Next car purchase: Camaro?

Hi everyone, i'm fairly new to the entire A-F board system and completely knew to the Camaro board. Recently, I found out i'll be getting rid of my '97 Honda Accord and moving on to something better. My dad is buying the car from me to give to my brother, so i'll have $5000 to spend on a new car.

The first thing that popped into my head was a 2nd gen ('86-'91) Mazda RX-7. I've been in love with rotary engines since I saw my first RX-7 back in '93 and i've even worked on a few. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a huge Domestic lover and he pointed out that perhaps i've overlooked some classic American Muscle as my next choice. So, after thinking some more, i've decided that if I do go the Domestic way, i'll get a Firebird or Camaro, but I had some questions first.

The 2nd gen RX-7 is one of the best handling Japanese cars of its time. I'm not all about drag racing, so handling is a big factor in my choice. How well would Firebirds/Camaros (late 70s, early 80s) handle on a long windy back road? On a road track?

What's the reliablity like in these cars?

Gas milage? (a big factor, due to being a fairly poor college student)

If there's anything else you feel I should be aware before taking further steps (the purchase will be in July), please feel free to add them.

Thanks in advance!

-Andrew

If your buying the car for handling, I would go with the RX7. The Camaro and Firebird's from the seconds and third Gen as well as 4th Gen can be made to handle well but even the best Suspension system arn't upto Rx7's standard now if your talking about straight line performance that's a different story

I agree. If you are looking for good gas milage, you might as well've kept the accord... you can get a RX-7 non-turbo or a Camaro v6, but what is the point in that, you lose what yyou are buying the car for, I learned that the hard way. I'm sure you asked this at the RX-7 board, listen to what they have to say, reliability is not to hot. If none of the drawbacks of the rotary matter I'd say get the RX-7 it's bad-ass and less common, more exotic. You said you don't care too much about straight-line, plus the RX-7 can be brought up to Camaro HP numbers, but if the straight-line thing gets to you, there's no replcement for displacement!

oh, RX-7... no back seat either

I have a 97 v-6 camaro for sale for $6000. Little more than you are willing to spend but only 79,000 miles with an added exhaust. E-mail me at [email protected] for more info.

if you are looking at handling, then do not go anywhere near a second generation camaro. sorry guys, i love the cars, they are sexy, but after driving one, i thought i was gonna roll it making a 20mph 90 degree turn. if you are interested in the camaros, a late 80's to present camaro should suit you just fine. as ive told many people on here, my camaros are stock and handle just fine. my RS takes 90 degree turns at 40mph without squeeling the tires, and my IROC took windy mountain roads at 100+mph one handed. i had no idea how fast i was going till i looked down and desided to slow down to avoid a ticket. so they do handle. now you do have to remember, that the camaros weigh an average of around 3300-3500lbs which does not make them lightweights, but they do handle very well. especially for their size. and for 5000 bucks, you can find a decent Z28 from a third gen year, or maybe even a B4C police package, and i have seen G92 showroom stock racing Camaros go for as little as 4500 bucks. just have to shop around a little bit. my IROC (the red one) is a little worse for ware, but has the four wheel disk brakes, 5.7L TPI engine, Borg-warner posi rear, and most interior options, and i got it for 2300 bucks. drove it 1100miles home as was, without a hiccup, sept one issue starting from a dead battery which i replaced. think it was a walmart special or something. put my interstate in it, never had another problem. Both my cars have been extreamly reliable. the IROC let the transmission 3-4 clutchpack go at 150,000 miles, so i rebuilt the trans. never had a hiccup with the RS, sept when a mechanic dropped a nut in my head while the intake was off, blew the engine, so we put a jasper rebuilt engine in. but no faults from the cars themselves. they are like any other relationship, you take care of them, they take care of you. do simple maintanence on them, and youll more likely than not, never have a problem. Gas mileage all depends on your right foot. i myself am a ledfoot, and my RS (daily driver) gets around 15-17mpg daily driving, and 23-24 on the highway. The IROC hasnt been Va inspected yet, so i dont know her around town mileage, but on the way home, she got 26mpg. with several 100+mph sprints. playint with pretty girls in nashville ;) as far as the RX-7, dunno anything about em, sept that the ones like the one in fast and the furious are fucking sexy. aside from that, youd have to ask people that own em.

fact is, u ask the camaro forum if they recommend camaros, odds are most of us are going to say yes. camaros can handle being pushed, they are excellent in maneuvering. as far as gas mileage, if u get a v8 ur not gonna have the same mileage as ur accord. i would expect between 20-25. i get only 16 but that's cuz i have a valve seal leak. as far as reliability, i say that any car is reliable if u maintain it. for my camaro i change the oil and lube the front suspension every 2500 miles, and i switch tire sides every 5000. and my car will last a while. before u ask, it had a valve seal leak when i bought it. now a camaro may not be as reliable as other cars when they are not maintained, but as i said before; maintained cars are reliable, period. u can pick up a v8 camaro for very little because of the huge import boom, plus have some of your 5000 dollars to add some performance mods to it.

p.s. buy a camaro for less than 5000, put about 1000 into the suspension and u'll be handling as good as, if not better than a stock rx7