The clutch is really really good. As I previously mentioned a lot of members will do a clutch kit swap because of the CSC failure which you may experience between 15k miles and 30k miles give or take. In my belief that IS the biggest issue other than heating. Again, since most people are modding ANYWAY they ignore the heating issues because they install an oil cooler. Also to go with that because people HAVE to fix the CSC they kill 2 stones with 1 bird and just do a full clutch kit upgrade ALONG with the CSC upgrade. Might as well do it while the mechanic has the tranny pulled out. So NO it's not something you must upgrade because the OEM sucks it's just more economical :).

However the OEM clutch on these cars is amazing. Very strong and durable and has a really nice grab/launch and they'll basically last over 100k if you take care of it of course.

What lip is that?

It depends on what you want to do. I bought mine new, and I didn't do any major cosmetic work for at least a year. If I were to build one from the ground up and change things cosmetically anyway, which I should've done, I'd get one used. Any of the kinks can be resolved. I'm still running an '09, and the transmission was replaced twice. One wasn't working right, and the new one is pretty awesome. I'm running synthetic fluids, too. Does it feel old at 68k miles? Maybe the stock seats and carpet :P

Trust your gut... drive a used one, and then jump in a new one. I'll PM you about this Saturday. You're in luck. I washed my car Sunday night haha.

INGS +1 carbon fiber lip kit. Too expensive to replace. I rather save up for the NISMO conversion, but car project is such a low priority.

Yes.

The CSC is the only big kink that I am aware of. There haven't been (m)any major changes since introduction in 2009 MY.

the z is much closer in terms of performance to the ss as opposed to the rs. having personally ran an ss from about 50-120 (closed road in mexico), it took him until ever bit of 115 to even put a fender on me. the z will lend itself a lot better to back road carving and "feeling" sportier.

Couple points to point out :p GM is no longer a Domestic brand. It's owned by Opel now. GM is getting ready to mass produce their new Buick mid sized SUV in China for import to the USA. We run Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z-71's for my work. I have 3 outside in my yard now. If you think any car isn't without failures like the couple little ones the Z may have then you haven't been around cars much. I ran a used car dealership for years. Anyway back to my point about GM. GM has an issue with their V8's that is a well known problem. GM is buying a lot of Jasper engines for replacements because the have a crank shaft seal failure that is like clockwork after 100-200k miles. Our oldest truck is a 2009 and every one of our trucks have a replacement engine & transmission in them. Right around 100k when you do the 2nd transmission service is when the Auto transmissions start slipping. We are talking all 8 of our trucks in my region & more in other regions for my company are the same way. Granted we work in the oil field so they get worked but really not that hard as we do communications. We put a lot of highway miles on them. MY 2011 is at 267K but it's on it's 2nd motor & tranny. Rebuilding the transmissions isn't a good option as it costs as much or so close to buying a new Jasper with a better warranty than GM gives & GM uses them for their replacements:ugh2: