is do a search on opti and you find out what you need to know.