Yesterday marked the opening day of the 2011 Formula Drift season and GM opened the season up with a bang! Thanks to some fearless driving during qualifying by Conrad Grunewald and his GM Performance Parts-powered Chevy Camaro, GM earned the first qualifying position among the top 32 competitors out on the field. Conrad’s Camaro is powered by a GMPP Crate Engine version of the upcoming supercharged Camaro ZL1 powerplant, so there’s plenty of power to swing the Camaro’s rear end around. We’ll be excited to see just how well those ponies can leave little bits of Hankook rubber on the Streets of Long Beach track today.

Formula Drift action opens up today at 11:30 PM PST and we’ll be carrying all of the action here on GMTunerSource.com via the livestream here - http://www.gmtunersource.com/gmracing/drifting/formula-drift-live

In case you can’t sit glued to your computer all day, GMTS will be broadcasting up to the minute updates during competition runs on our Facebook page here - http://www.facebook.com/GMTunerSource

SOURCE: Wrecked Magazine

Kick the tires and light the fires, you can now take a cruise in a real topless Camaro! Sure there have been companies in the past year that have taken a sawzall, some bondo and duct tape to a beautiful factory Camaro coupe to try and sell you a ‘verted Camaro, but this is the real deal baseball and apple pie Camaro which features a seamless top that won’t leak on your duds as you head out for a night on the town.

Now we’ve personally seen this specimen in testing over the past year and we knew it was going to be a hit once the official version got signed off on. When we first saw the original lab mules, we whipped out our cell phones to get some shots only to receive a scornful look from the development team. That prompted us to place our phones back in our pocket - where they belong, supposedly.

The secrecy surrounding the development of the convertible was well warranted though, as the GM design team went out of their way to keep the factory lines in tact with this transformation (no movie pun intended) and the result is a sports car that looks just as good as a hardtop as it does with a soft-top – something that we can’t say rings true for a lot of other “sports” cars out there.

The Camaro convertible will come in many of the same configurations that the Camaro coupe has as options. The V6 model still receives the hardcore 312-horsepower direct injection motor we all love and the optional LS3 V8 in the SS still pumps out 426 horsepower – no compromises for style here.

Final packages come in 1LT/2LT (V-6) and 1SS/2SS (V-8) trims and will cost you a flat $30,000 MSRP (including $850 destination). You can have your choice of one of nine brilliant exterior colors sprayed onto the paintwork and the tops are offered in black or tan.

If you haven’t seen one in person yet at your local auto show, you can check out just how slick the new Camaro convertible looks for yourself in the gallery below:

The team at GM Performance Parts has a few screws loose if you ask us – but that’s just the way we like them. Without their noggins being properly bolted together, they come up with performance packages like the new LS9 Supercharger Package which just screams insanity. If you’ve been searching for some type of power adder to bolt up to your LS3-powered Chevy since you drove it off the lot, the search is over. This bad boy of a kit will make your factory monster LS3 V8 seem docile as the package can make your seemingly stock Camaro or Corvette put out up to 650hp with the properly paired components.

The official press release hasn’t hit the wire yet, but we know some people that know some people and we got the hook up for you all so you can be the first at the parts counter to order yours and surprise the heck out of your friends. When you step up to the counter just tell them you need part number 19244103 and make it snappy, there’s fresh tires on your car that you need to break in! The kit will include all of the components to make the kit work right out of the box of course and will carry the same warranty that all GMPP carry which make this kit knock the funk out of the competition.

When the official release gets out, we’ll update you all here with the full statement for your enjoyment.

Thanks GMPP - Let’s kick the tires and light the fires!

 

The 2010 HOT ROD Power Tour has been good to the entire GM Performance Division team. The GMPD guys met some of the most passionate and dedicated car people in the country straight from day one of the tour. Some of who even took the time to stop by the GMPD display to say “thanks” for coming back to the tour for 2010. This gesture meant the world to everyone that manned the GM presence at the tour as these guys are serious about performance and even more serious about taking care of people.

The final stop of the 2010 HOT ROD Power Tour was in Mobile, AL. After eight days of traveling and seeing an eclectic variety of hot rods, one model in particular was the most prevalent among the group. Can you guess which one? If you said 1957 Chevy Bel Air Coupe, sorry, you’d be dead wrong. However, if you guessed the 2010 Chevy Camaro, you’d be right on the money! The 5th-gen Camaros came out in force throughout the tour and those that didn’t have one got the chance to sit in one of the models on display to gauge for themselves if the champion muscle car was a right fit for them – most of them couldn’t stop drooling so we just chalked those up as a yes.

Traversing (gotta love the GM model pun) the over 1400miles of the tour from start to finish, the whole GMPD is all smiles after spending time with America’s finest automotive enthusiasts. Day eight of the tour ended on board the WWII Battle Ship, Alabama, for the final awards ceremony. On board the ship, a 2010 Indy Pace Car-replica Camaro was given away as well as two GM Performance Parts Crate Motors that were sure we’ll see back next year stuffed under the hoods of a couple hot rods.

Straight from the mouth of GM Engineer Bill Duncan, “What a thrilling end to wonderful tour experience.” Aptly put Bill.

On behalf of all of us here at GMTunerSource.com and on behalf of the guys and girls at GM Performance Division, we’d like to thank everyone that participated in the 2010 HOT ROD Power Tour. And for those that didn’t make it out to one of the stops, what’s wrong with you?! And we expect you front and center on day one at next year’s tour.

In the meantime, feel free to peruse through our final gallery of images from day 7 & 8 of the 2010 HOT ROD Power Tour below:

 

Over 75,000 versions of the venerable iconic muscle car named Camaro have been sold in its first year back from an eight year hiatus. Seemingly catching the rest of the automotive world by surprise, the 2010 Camaro stole the hearts of all who saw it pass by and the minds of all who got to take this 5th generation slice of America for a spin. So what is in store for the second year of the Camaro? Let’s see.

Right out of the gate, the V6 Camaro shows just who is the king of the horsepower mountain with 312 ponies nestled underneath the bonnet. Funny enough, apparently the Camaro has always had 312 horsepower. It’s just the tricky folks in the RenCen only certified the 2010 V6 at 304hp as bait for the 2011 Mustang which falls a bit short again for the 2011 model year with only 305 hp. And having driven said 312hp Camaro, we can assure you that the thing hauls tail like nobody’s business. Even with the automatic gearbox leaving our left foot twitching for action, the Camaro still pulls off faster pulls through the 1/4 than the LSJ-powered Cobalt SS, which is an impressive feat.

It’s not all about smoking the tires off the alloys though. There’s a couple more goodies added for 2011 to bring the Camaro even more into the future. For starters, the 2LT and 2SS packages will come standard with the heads-up-display developed on the Corvette and popularized on other high-end GM vehicles. The Camaro-specific HUD will be happy to assist in displaying any one of the following parameters of your choosing: vehicle speed, tachometer, compass, outside air temperature, shift gear indicator, OnStar turn-by-turn directions, audio functions, phone information and vehicle messages. With this addition, both of the trim packages will also carry a $350 premium over the 2010 model year MSRP.

To top it all off, the popular “Synergy Green” color option previously only available on the 1LT will be available to be sprayed onto any Camaro for only $325 greenbacks. This option was added because of the outcry by YOU to make your voices heard across GM that this color is something you want on the Camaro you want and not just the 1LT. That should be a lesson learned that GM is really listening to all of YOU for what you’re looking for in your favorite cars and trucks. If you really want something, make your voice heard! To fully cover off on all of the extras for 2011, it should also be noted that Rally Yellow is now also a special charge color option and a Hurst short-throw shifter can be had as a factory option for only $380.

So there you have it. The 2011 Camaro is ready to get to work, play or whatever else you may have planned for this king of muscle cars. Is there anything missing from the 2011 Camaro that’s missing from your wish list? Let us know what makes your perfect muscle car in the comments below.

 

What happens when you get a group of 14 to 21 year old guys around a spare 5th-gen Camaro chassis and some extremely high-performance goodies? Well you get really excited young men known as the Explorer Scouts. The scouts are out of the Boy Scouts of America’s “Learning for Life” program and are part of the UAW Local 160/GM Tech Center Explorer Scout program. The program focuses around teaching young adults about careers in the auto industry and in the process, they got to personally build the Camaro of their dreams under the guidance of some of GM’s best and brightest – this time winning 1st place in their class at Detroit Autorama in the process.

That’s right, there’s a new color on the block and its name is Synergy Green. Originally unveiled at this year’s SEMA show, the news that this color would be a factory option in 2010 was also officially announced at the show, which caused some great excitement among the Tuner crowd. You can add the new Synergy Green RPO code “GHS” to your order starting in the 1st quarter of 2010, albeit with a twist - the Synergy Green color will be strictly limited to 1LT Camaro models. A nice exclusive for V6 owners and a move that we think we’ll see more of down the line with exclusive colors and options coming out for certain model Camaros. Check out the shots after the break of the Synergy Green color in case you missed it at SEMA.

A little while back we broke the news that renowned custom car builder Neil Tjin would be receiving a Camaro to build up for the 2009 SEMA Show. Neil has been one of the leaders in automotive design and styling for the better part of this decade and we were excited to hear that he and his team would get to do their magic to a 2010 Chevy Camaro. When we released the winners list we had renderings of almost every vehicle except for Neil’s Camaro which just left us wondering exactly what he had in store for all of us.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson greeted the world today at a special Product and Technology Meeting to share with everyone some great news about the upcoming Chevy Volt and other current GM initiatives. Fritz and the rest of his team gave a rundown of the latest and greatest (we’ll get to that in a second) and in staying true to the new GM mission of making the company about the customers, they opened the floor to questions from the Twittersphere and from the Fastlane blog at GMBlogs.com. A lot was covered so we’ll give a quick rundown of the highlights of the show and what all this really means to enthusiasts.

The Nissan GT-R has garnished quite the reputation from the automotive world as being a force to be reckoned with. With that being said, it’s not surprising that not every tuning shop in the country is stepping up to pit their efforts versus those of Nissan’s with its GT-R. However that is exactly the case when it comes to the guys at East Texas Muscle Cars, where they think that their All-American Chevy Camaro can take on the mighty Godzilla. Their final goal is to beat the Nissan GT-R around the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. Not only is ETMC confident in their assessment but they are so confident that they’re going to go to this fight with the Camaro’s V6 powerplant instead of the much more powerful 426hp LS3 V8.