I was originally searching for a V2 but my ideal spec was too rare to locate with any reasonable confidence. I got lucky in that as soon as I starting searching for a V3, the ideal car happened to have been posted and thankfully, it was only a couple hour drive away. Due to Covid, the purchase process was odd to say the least but it got done.
Here is the quick rundown:
Time for some pics!
Here is the quick rundown:
- 2018 w. ~10k miles, White Tri-Coat
- Carbon Pkg
- Luxury Pkg
- Black chrome grill
- After midnight wheels
- Pano roof
- No Recaros (I like the look of them but wanted std seats for the ventilated feature)
- Micro-suede steering wheel/shifter (Was wanting a leather wheel but after some time with the micro-suede, I do like the feel)
- Windows tinted with Llumar Ceramic film (all but front windshield)
- Full front end and rockers protected with Suntek Ultra PPF
- Full detail along with IGL Kenzo Ceramic coating on the exterior. Interior, glass, wheels and brake calipers also coated as well with specific surface products. I did the polish work while my friend who is a certified IGL approved detailer did a finish polish and applied the coatings. The big thing with the Kenzo coating is that its 10H hardness and requires no maintenance coating to remain durable for its 4 year warranty. The shine the product produced was nothing short of incredible and I'm tough to please. My friend told me it would do that and I was skeptical but after seeing the results, I'm a believer.
- Rotofab intake (simple install and wanted a bit more blower noise)
- Carbotech low-dust pads (more expensive than Z26 but made in USA, non-corrosive, rotor friendly and retain great initial bite) - The backing of the pad is also the same color of the caliper which was a nice surprise.
- License plate and reverse LEDs (The reverse LED install was miserable.....)
- Black lugs, TPMS nuts and nicer valve stem caps installed (TPMS nuts/caps not shown in pics)
- Stainless Works NPP Axle-Back (Owner of RPM has a customer who wanted to tone down his heavily modded V3 and I wanted a bit more rumble so we essentially swapped axle-backs. Setup was in perfect shape and only cost me an hour of labor for the install).
- Front corner markers painted
- The "new purchase" honeymoon hasn't worn off yet so I'm quite smitten with the whole thing. I am coming from a C7Z so much of the drivetrain is familiar. The intake noise is better in the V3 vs the Z for sure and even more so with the Rotofab. The transmission tuning seems better in this car than my Z as well. I would get some random clunkiness from the Z but all of that is smoother in the V while not losing the performance when you're on it.
- The interior is pretty isolated so I found myself running the exhaust in track mode to hear it. Since the axle-back was tossed on, I now run in sport and dare I say, the sound is pretty perfect for me at the moment. There is some very very minor drone/hum at 80ish mph so I may look to add a mid-muffler to knock that out like I did on my G8 GT I had many years ago. At legal speeds, its quiet when I want it to be so no complaints.
- Maybe I'm odd but the Cue system works fine for me. I would have appreciated a simple volume knob but honestly, I'm fine with how it all works. I would have loved if the car had wireless Android Auto but the wire works fine.
- The handling surprised me. Turn in is sharper than expected, the ride is very good and the brakes are very confidence inspiring. It's no where near what the Z would do in the handling department but that is to be expected. I def needed to reset my brain to not take my favorite back-roads in the same way I would the Vette haha.
- The dealer put on some crappy Sumitomo tires so I'll look forward to swapping those when they wear out. They are "fine" but nothing special.
- Launch control is a bit soft but it did hook up well when I used it so I guess I shouldn't complain. I def feel I could do a better job manually as the torque management is easily felt.
- The hidden compartment in the dash is neat but aside from fitting my wallet, it's somewhat useless as my work and personal cell don't have a chance in fitting to take advantage of the wireless charger.
- This car is a damn magnet for any SRT model Charger. I swear every time I take the car out, one is pulling up looking to play.
Time for some pics!